Naturopathic Medicine in today’s world – playing a more and more important role!
It’s Naturopathic Medicine week! So what does that mean for me – and you?!
It is a sad to say, but it is obvious that our conventional health care system is falling to pieces right in front of us. Extended wait times, reduced access to care, poly-pharmacy and worsening occurrence of chronic diseases without successful management… it brings up the questions of why this is happening, what can be done about it, and what alternatives there are?
Unfortunately I don’t have answers to all of those questions, but to the last comment there are some points that I think are relevant.
While Conventional Medicine is often amazing at acute care (don’t come to me with a broken arm please!), Naturopathic Medicine glows in managing and often resolving chronic diseases (skin disorders, hot flashes, digestive concerns, headaches…). This is because we offer a different approach to “take this pill, then another, then another” to simply alleviate symptoms. In Naturopathic Medicine, we take the time to look at the whole person, their lifestyles, diet, genetics and external affectations to personalize care. This results in not only managing symptoms but then properly reducing the triggers to dis-ease and then more successfully resolving illness.
This is because
· A) we have more time (ND average visits are between 30-45 minutes as opposed to 5-7 minutes in a GPs office),
· B) we highly individualize our treatment plans, and
· C) we employ more tools for healing (dietary modification, lifestyle interventions, activity therapeutics, neutraceuticals, IV therapy, acupuncture, mind-body therapies and yes, even conventional medications/pharmaceuticals as necessary).
Not only that, but we are on the cutting edge of medicine, looking at genomics, nutrigenomics, immunotherapeutics and their role in health and health trends. This medicine blends so well with whole-body root-cause medicine and individualized health care, thus offering advanced options for long-term healing.
What else I love about being a Naturopathic Physician is that our medicine will not only help to improve the health of individuals, but also families and communities in general. As opposed to the “fix me I’m broken/sick” approach, we emphasize the “I’m not well, teach me and help me to be the healthiest version of myself that I can be at this time” approach which empowers our patient-clients rather than paternalizing .
We are the doctors of the future, focusing patient-centered and comprehensive care, helping people here and now, as well as helping prevent disease and injury from occurring in the first place!
In Health
Dr Katarine Holewa, ND RAc