August 24, 2008
JUST AS MAINSTREAM MEDICINE has a fairly consistent approach to illness, so does al-ternative medicine. Most prevalent in alternative medicine are the six naturopathic principles. In one form or another, these principles are revisited again and again throughout Section Two of this text. The following principles are described by Dr. Catherine Downey and excerpted from her chapter on naturopathic medicine.
1. The Healing Power of Nature (Vis medicatix naturae)
The body has the inherent ability to establish, maintain and restore health. The healing process is ordered and intelligent: nature heals through the response of the life force. The physician’s role is to facilitate and augment this process, to act to identify and remove obstacles to health and recovery, and to support the creation of a healthy internal and external environment. In short, give the body the appropriate tools and it will heal itself.
2. Treat the Whole Person (The multifactorial nature of health and disease)
Health and disease are conditions of the whole organism, involving a complex interaction of physical, spiritual, mental, emotional, genetic, environmental, and social factors. The physician must treat the whole person by taking all of these factors into account. The harmonious functioning of all aspects of the individual is essential to recovery from and prevention of disease and requires a personalized and comprehensive approach to diagnosis and treatment.
3. First Do No Harm (Primum no nocere)
Illness is a purposeful process of the organism. The process of healing includes the generation of symptoms, which are, in fact, an expression of the life force attempting to heal itself. Therapeutic actions should be complementary to and synergistic with this healing process. The physician’s actions can support or antagonize the actions of the vis mediatrix naturae; therefore methods designed to suppress symptoms without removing underlying causes are considered harmful and are avoided or minimized. Therapeutic actions are applied in an ordered fashion congruent with the internal order of the organism.
4. Identify and Treat the Cause (Tolle causam)
Illness does not occur without cause. Underlying causes of disease must be discovered and removed or treated before a person can recover completely from illness. Symptoms are expressions of the body’s attempt to heal, but they are not the cause of disease; therefore naturopathic medicine addresses itself promptly to the underlying causes of disease, rather than symptoms. Causes may occur on many levels, including physical, mental-emotional, and spiritual. The physician must evaluate fundamental underlying causes on all levels, directing treatment at root cause rather than at symptomatic expression.
5. Prevention (Prevention is the best “cure”)
The ultimate goal of naturopathic medicine is prevention. This is accomplished through education and promotion of lifestyle habits that create good health. The physician assesses risk factors and hereditary susceptibility to disease and makes appropriate interventions to avoid further harm and risk to the patient. The emphasis is on building health rather than on fighting disease. Because it is difficult to be healthy in an unhealthy world, it is the responsibility of both the physician and patient to create a healthier environment in which to live.
6. The Physician as Teacher (Docere)
Beyond an accurate diagnosis and appropriate prescription, the physician must work to create a health-sensitive, interpersonal relationship with the patient. A cooperative doctor-patient relationship has inherent therapeutic value. The physician’s major role is to educate and encourage the patient to take responsibility for health. The physician is a catalyst for healthful change, empowering and motivating the patient to assume responsibility. It is the patient, not the doctor, who ultimately creates or accomplishes healing. The physician must strive to inspire hope as well as understanding. Physicans must also make a commitment to their personal and spiritual development in order to be good teachers.
August 23, 2008
Origins and History
Food is the basic resource of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that allow our body to do its daily performance. Our ability to eat foods and then extract the proper nutrients is what allows us to gain both energy and the building blocks for our immune system and other bodily functions. To understand human nutrition we must begin with the basics, that is, the building blocks and the chemical structure of food. Some reeducation is useful to help realize that many of the foods that we buy in food stores, fast food chains, and in health food stores may not actually be healthy for the human body. No longer may we overlook terms such as complex carbohydrates, simple carbohydrates, processed foods, refined grains, caffeine ingestion, alcohol consumption, and refined oils..(Macronutrients) Food intake and type have a profound effect on individual health. Although the ingestion of foods may not cause any acute deleterious effects on the health for humans, the long-term effects have been clearly documented in the literature. (Macronutrients)
As we cross the line into the new millennium, physicians and other health care providers need to consider how to effect change in our patients with less emphasis on the use of synthetic drugs and other chemical concoctions. Nutritional literature supports a growing realization that food could have a significant contributory factor in many of our chronic ailments of today, including cancer, collagen vascular diseases, arthritis, and even progressive aging. Our patients are spending billions of dollars on diets like high protein, low carbohydrate, low fat, low protein, Paleolithic, blood typing, zone, starvation, food pyramid, allergic disorder, caloric restriction, and juicing diets. Unfortunately, none of these specialized protocols is universally ideal. Individualized treatment and prescription of the appropriate diet is essential for the improvement for a patient’s nutritional status. (Macronutrients)
August 22, 2008
Asthma affects 1 out of every 15 students. It impacts every facet of their lives: social, academic, physical and recreational. Many people look for immediate natural relief for asthma attacks rather than adding chemicals to their body. However, asthma treatment
through natural remedies depends upon the trigger that started the attack.
