Naturopathic Medicine History
Learn About Naturopathy's Ancient Healing Roots
Learn About Naturopathy's Ancient Healing Roots
Naturopathy Schools | Natural Healers Career Resource Center
| | In order to understand how far naturopahtic medicine has come, you have to first understand how it got there—and naturopathy has some pretty ancient healing roots... Naturopathic medicine, sometimes called "naturopathy," is as old as healing itself and as new as the latest discoveries in biochemical sciences. The word "naturopathy" was first used in the U.S. roughly 100 years ago. |
But the natural therapies and the philosophy on which traditional naturopathy is based have been effectively used to treat diseases since ancient times. Rene Dubos notes in The Mirage of Health, that the word "physician" is from the Greek root meaning "nature." Hippocrates, a physician who lived 2,400 years ago, is often considered the earliest predecessor of naturopathic doctors, particularly in terms of his teaching that "nature is healer of all diseases" and his formulation of the concept vis medicatrix naturae – "the healing power of nature." This concept has long been at the core of indigenous medicine in many cultures around the world and remains one of the central themes of naturopathic philosophy to this day.
The earliest doctors and healers worked with herbs, foods, water, fasting, and tissue manipulation—gentle treatments that do not obscure the body's own healing powers. Today's naturopathic physicians continue to use these therapies as their main tools and to advocate a healthy dose of primary prevention. In addition, modern NDs conduct and make practical use of the latest biochemical research involving nutrition, homeopathy and other natural healing treatments.
Recent Naturopathic Medicine History
Naturopathic medicine was popular and widely available throughout the U.S. well into the early part of the 20th century. Around 1920, from coast to coast, there were a number of naturopathy schools, thousands of naturopathic physicians, and scores of thousands of patients using naturopathic therapies. But the rise of "scientific medicine," the discovery and increasing use of "miracle drugs" like antibiotics, the institutionalization of a large medical system primarily based (both clinically and economically) on high-tech and pharmaceutical treatments contributed to the temporary decline of naturopathic medicine, and most other methods of natural healing.
By the 1970s, however, the American public was becoming increasingly disenchanted with conventional medicine. The profound clinical limitations of conventional medicine and its out-of-control costs were becoming obvious, and millions of Americans were inspired to look for "new" options and alternatives. Naturopathy and all of complementary alternative medicine began to enter a new era of rejuvenation.
A Glimpse into the Naturopathic Medicine Future
Today, licensed naturopathic doctors are experiencing noteworthy clinical successes, providing leadership in innovative natural medical research, enjoying increasing political influence, and looking forward to an unlimited future potential. Both the American public and policy makers are recognizing and contributing to the resurgence of the comprehensive system of health care practiced by NDs.
In 1992, the NIH's Office of Alternative Medicine, created by an act of Congress, invited leading naturopathic physicians (educators, researchers, and clinical practitioners) to serve on key federal advisory panels and to help define priorities and design protocols for state-of-the-art alternative medical research. In 1994, the NIH selected Bastyr University as the national center for research on alternative treatments for HIV/AIDS. At a one-million-dollar level of funding, this action represented the formal recognition by the federal government of the legitimacy and significance of naturopathic medicine.
In October 1996, in a major development for both public health and naturopathic medicine, the Natural Medicine Clinic opened in Kent, Washington. Funded by the King County's Department of Public Health in Seattle, the clinic is the first medical facility in the nation to offer natural medical treatments to people in the community, paid for by tax dollars. Bastyr University, one of the seven U.S. naturopathic colleges, was selected over several leading Seattle-area hospitals to operate the clinic.
In the last half of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s, exactly one century after it put down roots in North America, naturopathic medicine is finally enjoying a well-deserved renaissance—people are beginning to recognize the value of natural healing compared to the synthetic prescription drug alternative.
Sources:
Jones, Rosemary. Educational and Career Opportunities in Alternative Medicine. 1999-2007.
American Association of Naturopathic, 2005.
Council on Naturopathic Medical Education, 2006.
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