Naturopathic Medicine
Your Key to Energy and
Wellness
Naturopathic
medicine is a system of healing that relies on the body's
inherent ability to restore and maintain health—when
given the nutrients and natural medicines it truly needs.
Dietary adjustments, herbal medicines, vitamin and mineral
supplements, and therapeutic exercise, all prescribed for
your unique mental, emotional, and physical conditions,
are used to bring you into balance, recover from medical
problems, and achieve lasting wellness.
Naturopathic physicians
train at four-year medical schools that emphasize natural
therapeutics. I graduated from the National College of
Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon, after receiving
my B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
America has three other naturopathic medical schools: John
Bastyr University in Seattle, Southwest College of Naturopathic
Medicine in Scottsdale, Arizona, and the University of
Bridgeport College of Naturopathic Medicine in Connecticut.
Naturopathic physicians
are currently licensed in the
states of California, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont,
Maine, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Arizona, Alaska,
and
Hawaii.
NDs and their allies are working in every other state to
pass licensure laws. Licensed NDs must be graduates of
the four accredited medical schools mentioned above, and
must pass comprehensive national and state examinations.
In states where there are no licensing laws, individuals
with correspondence degrees who are not graduates of the
four accredited schools often advertise themselves as naturopaths,
or NDs. Such individuals are not licensed and do not have
the qualifications of licensed NDs.
Naturopathic physicians
are trained to treat all manner of disease through natural
methods. But before treatment, comes evaluation. "Doctor" is
the Latin word for teacher, and a careful evaluation of
your medical condition and lifestyle allows me to teach
you about your condition and how to go about making it
better.
Your first visit or phone
consultation will last about fifty minutes, time enough
for a thorough discussion of your medical history, examination
of problems of primary concern, decision-making about laboratory
testing and other diagnostic evaluation, and the beginning
of making a therapeutic plan. I often suggest that we draw
a blood sample to send to our laboratory consultants for
a computerized blood chemistry nutritional evaluation.
At your second visit, we review the results, and make a
thorough plan for diet, vitamin and mineral supplements,
and herbal medicines. We'll discuss as well how you have
responded to treatments begun at your first visit, and
how you can best continue to move toward your health goals.
Nutrition is at the heart
of the treatment plans I work out with my patients, as
detailed in other articles posted on this web site. The
principles I teach and apply are time tested and grounded
in Nature's laws. For over twenty years, I have found that
if my patients work together with me and are willing learners,
most medical problems can be reversed. The chances are
very good that whatever your problems, the naturopathic
medicine that I practice can help you significantly towards
the health you want.
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