What Is Naturopathic Medicine?
Naturopathic Medicine is a distinct system of primary health care that addresses the root causes of illness, and promotes health and healing using natural therapies. It supports your body's own healing ability using an integrated approach to disease diagnosis, treatment and prevention.
Naturopathic Doctors (ND's)
ND's are highly educated primary care providers who integrate standard medical diagnostics with a broad range of natural therapies. They undergo a minimum of 7 years post secondary education with four of those years being spent in a rigorous naturopathic medical school program. Naturopathic doctors in Ontario are currently regulated under the Regulated Health Practitioners Act and governed by the College of Naturopaths of Ontario.
Principles of Naturopathic Medicine:
Naturopathic doctors are guided by six fundamental healing principles:
- First, to do no harm, by using methods and medicines that minimize the risk of harmful side effects.
- To treat the causes of disease, by identifying and removing the underlying causes of illness, rather than suppressing symptoms.
- To teach the principles of healthy living and preventative medicine, by sharing knowledge with patients and encouraging individual responsibility for health.
- To heal the whole person through individualized treatment, by understanding the unique physical, mental, emotional, genetic, environmental and social factors that contribute to illness, and customizing treatment protocols to the patient.
- To emphasize prevention, by partnering with the patient to assess risk factors and recommend appropriate naturopathic interventions to maintain health and prevent illness.
- To support the healing power of the body, by recognizing and removing obstacles to the body's inherent self-healing process.
