Dr. Dianna Henson, Naturopathic Physician treating women and the entire family.

Dr. Dianna Henson

What is Naturopathic Medicine?
History Scope of Practice Naturopathic Medicine Orthomolecular Medicine Infertility Botanical Medicine Clinical Nutrition Homeopathic Medicine

Mind/Body Medicine Oriental Medicine

History
The roots of naturopathic medicine go back thousands of years, drawing on the healing wisdom of many cultures including Indian (Ayurvedic), Chinese (Taoist), Greek (Hippocratic), Arabian, Egyptian, and European (monastic medicine) traditions.

With the age of scientific inquiry, medicine took on exciting dimensions and developed new tools for fighting disease. In fact, many older time-tested healing and health maintenance methods were discarded at a rapid rate as doctors began treating disease almost solely with surgery and drugs.

Some practitioners in Europe and America, however, perceived that valuable, empirically proven natural therapies were being lost, and struggled to retain the practice of promoting health through stimulation of the vital force and the rational use of natural agents.

As a distinct American health care profession, naturopathic medicine is 100 years old, tracing its origins to Dr. Benedict Lust and Dr. Robert Foster. Dr. Lust came to the United States from Germany to practice and teach the hydrotherapy techniques popularized by Sebastian Kneipp in Europe.

A committee of Kneipp practitioners met in 1900 and determined that the practice should be expanded to incorporate all natural methods of healing, including botanical medicines, nutritional therapy, physiotherapy, psychology (mind-body connection), homeopathy and the manipulative therapies. They called their profession “Naturopathy.”

The first school of naturopathy was founded by Dr. Lust in New York City and graduated its first class in 1902. During the same period, Dr. Foster founded a similar institution in Idaho that trained the early naturopathic pioneers responsible for establishing licensing laws in Oregon and Washington states.

Naturopathic medical conventions in the 1920s attracted more than 10,000 naturopathic physicians. There were more than 20 naturopathic medical colleges, and N.D.s were licensed in a majority of states. Naturopathic medicine experienced a decline in the 1940s and ’50s with the rise of pharmaceutical drugs, technological medicine, and the idea that drugs could eliminate all disease. As one after another N.D. degree program closed down, National College of Naturopathic Medicine was founded to keep the medicine alive. The drop-off in popularity was so steep that during its first 20 years, National College of Naturopathic Medicine graduated only 70 students. From its founding in 1956 until 1979, when three of its alumni founded John Bastyr College (now Bastyr University) in Seattle, it was the only naturopathic college in the U.S.

While naturopathic medicine has been present in the United States for a century, National College of Natural Medicine, the oldest accredited naturopathic medical school in North America, is less than half as old. NCNM has been at the center of the profession, preserving and extending the legacy of naturopathic medicine, founded by those who started practice in the 1920s and ’30s, and training those who would follow them generations later. The profession has experienced a resurgence in the past two decades as a health-conscious public has sought alternatives for conditions that conventional medicine has not adequately addressed.

Since the late 1970s, three more naturopathic colleges have opened, and National College of Natural Medicine’s enrollment has quadrupled. This growth is in direct response to the changing needs of our society; not only is the public demanding a medical model in which the individual plays a more active role in her/his health and healing process, but doctors also want a medical model that is more patient-centered and holistic.

NCNM is alma mater to more than 1200 naturopathic physicians who practice in nearly every state and province and many foreign countries. Many are nationally recognized spokespersons and teachers as well as successful physicians who have gone on to found new naturopathic colleges. National College of Naturopathic Medicine alumni have also founded professional associations to promote and expand naturopathic medicine. This is an exciting time to join the profession and help make history in the field of naturopathic medicine.

Scope of Practice
The scope of practice of naturopathic physicians (N.D.s) varies by jurisdiction. Currently, eleven states, Puerto Rico, and five Canadian provinces license naturopathic physicians. Several of these jurisdictions regard N.D.s as primary care physicians and provide them with the scope of diagnostic and therapeutic privileges necessary to be the doctor first seen by the patient for general health care, for advice on keeping healthy, and for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic conditions. In those jurisdictions in which N.D.s are not licensed, the scope of practice excludes the diagnosis and treatment of disease.

