INTRODUCTION TO NATUROPATHIC MEDICINE

What is Naturopathic Medicine?

Naturopathic medicine is a comprehensive and distinct philosophy and system of primary health care and that employs a natural non-pharmaceutical approach, blending science with traditional, natural forms of medicine. Naturopathic medicine uses natural substances and treatments to heal the body and correct imbalances by integrating scientific knowledge with traditional healing wisdom. As a holistic form of medicine, naturopathic medicine addresses the underlying cause of illness, rather than merely suppressing symptoms. It views disease as a process, rather than an entity and considers symptoms to be warning signs of an underlying imbalance. The focus of treatment is on the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of the individual and involves the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases or conditions to restore, maintain, and promote optimal health through patient education and empowerment.

Principles of Naturopathic Medicine

1. To do no harm: Naturopathic doctors use safe and effective natural therapies that do not harm their patients or have harmful side effects.
2. To co-operate with the healing powers of nature: The natural treatments used by your naturopathic doctor support your body’s ability to heal itself.
3. To address the fundamental causes of disease: Naturopathic doctors treat the root cause of disease, rather than symptoms, in order to optimize their patients health.
4. To heal the whole person through individualized treatment: The root cause of illness is treated by addressing all aspects of the patient: mental, emotional, physical, & spiritual. This principle addresses all factors that may be contributing to the individuals illness or complaints.
5. To teach the principles of healthy living & preventive medicine: Naturopathic doctors encourage their patients to become active participants in their health. Patients are empowered and educated on ways to improve their lifestyle, enhance their health, and prevent illness.

What training does my naturopathic doctor have?

All licensed Naturopathic Doctors have completed a minimum of seven years post-secondary education. This includes a minimum of three years of pre-medical studies in the sciences, followed by four years of full time study at a recognized and accredited College of Naturopathic Medicine. Naturopathic doctors receive 4500 hours of extensive training in biomedical sciences including pathology, clinical and laboratory diagnosis, and naturopathic principles and therapeutics aswell as 1500 hours of supervised clinical education. To become a licensed Naturpathic Doctor, one must complete 2 sets of extensive medical licensing examinations called NPLEX – the CNME standard for all jurisdictions licensing Naturopathic Doctors in North America.

Naturopathic Doctors are the only regulated health profession in the field of natural medicine. In Ontario, the Naturopathic Doctor must be registered licensed and registered with the Board of Directors of Drugless Therapy – Naturopathy (BDDT-N) to ensure that s/he is qualified to practice naturopathic medicine.

What conditions is my naturopathic doctor able to treat?

Naturopathic Doctors are primary health care providers for patients of all ages and are skilled at treating a wide variety of acute and chronic health care complaints. Naturopathic medicine can treat any of the following conditions:
 

*Muscle aches & arthritic pain                             *Fatigue
*Mental & emotional stress                                 *Insomnia
*Fibromyalgia, & Chronic fatigue syndrome     *Depression & Anxiety
*Addiction                                                                *Autoimmune conditions
*Thyroid problems                                                 * High cholesterol
*Heart disease & circulatory difficulties            *Headaches and Migraines
*Allergies                                                                 *Cold & flu
*Respiratory problems                                         *Disorders of ENT
*Osteoporosis                                                        *Menopause
*Hormonal imbalance                                          *Menstrual disorders
*PMS                                                                         *Endometriosis
*Infertility                                                                  *Uterine fibroids
*Fibrocystic breasts                                               *Cancer
*Benign prostatic hypertrophy                             *Prostatitis
*Impotence and low libido                                   *Andropause (Male menopause)
*Acid reflux/GERD/heartburn                               *Ulcers and pancreatitis
*Poor digestion                                                      *Constipation, diarrhea, IBS,
*IBD (Crohn’s disease &ulcerative colitis)       *Food allergies/sensitivities
*Weight management                                          *Skin disorders
*Smoking cessation                                             *Aging healthfully.

What can I expect during my visit?
 

Your first visit with your naturopathic doctor will be approximately 75 - 90 minutes in length. During this time your naturopathic doctor will collect information about you including your chief concerns, health history, and health parameters. Your naturopathic doctor will measure vitals and perform a tongue and pulse diagnosis, looking and listening for any additional signs of imbalance. This time will enable you to begin your relationship with your naturopathic doctor and to discuss your health concerns, expectations for treatment and any additional information that you feel may be relevant to your case. The information provided in this consultation will enable your naturopathic doctor to develop an understanding of you as an individual, and to devise a comprehensive treatment plan to suit your needs. Your second visit will be one hour in length and during this time your naturopathic doctor will gather any additional information and perform a complete physical exam to assess your health. Your naturopathic doctor will answer any questions you may have, discuss and explain the various treatment plans and options available to you, and decide on the frequency of follow up visits for your particular case.

