Basic principles of complementary or alternative treatments
Just as traditional medicine has a fairly consistent approach to the disease, then all drugs wage replacement. The most prevalent in alternative medicine are the six principles of naturopathic medicine. In one form or another, these principles are reviewed again and again throughout the second section of this text. The following principles outlined by Dr. Catherine Downey and excerpts from her chapter on naturopathic medicine.
1. The healing power of nature (see naturae medicatix)
The body has a natural ability to establish, maintain and restore health. The healing process is ordered and intelligent: The care of nature through the response of vitality. The physician’s role is to facilitate and strengthen this process, to act to identify and eliminate barriers to health and recovery, and support the creation of a healthy internal and external environment. In short, give your body the right tools, and heal.
2. Treat the whole person (the multifactorial nature of health and illness)
Health and disease are conditions of the whole organism, involving a complex interaction among physical, spiritual, mental, emotional, genetic, environmental and social. The physician must treat the whole person by taking all these factors into account. The smooth operation of all aspects of the individual is crucial to recovery and prevention of disease and requires a personalized and comprehensive approach to diagnosis and treatment.
3. First Do No Harm (primum no nocere)
The disease is a process in the target organism. The healing process includes the production of symptoms which are actually an expression of life force attempting to heal itself. Treatment approaches should be complementary and synergistic with this healing process. Shares of medical support may irritate or cons naturae Mediatrix, so methods to suppress symptoms without removing underlying causes regarded as harmful and are avoided or minimized. Therapeutic measures used to neatly coincide with the internal body.
4. Identify and treat the cause (tolle causam)
The disease does not occur without reason. Underlying causes of disease must be discovered and removed or treated before a person can fully recover from the disease. Symptoms express the body’s attempt to heal, but they are not the cause of the disease, and therefore naturopathic medicine addresses quickly for the underlying causes of disease instead of symptoms. Causes may occur on many levels including physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Physicians should assess the root causes underlying all levels, directing treatment at root than in the symptomatic expression.
5. Prevention (Prevention is the best “cure”)
The ultimate goal of naturopathic medicine is prevention. This is achieved through education and promotion of lifestyle habits that create good health. The physician assesses risk factors and hereditary susceptibility to disease and makes appropriate measures to prevent further damage and risk to the patient. The emphasis is on building health rather than fight against the disease. Because it is difficult to be healthy in an unhealthy world, it is the doctor and patient to create a healthier environment to live.
6. The doctor as teacher (conference)
Beyond an accurate diagnosis and appropriate prescription, the physician must work to create a delicate health, personal relationships between the patient. A collaboration between doctor and patient has an intrinsic therapeutic value. Physician’s primary role is to educate and encourage patients to take responsibility for health. The physician is a catalyst for change in health, empower and motivate patients to take responsibility. It is the patient, not the doctor who ultimately creates or accomplishes healing. Physicians should strive to inspire hope and understanding. Physicians should also strive for their personal and spiritual development to become good teachers.
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Tags: Alternative, Medicine