The naturopathic physician is defined by the U.S. Department of Labor as one who “diagnoses, treats, and cares for patients, using a system of practice that bases its treatment of all physiological functions and abnormal conditions on natural laws governing the body, utilizes physiological, psychological and mechanical methods, such as air, water, heat, earth, phytotherapy (treatment by use of plants), electrotherapy, physiotherapy, minor surgery, mechanotherapy, naturopathic corrections and manipulation, and all natural methods or modalities, together with natural medicines, natural processed foods, herbs, and natural remedies.

Excludes major surgery, therapeutic use of x-ray and radium. Naturopathic Physicians have broad therapeutic formularies (drug therapy) in many states which they can prescribe from. The therapeutic modalities used by N.D.s are described below. It should be noted that the state of Utah requires a one-year residency before licensing N.D.s. Like other physicians, recently graduated N.D.s are encouraged to seek additional clinical experience under the supervision of a licensed physician, in the form of residencies and mentorships.

Naturopathic Medicine emphasizes a distinctive approach to health and healing — an approach that considers the whole person when treating specific conditions, one that seeks to diagnose and treat causes wherever possible. There are only four accredited schools of Naturopathic Medicine in the United States. National College of Naturopathic Medicine is the oldest and most respected. It holds the highest accreditation of all naturopathic colleges in that NCNM holds the same rankings as all other nationally recognized conventional schools of medicine.

The ND degree course of study at the naturopathic college is an intensive four-year doctoral program that prepares candidates for national and state board licensing examinations and the general practice of naturopathic medicine. Upon graduation, alumni are eligible to sit for board examinations in states and provinces that license naturopathic physicians. The core, or required (national), curriculum provides the foundation and skills necessary for establishing a naturopathic family practice.

Orthomolecular medicine describes the practice of preventing and treating disease by providing the body with ideal amounts of substances which are natural to the body. The term "orthomolecular" was coined by Linus Pauling in a paper he wrote in the journal Science in 1968 and has been expounded on in many post-doctorate courses. The key idea in orthomolecular medicine is that genetic factors affect not only the physical characteristics of individuals, but also to their biochemical pool. Biochemical pathways of the body have significant genetic variability and diseases such as atherosclerosis, cancer, schizophrenia or depression are associated with specific biochemical aberrances which are contributing factors of the illness or disease.

Infertility: These issues are stressful and many times devastating for couples who want to have children. Dr. Henson recognizes the profound effect infertility has on couples and the importance of compassionate and successful treatment. Therefore, she believes developing a good patient relationship is key.

Botanical Medicine: Many plant substances are powerful medicines. Where isolated chemically derived drugs may address only a single problem, botanical medicines are able to address a variety of problems simultaneously. When properly utilized, most botanical medicines can be applied effectively with minimal likelihood of side effects.

Clinical Nutrition: Food is the best medicine and is a cornerstone of naturopathic practice. Many medical conditions can be treated more effectively with foods and nutritional supplements than they can by other means, with fewer complications and side effects. N.D.s use diet, natural hygiene, fasting, and nutritional supplementation in their practices.

Homeopathic Medicine: Homeopathic medicine is based on the principle of “like cures like.” Clinical observation indicates that it works on a subtle, yet powerful, energetic level, gently acting to promote healing on the physical, mental, and spiritual levels.

Mind/Body Medicine: Mental attitudes and emotional states may influence, or even cause, physical illness. Counseling, nutritional balancing, stress management, hypnotherapy, biofeedback, and other therapies are used to help patients heal psychologically.

Oriental Medicine: Within the N.D. program, Oriental medicine is a healing philosophy that is complementary to naturopathic medicine. Oriental medical theory offers an important understanding of the unity of the body and mind and adds to the Western understanding of physiology.

Physical Medicine: Naturopathic medicine has its own methods of therapeutic manipulation of soft tissue, muscles, bones, and spine. N.D.s also use ultrasound, diathermy, exercise, massage, water, heat and cold, and gentle electrical therapies.

Naturopathic practice also includes the use of any medical substances which contain elements that are components of bodily tissues or can be utilized by the body for the maintenance of life and the repair of tissues. All methods of diagnostic testing and imaging are used, including x-ray and ultrasound. The current scope of practice excludes major surgery and the use of many synthetic drugs, although use of drugs containing natural substances (most antibiotics,etc) can be prescribed, depending on the governing state laws.

“Scope of practice” is specifically defined by the legislation in the various states and provinces that license or regulate naturopathic medicine, and practice varies significantly among states, provinces, and countries.