CONCEPTS AND PRACTICES OF NATOROPATHY: A BROAD OUTLINE

Modern life is a complex and stressful invariably creating anxieties of various kinds. Such a state of continued stress coupled with consequent anxieties most commonly manifests as short-term or even long-term body ailments such as hypertension, high blood pressure, sleep disorders, insomnia, eating disorders leading to obesity or diabetes, problems associated with digestive system leading to irritable bowels syndrome, hyperacidity or even ulcers, heart problems, impaired immune system, rheumatism, arthritis and so on. Most of such and other common disease conditions can be quite successfully handled and treated with the use of very simple Naturopathic means.

Despite huge successes and advances, limitations and failure of the paradigm modern scientific medicine in treating a vast variety of human disease conditions is becoming more and more clear. This is leading to more and more interest in exploration and gradual acceptance of various traditional and new medical systems world over. Naturopathy has emerged and has been accepted as a valid and better system of dealing with problems of human health in many countries. Unfortunately it has not been accorded its due place in India owing primarily to absence of its well defined and clearly put forward paradigm and conceptual framework. Present paper is aimed to very broadly define the fundamental principles of Naturopathy along with concepts relevant to diagnosis and treatment of disease condition in general.

    

The Fundamental Principles of Naturopathy:

Following general principles of Naturopathic system of therapy have emerged that should constantly be kept in focus in every aspect of its practical application, education and research:

·         The Healing Power of Nature or Vis Medicatrix Naturae: Naturopathy believes in an inherent healing capacity of Nature within each person and aims to remove any obstacles in its natural functioning so that this healing power within may perform its natural function and restore a state of health. The role of naturopathic physician is to facilitate and support this process. Thus,‘Trust in the body’s inherent wisdom to heal itself’ is first fundamental of Naturopathy.

·         Do No Harm or Primum Non Nocere: Naturopathy seeks to employ the most efficient and supportive means of removing the obstacle in the functioning of Nature’s healing power i. e. the cure so that no other obstacle is created while removing the previous one i. e. no further harm is done to the body in the process. Utilization of the most natural, least invasive and least toxic therapies is second fundamental of Naturopathy.

·         Identify and Treat the Cause or Tolle Causam: Naturopathy focuses on removing the root cause of a patient’s condition as opposed to just treating the symptoms. This means that its main objective is to identify and remove those conditions that caused the original creation of obstacles in the functioning of Nature’s inherent healing power in the person producing visible symptoms. Thus, looking beyond the symptoms to the underlying cause is the third fundamental of Naturopathy.

·         Treat the Whole Person or Tolle Totum: Naturopathy is “holistic” in its conceptualization and philosophy and views the living functioning body in its particular environment as an integrated whole, inseparable into various component parts. It recognizes the fact that it is impossible to separate the stomach and the ulcer from the mind and the stress response as well as the environment that is causing this state of affairs. Naturopathy regards every aspect of a person’s life crucial to their state of health and looks at everything from heredity, environment and daily lifestyle to dietary habits, past traumas and the effects of present emotional stress or stresses etc. in totality. Viewing the body as an integrated whole in all its physical, psychological and spiritual dimensions is the fourth fundamental of Naturopathy.

·         Prevention or Defendere: Naturopathy, in addition to alleviation of present health problem also works at every level to avoid future recurrence or occurrence of illness. Each aspect of treatment is geared toward supporting health and wellness over a lifetime. Therefore, focus on overall health, wellness and disease prevention throughout life is fifth fundamental of Naturopathy.

·         Physician as Teacher or Docere: A naturopath is a person who has devoted their life to understanding health, disease and the human body – from a scientific, and an integrated perspective. The naturopathic doctor’s role is to teach and share all that they have learned about how to be well and how to restore health; they aim to help a person make informed choices about factors that affect their health. Patients are encouraged to accept responsibility for their health and be active participants in their healing process. Education of patients in the steps conducive to achieving and maintaining total health and wellbeing throughout life is sixth fundamental of Naturopathy.

Naturopathic concept of diagnosis:

Every structure, including human body is a product of natural processes. It exists & functions within the dynamics of Nature. Therefore, its optimal functioning can occur only in harmony with Nature. Disturbance of harmony between Nature and an individual is disease. Any deviation from such the state of harmony between individual and Nature i.e. a disease condition first of all requires identification of the causes of the breakdown of harmony. Only then the malfunction of body can be successfully corrected by Natural means.

The cause of disease as viewed in Naturopathy is fundamentally disturbed harmony of individual body and Nature. The immediate factors causing such disturbed harmony may be categorized as:

·         Physical environmental conditions

·         Psycho-social environmental conditions

·         Diet and Nutrition related conditions

·         Temporary/permanent physical or metabolic conditions

·         Basic genetic constitutional conditions

It may be stressed that these causes are also interrelated in complex way and act in a concerted way. Therefore, it may be more useful to identify these causes in actual therapeutic scenario as Primary cause, Secondary cause and so on as far as possible. Further, it may be pointed out that modern medical science has made huge progress in diagnostic procedures, tools, tests etc. and it seems self defeating not to use these in Naturopathic diagnosis as well though keeping the essential focus on Naturopathic philosophy and principles in place.

