Naturopathic Medicine Specialists
Why have 5000 years of beliefs been set aside by 200 years of education, confused by that statement? Holistic care began in the form of Ayurveda, which originated in India in the 6th century B.C. Naturopathic medicine began in 1896. During the Age of Enlightenment, the 18th century, science was held in high esteem, and physicians upgraded their social status by becoming more scientific. The health field was crowded with self-trained barber-surgeons, apothecaries, midwives, drug peddlers, and charlatans.
In the 19th century, Allopathic medicine now coined conventional medicine is considered the new standard of care. The Hippocratic Oath was written in the 5th century B.C. What did we lose?
It is essential to understand that no doctor knows everything. Each doctor has their strengths, training, level of experience, and beliefs. They are all human, and one fact exists, humans make errors.
Health care requires a centric care model around the patient, not a divided business model that extracts money from opposing beliefs, insurance policies, scientific proofs, and political maleficence. Today, it is next to impossible to make decisions with so many opinions, costs, risks, and emotions.
Getting proper care requires an in-depth evaluation of the problem by the patient and the advocate. Initial assessment, diagnosis, and treatment plans are very opining. Always remember medicine is a “practice”.
Every patient’s journey to better health is as unique as they are. Each person has their genetic predisposition, environmental exposure, history, habits, lifestyle, and beliefs. It is impossible to do a clinical trial with all of these factors in the study design. So the math of clinical significance does not provide the complete truth, assurance, or outcome.
If we all came together with shared goals, the world would be a better place, and healthcare would become a group effort. Doctors “do no harm”, patients practice prevention and beliefs become part of science. Each person must take personal responsibility to seize their intent and do the hard work to make improvement possible. “Care” requires curiosity, compassion, time, research, and a substantial amount of patience. Society needs to impose these actions across all specialists in allopathic, naturopathic, holistic, and a multitude of other care models. To critic with statements of quackery, conspiracy theories or politics does not benefit anyone, it creates a divide in care, ultimately a worse outcome.
In an integrative approach, people are often looking for “something natural” to control their symptoms instead of a drug. However, is this real health? To truly improve one’s health requires a paradigm shift to being an active creator of health improvement. It requires understanding the patient and doing what we can to support that. It requires a personal commitment to building real health.
