Native American healing is said to be able to
improve the quality of a person’s life and reduce
stress through prayer, introspection, meditation,
and communal support. Because Native American
healing is based on spirituality and mysticism,
there are very few scientific studies to support the
validity of the practices. Discrepancies among
Nations, shamans, and types of ailments and indi-
vidual considerations make it almost impossible to
study Native American healing under accepted sci-
entific standards. Moreover, certain Native Ameri-
cans conceal their practices and techniques because
they do not want their sharing to exploit their cul-
ture and weaken their healing powers.
Individuals with catastrophic illnesses such as
cancer often seek complementary therapies such as
Native American practices, which may be used in
relieving certain symptoms of cancer and side
effects of cancer treatment. People with cancer and
other chronic conditions are advised to consult
their physician before pursuing purification rituals
or herbal remedies as primary or sole treatment.
A combination of religion, spirituality, herbal
medicine, and rituals to treat medical and emo-
tional problems, Native American healing has no
scientific evidence it can cure cancer or any other
disease, but the communal support provided by
this approach to health care does offer the possibil-
ity of significant benefits.
See also AYURVEDA; FAITH HEALING; SWEAT LODGE.
naturopath A licensed naturopathic physician
(N.D.) who attends a four-year graduate level natur-
opathic medical school and is educated in all of the
same basic sciences as a medical doctor but also stud-
ies holistic and nontoxic approaches to therapy with
a strong emphasis on disease prevention and opti-
mization of wellness. In addition to a standard med-
ical curriculum, the N.D. is required to complete
four years of training in clinical nutrition, acupunc-
ture, homeopathic medicine, botanical medicine,
psychology, and counseling (to encourage people to
make lifestyle changes to support their personal
health). A naturopathic physician takes rigorous
professional board exams so that he or she may be
licensed by a state or jurisdiction as a primary care
general practice physician.
See also NATUROPATHY.
naturopathy Health practices also known as
naturopathic medicine. The word naturopathywas
coined in America a century ago from the Greek
words meaning “nature” and “disease.” The heal-
ing power of nature—vis medicatrix naturae—had
been espoused by the ancients, including the Greek
“father of medicine,” Hippocrates, perhaps one of
the world’s earliest naturopathic and homeopathic
physicians. The concept of invoking nature’s heal-
ing power by using herbs, water, fasting, diet, and
other noninvasive, gentle treatments is now seeing
a renaissance, particularly in the United States.
Modern naturopathic physicians still employ treat-
ments that do not override the body’s innate abil-
ity to heal itself, and they advocate preventive
measures to promote optimal health and function-
ing. In addition, N.D.s conduct and make practical
use of the latest biochemical research involving
nutrition, botanicals, homeopathy, and other nat-
ural treatments.
For many diseases and conditions (ulcerative
colitis, asthma, menopause, flu, obesity, and
chronic fatigue, among others), treatments used by
naturopathic physicians can be primary and even
curative. Naturopathic physicians also function
within an integrated framework, for example, by
referring patients to appropriate conventional
medical specialists. Naturopathic therapies comple-
ment the treatments used by conventionally
trained medical doctors. The result is a team-care
approach that recognizes the need of the patient to
receive the best overall treatment most appropriate
to his or her specific medical condition.
Naturopathic medicine was popular and widely
available throughout the United States well into the
early part of the 20th century. During the 1920s
there were a number of naturopathic medical
schools, thousands of naturopathic physicians, and
thousands of patients using naturopathic therapies.
But the rise of “scientific medicine,” the discovery
and increasing use of new pharmaceuticals includ-
ing antibiotics, and the establishment of a wide-
ranging medical system primarily based (both
clinically and economically) on high-tech and phar-
maceutical treatments put naturopathic and other
natural healing methods into a temporary decline.
By the 1970s, however, the American public felt
the impact of the costs, problems, and limitations of100 naturopath