Asthma has many different triggers or mechanisms that will start an asthma attack. Among the many triggers are mold, pets, chemicals, smoke, perfume, cleaning agents, food allergies, emotional stress, environmental allergens, changes in barometric pressure, cold temperatures, and pests like rats and cockroaches.
The range of treatments for asthma attacks encompasses steroids, drugs and ongoing medical intervention. One immediate natural relief for asthma is to avoid the triggers such as avoiding pets, chemicals, environmental allergens and emotional stress. Unavoidable triggers include cold weather, animal and pest droppings, and changes in the barometric pressure.
Natural remedies, including stress reducers, can be used to manage other triggers like emotional stress. Others rely on organic foods and herbal supplements that can help reduce the possibility of suffering an attack.
Another way of obtaining natural relief from asthma symptoms is to build up your immune system and reduce the constrictions of the air sacs found in the lungs. Adding aerosolized hydrogen peroxide to a humidifier enables the asthma sufferer to metabolize a greater amount of oxygen.
Adding hydrogen peroxide to the humidifier has been shown to have a positive effect on increasing the amount of oxygen that is able to be used. Hydrogen peroxide will help the vaporization process, but can unfortunately bleach the walls and curtains around the vaporizer. If your physician approves, you can add hydrogen peroxide to your bronchodilator equipment, as long as you do it properly.
This method works to eliminate attacks and helps to enhance your immune system, but it doesn’t get to the root causes of the disease. Other methods of decreasing emotional stress will also give immediate natural relief for an asthma attack caused by stress. Try using Reiki, which is a technique used to reduce stress, help you relax, and provide healing not only to your body but to your spirit.
The name Reiki is taken from two Japanese characters that describe energy itself: “rei”, meaning “unseen” or “spiritual”, and “ki”, meaning “energy” or “life force”. If your life flow is lowered, you are more susceptible to illness and stress problems. If the Reiki is high we are more capable, happy and healthy. Reiki gives instant natural relief from asthma symptoms, and also heals the entire system – mind, body, spirit and emotions.
Using prevention and stress reduction will help decrease the need for medications and immediate natural relief for asthma attacks.
August 22, 2008
Students of alternative medicine schools will begin to understand that alternative medicine is considered a practice beyond the realm of conventional modern medicine. For example, naturopathy, chiropractic, Ayurvedic, homeopathy, acupuncture and so many other alternative medicine treatments are readily taught in a variety of alternative medicine schools because the demand for these treatments is on the rise.
Because our bodies are composed of chemical and physical reactions, holistic practitioners, who have gained training through one of several alternative medicine schools, affirm that illness is not directly caused by pathogens such as viruses or bacterium; instead is the consequence of the body’s reaction (in an effort to shield and heal itself) to a pathogen. Naturopathic and holistic doctors assist potential clients through alternative medicine by plainly alleviating symptoms of disease. This, among other valid motives, is a great reason for students to pursue an education through alternative medicine schools.
Successful graduates of alternative medicine schools learn to treat most conditions like headaches, sore throats, flu and cold, indigestion, ear infections, dermatitis, urinary tract infections, sprains and strains. Some chronic conditions such as migraines, autoimmune disorders, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, cancer, muscle-skeletal pain, depression, stress, and even pregnancy and childbirth may be treated with alternative medicine as well.
Alternative medicine schools teach students proper nutrition in conjunction with vitamin and mineral supplements, and because plants and herbs are commonly used in alternative medicine to treat illness, students enrolled in alternative medicine schools will also attain a comprehensive education in other natural and non-invasive therapies. Some of these natural therapies may include hydrotherapy and hypnotherapy, which are common courses, taught in alternative medicine schools.
Overall, alternative medicine schools instruct students in how to improve mental, emotional, and physical health through natural and complementary medicines. In addition to encouraging psychic and spiritual growth, students who have graduated from alternative medicine schools learn how to help patients in restoring and maintaining overall wellbeing.
If you’d like to become an alternative medicine therapist or practitioner, Holistic Junction offers a vast array of alternative medicine schools from which you may choose to enroll. Take the leap and obtain a career in alternative medicine today! Find your dream job! Let education within fast-growing industries like massage therapy, alternative medicine, acupuncture, oriental medicine, Reiki, and others get you started! Explore career school programs near you now!
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