exercise and rest, living a fast-paced lifestyle, focusing on negative thoughts and
emotions, and being exposed to environmental toxins. Disease-promoting habits
lead people away from optimal function toward progressively greater dysfunction in
body, mind, and spirit. Naturopathy recognizes death is inevitable, but believes pro-
gressive disability is often avoidable.
Naturopathic Diagnosis and Treatment
Naturopathic physicians practice as primary care providers. They see people of all
ages suffering from all types of disorders and diseases. They make conventional
medical diagnoses using standard diagnostic procedures such as physical examina-
tions, laboratory tests, and radiology. They also perform a detailed assessment of
lifestyle, looking for physical, emotional, dietary, genetic, environmental, and family
dynamics contributing to a disorder. Since health or disease is a complex interaction
of factors, naturopathic physicians treat the whole person, taking all these elements
into account. Careful attention to each person’s individuality and susceptibility to
disease is critical to accurate diagnosis. When necessary, naturopathic physicians,
like family practice physicians, refer patients to other health care professionals for
hospitalization, surgery, or other specialized care.
Naturopathic physicians do not provide emergency care nor do they do major sur-
gery. They rarely prescribe drugs and they treat clients in private practice and outpa-
tient clinics, not in hospitals. Some physicians practice natural childbirth at home or
in a clinic.
The therapeutic approach of the naturopathic doctor is to help people heal them-
selves and to use opportunities to guide and educate people in developing healthier
lifestyles. The goal of treatment is the restoration of health and normal body func-
tion, rather than the application of a particular therapy. Naturopathic doctors use
virtually every natural medical therapy described in this text.
Naturopathic physicians mix and match different approaches, customizing treat-
ment for each person. The least invasive intervention to support the body’s natural
healing processes is a primary consideration. These interventions include dietetics,
therapeutic nutrition, herbs (European, Native American, and Chinese), physical
therapy, spinal manipulation, acupuncture, lifestyle counseling, stress management,
exercise therapy, homeopathy, and hydrotherapy.
Counseling is an important intervention because mental, emotional, and spiritual
factors are part of the holistic approach. Lifestyle modification is crucial to the suc-
cess of naturopathy. While it is relatively easy to tell a person to stop smoking, get
more exercise, and reduce stress, such lifestyle changes are often difficult for people
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