What treatment options are available to me?

Clinical Nutrition: The relationship between diet and health is always addressed and a specific dietary plan and supplements may be recommended to address deficiencies, treat disease, and promote health.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM): TCM uses acupuncture, botanicals, and diet to balance the flow of energy (qi) in the body and eliminate disease. Your naturopathic doctor will assess your case and determine an individualized protocol based on your symptoms, conditions, and tongue and pulse diagnosis.

 
Botanical Medicine: Plants and extracts are used in the forms of teas, tinctures, and capsules the promote health, alleviate disease, improve immunity, assist elimination, and optimize organ function.

Homeopathic Medicine: Minute amounts of natural substances are used to stimulate the body’s innate healing ability. This “energetic” medicine works on the physical and emotional levels to address the root cause of disease.

Lifestyle & Emotional Counselling: Healthy lifestyle choices are encouraged and obstacles to health are addressed through counseling. In addition, the mental and emotional state of the patient is taken in to account due to their undeniable connection to one’s overall health and well-being.

Physical Medicine: Gentle hands-on therapies such as spinal manipulation and massage are utilized to adjust muscles/joints, improve pain, and relieve pain. Hydrotherapy is the therapeutic use of water to affect circulation and improve immune function.

Your naturopathic doctor will most likely utilize a combination of all the above modalities when devising your comprehensive treatment plan.

Is Naturopathic Medicine covered by Insurance?

Naturopathic medicine is not covered by OHIP, although it is covered by most extended health care plans. Be sure to check with your provider. Your Naturopathic Doctor will issue you a receipt that you can submit to your insurance company or employer.

What Tests Are Available?

Naturopathic Doctors have access to medical laboratories to perform all basic laboratory testing. This is not currently covered by OHIP and the cost of testing is in addition to the fee for consultation.

Various forms of testing are also employed by Naturopathic Doctors to provide objective information about your case. Often times, functional changes in the body occur well before conventional lab tests are able to identify pathology and are helpful in diagnosing conditions and monitoring response to treatment.

Blood Typing: A simple, in – house test using a finger-prick, to determine if the patient is Blood Type O, A, B, or AB. This is a useful tool to help determine dietary guidelines and possible medical conditions that may be related to one’s blood type.
Urinalysis ChemStrip: This basic test assesses urinary pH and detects the presence of bilirubin, urobilinogen, glucose, blood, and protein.

IgG/IgE Food Sensitivity/Allergy Testing: A simple blood test to easily diagnose the presence of food sensitivities/allergies. IgE testing is useful for unexplained reactions such as hives, or for uncovering allergies to inhaled particles.
As IgG allergic reactions occur over several hours or days, it is virtually impossible offending foods without testing. Symptoms of IgG food sensitivities include gastrointestinal discomfort, diarrhea, constipation and abdominal pain due to the deposition of immune complexes in the gastrointestinal tract, headaches and high blood pressure as a result of immune complexes in the blood vessels, asthma and recurring respiratory conditions from deposition in lung tissue, skin conditions such as eczema, joint pain, mood disorders such as anxiety, depression, hyperactivity, inability to concentrate due to immune complexes affecting the nervous system, aswell as chronic runny nose and dark circles under the eyes. A condition known as “leaky gut” can promote the development of food allergies, and can itself be the cause of food allergies. An overload of antigen-antibody complexes causes inflammation in the lining of the digestive tract allowing more of these complexes to enter the blood and tissues, provoking allergic reactions to food. An easy way to assess for “leaky gut” is by using the Indican Test (listed below).
 

Celiac Disease Testing & Gluten Sensitivity Testing: This test is used to rule out celiac disease (an allergy to gluten/gliadin found in various grains) aswell as gluten sensitivity by testing for antibodies (IgG, IgA to gliadin – a protein found in wheat gluten and TTG). Testing for celiac disease or gluten sensitivity is important because standard tests do not look for antibodies for gluten. In addition, gluten sensitivity, even without the diagnosis of celiac disease, may produce the same symptoms, and if left undiagnosed, can lead to similar long-term complications including osteoporosis, lymphoma, and infertility. Symptoms of celiac disease are often vague (fatigue, lethargy, weight-loss, abdominal pain, change in bowel habits) and many with undiagnosed Celiac Disease also suffer from other undiagnosed autoimmune conditions such as thyroid disease, liver disease, Addison’s disease (adrenal gland damage), diabetes, Sjogren’s syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, depression, and nerve pain.