Naturopathic concept of treatment:

This is the area where Naturopathic system markedly and essentially differs from the modern invasive and intervention treatment system. Modern medicine is essentially based on reductionist-mechanistic view of human body and disease while Naturopathy subscribes to holistic paradigm focusing on essential synergy between human system and Nature. Therefore, Naturopathic treatment employs all those methods that are based on Natural materials, processes and phenomena in restoring the disturbed equilibrium between an individual body and its Natural environment. It aims to remove those 'causes' that are identified by the Naturopathic diagnosis as disturbing the Natural harmony between body and Nature. Herbal therapy, aromotherapy, hydrotherapy, chromotherapy, mud therapy, Yogic practices, psycho-social counseling and all other such non-invasive, non-interventional methods form part of treatment plan as required.

Essentially the treatment procedures should broadly be designed to incorporate in an amalgamated, interactive holistic system the following five methods:

·         Psycho-social therapeutic counseling sessions

·         Diet and nutritional regimen

·         Processes and procedures for external application

·         Natural substances and products for internal consumption

·         Yogic practices and procedures

It should also be kept in mind that any treatment plan has to be specifically designed keeping in view the particulars of the detailed diagnosis of individual patient. Treatment should also be continuously monitored and modified as per the response of the patient i.e. it flexibility of treatment plan according to specific requirements and responses of each patient is a basic concept of Naturopathic treatment.

As an example of Naturopathic treatment system, following outline of discussion of the types, patterns and causes of insomnia followed by general plan for its Naturopathic diagnosis and treatment is  presented:

Facts about insomnia

Types of Insomnia:

·         Transient insomnia lasts from days to weeks. It can be caused by another disorder, by changes in the sleep environment, by the timing of sleep, severe depression, or by stress. Its consequences - sleepiness and impaired functioning.

·         Acute insomnia is the inability to consistently sleep well for a period of between three weeks to six months.

·         Chronic insomnia lasts for years at a time. It can be caused by another disorder, or it can be a primary disorder. They include symptoms like sleepiness, muscular fatigue, hallucinations and mental fatigue; but people with chronic insomnia often show increased alertness.

Patterns of Insomnia:

·         Onset insomnia - difficulty falling asleep at the beginning of the night, linked to anxiety disorders.

·         Middle-of-the-Night Insomnia - difficulty returning to sleep after awakening in the middle of the night or waking too early.

·         Middle insomnia - waking during the middle of the night, difficulty maintaining sleep. Often associated with pain disorders or medical illness.

·         Terminal (or late) insomnia - early morning waking. Characteristic of clinical depression.

Physical Causes:

·         Hormonal changes in women, caused by PMS, menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause.

·         Decreased melatonin, the hormone that helps control sleep, decreases as a person ages.

·         Medical conditions, like allergies, arthritis, asthma, heart disease, high blood pressure, hyperthyroidism, and Parkinson's disease.

·         Pain, Caused by a medical illness/ injury likely to interfere with sleep.

·         Genetics, Problems with insomnia do seem to run in some families, although researchers have yet to identify how genetics play a role.

·         Other sleep disorders, like sleep apnea and periodic leg and arm movements during sleep.

Psychological Causes:

·         Anxiety, a condition in which individuals feel increased tension, apprehension, fear, worry, feelings of helplessness and uncertainty – due to work stress, financial worries, concerns over relationships.

·         Stress, or how effectively a person copes with any emotional, physical, social, economic, or other factors that require a response or change.

·         Depression, a mood disturbance characterized by feelings of sadness, discouragement and despair, loss of loved ones.

Diagnosis

Diagnosis should start with carefully listening to patient. As required, patient should be unobstructivly guided to reveal as much as he can about his/her perception of his/her problem, its cause and factors related to these. Physical examination and any other tests as deemed necessary should be used. The aim of diagnosis is to understand the type, pattern, psychological causes, physical causes, metabolic causes etc. in detail. On the basis of this data, primary cause and causes of secondary tertiary nature etc. should be established. 

Treatment plan

·         Counseling sessions as required to eliminate/reduce stress/anxiety and increase the coping ability with psycho-social factors causing the stress and/or anxieties

·         Diet modification to suit sleep promotion, incorporating person-specific light foods with low carbodydrates and less sugar content for inducing better relaxation during night

·         Warm water bath etc. or other such practice(s) suitable for the particular person 

·         Pumpkin seeds taken along with glucose before going to bed. (Amino acid Tryptophan has since long been associated with sleep promotion though its exact role is still not very clear. It has been found that Pumpkin seeds are quite rich in this amino acid, having 22 mg of Tryptophan per 1 g of seeds. Some research recently has shown that pumpkin seeds taken along with glucose before going to bed are quite helpful in anxiety related sleep disorder and insomnia. Two gm each of linseed and pumpkin seeds taken together have also been found to relieve muscle cramps. This combination has also been shown to be effective in management of arthritis.)

·         Morning and evening practice of Jal-neti, Kunjal Kriya, Anuloma-Viloma Nadi-shodhan Pranayam, Surya Namaskaar and Shavaasana followed by Meditation.

To summarize, it can be emphatically said that an individual human being can attain and maintain a state of his/her full potential of physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual health only in a healthy environment that comprises his/her biosphere, sociosphere and psychosphere. In this sense, human species needs to be studied along with all aspects of its environment i.e. from the viewpoint of health as wholeness of Nature. A science of holistic health, as distinct from the present science of curative medicine, needs to be developed to deal with the problems of sickness and misery arising in the bodies, psyche, society and environment of mankind. This would also require a shift of medical education paradigm away from the current mechanistic-reductionist one towards a holistic one. Naturopathy and Yoga may provide such a holistic system of human health management. However, much deliberation, discussion and research is needed by various experts to clearly establish the details of the concepts, methods, procedures and practices of this system in all the areas of education, research and clinical practice.