Naturopathic Medicine

by Charles Reinert ND, PhD

When a therapist practices as a “naturopath”, what does this mean? I was inspired to think about this recently in a recent conversation with Ron, an old college roommate. My friend had recently learned of my “passion” for healing, and he observed that, “When you go to a regular doctor nowadays, it’s just not like it used to be. It seems like all they do now is to listen briefly to your symptoms, then “go to their list of pills, find one that seems like it should work, write something on a piece of paper and send you to the pharmacy guy who sells you the drugs!” I reluctantly agreed. Ron then asked me, “So what do you guys do that’s different?” In response, I shared a story: “Mary”, a new patient, came to our clinic a few months ago, frightened by her oncologist’s report that her lung cancer had returned. Could we help? Mary’s MD had already convinced her to take a series of chemotherapy treatments, and we respected her decision to choose this procedure.

HOWEVER, in addition to that, we suggested:

  1. Several sessions of subtle energy therapy (Qigong).
  2. Regular intake of “large” doses of vitamin C, which Cameron and Pauling’s work suggests can shrink tumors.
  3. Visual imagery, to stimulate the immune system to fight the “rumored tumor”.
  4. Use of a warm castor oil pack, to further stimulate the immune system. (Edgar Casey was one of the first to recommend this treatment.)
  5. Use of low intensity light therapy at appropriate wavelengths.
  6. Use of EFT to clear any “emotional benefits” of having the cancer. (See our EFT page for more on this!)
  7. Use of hyperthermia treatment to further discourage the tumor. (In this case, Mary was able to find a kind neighbor with a sauna, available for her daily use!)

In addition, we ordered and shared with Mary, a special report by Ralph W. Moss PhD, (http://www.CancerDecisions.com)--300 pages of up to the moment analysis of the most and least effective therapies for this particular type of cancer. When one is faced with what seems to be a life or death issue, we believe it is important to know as much about the condition and its treatment as possible, whether “conventional” or “alternative”....

Applied with care, NONE of these therapies should be harmful to her, and EACH has been shown to be of benefit in treatment of some cancers. They are examples of gentle, noninvasive Naturopathic procedures, which nudge her system in the proper direction. In contrast, conventional medical practice (sometimes called “allopathic medicine”) trusts that the highly toxic effects of the chemotherapy upon the body’s systems will be less than its effect upon the tumor. This is an example of the difference in philosophy between conventional medicine and Naturopathic medicine.

As a second example, let’s look at obesity. The typical approach of allopathic medicine is, “If you want to be thinner, EAT LESS AND EXERCISE MORE!” On the other hand, this approach assumes that we all have identical genetics and biochemistry, and that we can simply decide to restrict food intake and become more athletic, “just like that”!

On the other hand, a wiser, more Naturopathic approach to weight loss is to acknowledge that we are unique individuals, with unique organs and biochemistry and that a dietary pattern which is healthy for one person may be exactly WRONG for another. We also need to understand that adults may carry a load of “emotional baggage” which inhibits them from doing what they know they should do, on a daily basis. (Did your mother ever tell you to “clean your plate before you leave the table"? Did she give you sweets for being a good girl? Those are examples of “emotional baggage”.) Emotional issues can be cleared with EFT, but unless this baggage IS cleared, any weight loss that you’ve earned by the sweat of your brow is likely to come right back on.

So, on balance, perhaps one of the biggest differences between "allopathic" and Naturopathic treatment is the viewpoint of the professional. Naturopaths tend to view the client wholistically rather than a collection of numbers, and we tend to hold to the Hippocratic oath (First, do not harm) a bit more carefully.

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