Indican: This test is performed in-house using urine to screen for digestive concerns related to bowel toxicity. The indican test can identify “leaky gut” dysbiosis (imbalanced bacterial flora), malabsorption, maldigestion, and putrefecation. Causes of an abnormal result can include IBD (Crohn’s disease or Ulcerative Colitis), Celiac disease, Peptic Ulcer disease, low stomach acid, low pancreatic enzymes, liver dysfunction, and small intestinal hypermotility.

Comprehensive Digestive Stool Analysis: Used to detect the amounts and types of pathogenic bacteria, yeast, fungi, and parasites in the digestive tract. This test provides information on the digestion and absorption of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins.

The CDSA is used to assess the degree of inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract and is a useful tool for monitoring treatment of gastrointestinal conditions such as IBS, IBD, and celiac disease.

Koenisberg: This simple urine test assesses the health of the adrenal (stress) glands and helps to determine if they are hyperfunctioning or hypofunctioning. Signs of adrenal imbalance include lowered immune function, abdominal weight gain, hormonal imbalances, fatigue, low blood pressure, dizziness, insomnia and allergies.

Salivary Hormone Testing: Salivary hormone testing is excellent at uncovering hormonal imbalances as it measures the amount of hormone in tissue rather than the amount of hormone in the blood. The reason is that saliva acts as a filter for hormones and is therefore able to measure the amount of “free” and “biologically active” hormone in the body. Conventional lab testing employs blood to measure these hormones and this can be inaccurate as blood measures the “total amount” of hormone, not the amount that is biologically active. In addition, blood draws can falsely elevate some hormones such as cortisol.

Salivary hormone testing can be used to measure estrogens (estriol, estradiol, estrone), progesterone, testosterone, adrenal hormones such as DHEAs and cortisol.
 

Option 1: Male Panel: In men, testosterone helps to maintain muscle mass, bone health, improves sense of well-being, controls blood sugar, protects the heart, and improves sex drive.

Hormonal imbalances can result in any of the following symptoms: bone loss, erectile dysfunction, memory loss, apathy, depression, grumpiness, breast enlargement, decreased immune function, high blood pressure, abdominal weight gain, and benign prostatic hypertrophy.
 

Option 2: Female Panel: In women, receptors for estrogen are found in the heart, breast tissue, brain, bone, bladder and blood vessels.
 

Imbalances in estrogen, progesterone, DHEAs, cortisol, and testosterone can lead to weight gain, depression, difficulty coping, irritability, sleep disturbances, hot flashes, loss of muscle mass, low sex drive, bone loss (osteopenia or osteoporosis), and hormonally related cancers such as breast cancer.
 

Option 3: Adrenal Function Testing: This simple salivary test measures health of the adrenal glands (stress glands), which produce hormones such as epinephrine, norepinephrine, cortisol and DHEAs. This test measures DHEAs and cortisol at four points in the day using saliva collection for an accurate assessment of adrenal function and to assess the staging of adrenal stress.
 

Symptoms of adrenal resistance and/or exhaustion include feeling tired and wired, difficulty sleeping, anxiety, morning fatigue, unrefreshed sleep, increases infections, decreased recovery from exercise, muscle aches and pain, feeling cold, inability to cope, poor memory, low thyroid function, irritability, bone loss, weight gain, loss of muscle mass, hair loss, insulin resistance, allergies, low or high blood pressure, low blood sugar, feeling “burned out”, depression, and low libido along with other hormonal abnormalities.
 

Estrogen Quotient: Used to assess the relative amounts of good and bad estrogen circulating in the body. It is a helpful tool for all estrogen dominant conditions (fibroids, breast cancer, PCOS, infertility) as well as to detect relative risk of developing hormonally related cancers in both men and women such as prostate cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer/dysplasia, and recurrent respiratory papillomatosis.

Melatonin-Cortisol Index: There are a number of conditions associated with low levels of melatonin and high levels of cortisol. These include but are not limited to: weight gain, depression, sleep disturbances, poor immune function, bone loss, breast cancer and other cancers including colorectal, endometrial, prostate, lung, and gastric.
 

Neurotransmitter Testing: Neurotransmitters are biochemical messengers used by the body to perform a wide variety of functions and the production of these can be altered by stress, poor diet, poor absorption, and environmental toxins. Imbalances in neurotransmitters can result in poor digestion, difficulty thinking, depression and low mood, anxiety, impaired memory, insomnia or unrefreshed sleep, foggy headedness, headaches, lack of motivation, and addiction.
 

Hair Mineral/Heavy Metal Analysis: Using samples of head or pubic hair, this test is used to detect toxic elements such as mercury, lead, cadmium, nickel, arsenic, and aluminum. Elevated levels in the hair indicate an increased body burden, while lower than normal levels are indicative of impaired detoxification pathways.