Reintroducing Nature's Healing Ways

An essay for my Health and Society 311 class. Didn't get a spectacular mark for it (C+) but meh.

           Adding naturopathic practices as a tenet of the existing Canada Health Act would be beneficial because it would add a degree of sorely-needed preventative treatment to the healthcare system, introduce competition into the current pharmaceutical monopoly, and help to alleviate the pressures placed upon doctors by increasing accessibility to alternative treatments.

           The current healthcare model relies on acute-care curative methods. While there is some preventative care, much of it is highly specialized to reducing the chances of contracting specific ailments, as opposed to the betterment of overall health, because this method still treats disease and illness as a localized malfunction, like one would find in a machine. Many people are on medications that they do not need, but simply to suppress the symptoms of the medication being taken to subdue the original ailment. According to the IMS (2012), Canadian purchases of prescription drugs and OTC products from 2001 to 2011 have risen 66.1%. While this is great for increasing pharmaceutical revenue, it is not so good for one’s overall health and wellbeing. Why not treat a condition that does not pose the risk of multiple side effects?

Alternatively, naturopathy is a primarily preventative system. It also focuses on treating a disease’s underlying causes. The practice was introduced to North American by Dr. Benedict Lust in 1902 when he founded the American School of Naturopathy in New York. By the 1920s, naturopathy had migrated to and taken root in Canada. According to the CAND, the term “naturopathy” was described by Lust as a clinical practice that incorporates methods such as botanical medicine, homeopathy, lifestyle counselling and various alternative therapies. (CAND, “History,” n.d.). It promotes balance between all aspects of an individual’s life (physiological and psychological) by encouraging healthy lifestyle choices and treating diseases and illnesses without the use of surgery or synthetic drugs. Instead of attacking any one symptom or condition, naturopathic treatments focus on the root cause of the problem. While working with the patient to correct lifestyle factors that contribute to their malady, naturopathy also then treats their symptoms with various holistic methods that are meant to help fortify the body’s natural ability to heal.

Combining naturopathic and allopathic methods would help to increase public awareness of what causes disease and illness, and it would increase access to alternative preventative methods. The consensus among most naturopathic physicians is that in order to cure the problem, one must look at the root cause, instead of simply treating or suppressing symptomology. Symptoms are simply the body’s way of saying that there is something wrong, or to begin fighting off the ailment. By seeing symptoms as a guide to treatment, and teaching individuals how to make healthy lifestyle choices, the number of complainants in hospital and clinic waiting rooms would decrease, allowing doctors to focus their attention on more severe cases.

Many doctors of mainstream medical practices disregarded naturopathy and holistic methods, some even going so far as to refer to it as pseudo-science. However, an Ontario study shows a growing trend to acceptance. (Ko, Berbrayer, 2000). Out of the 166 rehabilitation specialists surveyed, 98 responded. Of those 98 respondents, 72% referred their patients to holistic therapies, and 20% admitted to practicing, or at least being trained in, alternative medicine. An earlier study showed that, out of the 200 physicians throughout Alberta and Ontario who responded to a questionnaire regarding their opinions on alternative medicine, 56% believed that there were aspects of alternative practices that could benefit mainstream medicine, while 54% said that they referred to alternative therapies (Vernhoef, Sutherland, 1995). This is a growing trend that has expanded from specialization into general practices in recent years, as the public demand for naturopathic and holistic services has increased.

Also previously mentioned was the potential for naturopathic medicine to be used as an alternative for conventional medicine. Because most mainstream pharmaceutical medicines are synthetic, the body has a harder time processing them, and sometimes a patient will react to a component within a certain prescription. Naturopathic medicine is rooted in natural components, and as such takes less effort for the body to process, and exhibits fewer side effects. Many times, naturopathic medicines work faster and sustain better results than conventional methods.

If a patient were to try a natural-base remedy, as a supplement for a synthetic drug and it worked, then that person could receive their treatment without the threat of adverse effects either from their malady or their medication. Making these remedies more mainstream would also add competition to the pharmaceuticals currently on the market by supplying the public with alternative medication to choose. From there, pharmaceutical companies would be required to modify their products and undergo proper clinical trials in order to remain competitive with the natural ingredients from alternative medicine that seem to have better results from fewer side effects.

The introduction of naturopathy under the Canada Health Act would have many advantages. It would improve the quality of life for a large percentage of the population by applying preventative, lifestyle changing methods. Through the application of such methods, the demand of everyday medical complaints would be eased, thus freeing up more space in emergency wards and waiting rooms, allowing allopathic doctors to focus their attentions on more serious, advanced ailments. Furthermore, patients would be given a wider variety of treatments to choose from, and an increased selection of remedies that could help ease their symptoms. The ultimate benefits to diversifying choices in the healthcare system extend to all members of the population, and in combining naturopathic and allopathic practices, the focus would once again return patients to their optimal health through treatment and teaching them how to take responsibility for, and maintain, their own personal health and well-being. After all, it is much easier to protect one’s health than to reinstate it. 

Author's Note

References:

Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors. (1999 – 2013). History of Naturopathic Medicine. In About Naturopathic Medicine. Retrieved from https://www.cand.ca/index.php?51&L=0
Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors. (1999 – 2013). What is Naturopathic Medicine? In About Naturopathic Medicine. Retrieved from http://www.cand.ca/index.php?78
IMS Health. (2012). Drug Store and Hospital Purchases, Canada, 2001 – 2011. In IMS Health Database. Retrieved from http://www.imshealth.com/ims/Global/North%20America/Canada/Home%20Page%20Content/Pharma%20Trends/DrugstoreandHospitalPurchases_En_11.pdf
Farley, M, (N.D.). (2011). Allopathic vs Naturopathic Medicine. Retrieved February 09, 2013 from iHealthTube.com website http://www.ihealthtube.com/aspx/viewvideo.aspx?v=614209a470cfd6cd
Naturopathy. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved February 08, 2013, from Dictionary.com website: http://www.dictionary.reference.com/browse/naturopathy
Vernhoef, M.J., Sutherland, L.R. (1995). Alternative medicine and general practitioners. Opinions and behaviour. Can Fam Physicia. Vol. 41, pages 1005 – 1011. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2146582/?tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract
Ko, G.D., Berbrayer, D. (2000). Complementary and alternative medicine: Canadian physiatrists’ attitudes and behaviour. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. Vol. 81, pages 662 – 667. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10807108

Reviews

[Aries]

I thought this was well-written and concise, the purpose behind it benevolent... The professor must have a pretty tough grading standard. I'm curious to know what he/she marked you off for and what the assignment asked for.