2. • Naturopathic Medicine is a natural approach
to health and healing that recognizes the
integrity of the whole person.
• Naturopathic Medicine represents the
"vitalistic" tradition of medicine in our
Western world.
3. • it treats disease through the stimulation,
increase, and support of the person's inherent
healing capacity. These treatments are
chosen to work with the patient's vital force,
respecting the natural healing processes of
nature.
4. six underlying principles of healing.
• First do no harm:
Primum Non Nocere
• The healing power of nature:
Vis Mediatrix Naturae
• Identify and treat the cause:
Tolle Causam
• Heal the whole person:
Tolle Totum
• The physician as teacher:
Docere
• Prevention:
Prevention is the best cure
5. First do no harm:
Primum Non 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 -- the healing
power of Nature. Therefore, methods designed
to suppress symptoms without removing the
underlying causes are considered harmful and to
be avoided or minimized.
6. The healing power of nature:
Vis Mediatrix Naturae
• The body has an 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 this
process, to identify and remove obstacles to
health and recovery, and to establish or
restore a healthy internal and external
environment.
7. 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 express the
body's attempt to heal, but are not the cause of
disease. Symptoms, therefore, should not be
suppressed by treatment. 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 causes rather
than at symptomatic expression.
8. Heal the whole person:
Tolle Totum
• Health and disease are conditions of the whole
organism, a whole involving the complex
interaction of many factors. The naturopathic
physician must treat the whole person by taking
these factors into account. The harmonious
functioning of physical, mental, emotional, and
spiritual aspects are essential to recovery from
and prevention of disease. This requires a
comprehensive approach to diagnosis and
treatment.
9. Heal the whole person:
Tolle Totum
• Health and disease are conditions of the whole
organism, a whole involving the complex
interaction of many factors. The naturopathic
physician must treat the whole person by taking
these factors into account. The harmonious
functioning of physical, mental, emotional, and
spiritual aspects are essential to recovery from
and prevention of disease. This requires a
comprehensive approach to diagnosis and
treatment.
10. The physician as teacher:
Docere
• 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 their own 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/accomplishes
healing. Teaching with hope, knowledge, and
understanding, the physician acts to enable
patients to heal.
11. Prevention:
Prevention is the best cure
• The ultimate goal of any health care system
should be prevention of disease. This is
accomplished through education and promotion
of life-habits that create good health. The
physician learns to assess risk factors and to
sharpen their deductive reasoning, and
understand the patient's
circumstances. Appropriate interventions are
then sought to avoid further harm or risk to the
patient. Building health works better and more
surely than fighting disease
