Naturopathy

Naturopathic Medicine is the medical science of nature. It is a system of natural healing that sees the body as a whole and each person as an individual. Naturopathy integrates the latest discoveries in biochemistry, physiology and diagnostic advancements with the prescription of nutritional, herbal and homeopathic medicines and healing techniques that work in harmony with the body to stimulate and enhance the body’s dynamic healing mechanisms to cure disease and restore vibrant health.

The origins of Naturopathic Medicine date back to 1882 when Dr. Benedict Lust, who is considered the father of Naturopathic Medicine, came to America from Germany, Dr. Lust obtained degrees as a Medical Doctor, an Osteopathic Doctor, a Homeopathic Doctor and a Chiropractor. He saw the tremendous value and great need to combine the best of all of these medical fields into one, and therefore, established the first Naturopathic Medical School, in New York in 1895.

The word “Naturopathy” was taken from the Greek word “naturae,” meaning natural or innate, and “pathos,” meaning suffering, to emphasize the fact that the body has a natural innate ability to heal itself and overcome the symptoms of suffering.

The word “Physician,” taken from the Greek root “physicke“meaning “the science of nature,” was used by Hippocrates to remind every practitioner of medicine that “Natural forces are the healers of disease,” and that doctors should “be skilled in Nature.” Naturopathic Medical Doctors still believe this principle and are the only physicians licensed to prescribe both natural medicines as well as conventional drugs.

Licensed Naturopathic Physicians complete four years of post-graduate medical training, including two years of clinical internship.

Hippocrates, the Father of medicine, taught his students, in the fourth century B.C., that illness was the result of an imbalance of the body’s homeostatic and defense mechanisms. The natural state of the human organism is health.

The body is born with the inherent ability to heal itself. The simple truth is, doctors do not heal disease and drugs do not heal disease. It is nature, indeed the body itself that is the true healer.

Dr. Benedict Lust is the father of Naturopathic Medicine. He came to America from Germany in 1882. Dr. Lust obtained degrees as a Medical Doctor, an Osteopathic Doctor, a Homeopathic Doctor and a Chiropractor. He saw the tremendous value and great need to combine the best of all of these medical fields into one, and therefore, established the first Naturopathic Medical School, in New York in 1895.

Hippocrates is regarded as the “Father of Medicine.” He was a Greek physician born in 460 BC on the island of Cos, Greece. He was regarded as the greatest physician of his time. He based his medical practice on observations and on the study of the human body.

Hippocrates held the belief that the body must be treated as a whole and not just a series of parts. He accurately described disease symptoms and was the first physician to accurately describe the symptoms of pneumonia, as well as epilepsy in children. He believed in the natural healing process of rest, a good diet, fresh air and cleanliness. He noted that there were individual differences in the severity of disease symptoms and that some individuals were better able to cope with their disease and illness than others.

I swear by Apollo Physician and Asclepius and Hygieia and Panaceia and all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will fulfil according to my ability and judgment this oath and this covenant: To hold him who has taught me this art as equal to my parents and to live my life in partnership with him, and if he is in need of money to give him a share of mine, and to regard his offspring as equal to my brothers in male lineage and to teach them this art – if they desire to learn it – without fee and covenant; to give a share of precepts and oral instruction and all the other learning to my sons and to the sons of him who has instructed me and to pupils who have signed the covenant and have taken an oath according to the medical law, but no one else.

I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice. I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect.

Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will guard my life and my art. I will not use the knife, not even on sufferers from stone, but will withdraw in favor of such men as are engaged in this work.

Whatever houses I may visit, I will come for the benefit of the sick, remaining free of all intentional injustice, of all mischief and in particular of sexual relations with both female and male persons, be they free or slaves.

What I may see or hear in the course of the treatment or even outside of the treatment in regard to the life of men, which on no account one must spread abroad, I will keep to myself, holding such things shameful to be spoken about.

If I fulfil this oath and do not violate it, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and art, being honored with fame among all men for all time to come; if I transgress it and swear falsely, may the opposite of all this be my lot.

Translation from the Greek by Ludwig Edelstein. From The Hippocratic Oath: Text, Translation, and Interpretation, by Ludwig Edelstein. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1943.