Naturopathic Medicine
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Naturopathy - where it all began
- by Jennifer Weekes ND Bach
Naturopathic medicine is the modern term for traditional medicine that dates back to Hippocrates and Galen philosophies . A Bavarian priest, Father Sebastian Kneipp was the founder of Naturecure in the 1880's, establishing a health sanctuary in Germany that encompassed cleansing of the body, mind and spirit. Kneipp's philosophies were simple and encompassed nurturing the body, mind and spirit plus a simple diet, spartan lifestyle and water therapies. German born Benedict Lusk was residing in the US when he became ill and returned to his homeland for treatment at Father Kneipp's clinic, where he returned to good health. After returning to the USA, Lusk studied osteopathy and homeopathy before establishing the first College of Naturopathy in 1918. He also published a health magazine promoting natural healing. At that time medicine was still practising some barbaric therapies such as blistering and bleeding, and although some good medicinal herbs were in use, the pharmacopia also included a range of toxic poisons such as arsenic, mercury and bromide and iatrogenic death (doctor induced) was very high. Hygiene was poor prior to Louis Paseur’s research into bacteria and cross infection in 1880, and was yet to be recognised internationally.
People with incurable illnesses flocked to Dr Lusk’s health retreat for detoxification treatments involving hydrotherapy, saunas, colonic lavage, and cleansing diets. The traditional philosophy of naturopathic detoxification was quite harsh and included an inflammatory stage that produced a great deal of pain and fever, followed by a secretory stage involving mucous, pus, diaphoresis and diarrhoea. This process was described as a "healing crisis". During such stages of any illness we are quite ill and and it would not be ethical for a naturopath to practice aggressive detoxification in Australia. Although modern medicine aims to suppress this process with antibiotics and analgesic drugs, inhibiting the body’s ability to detoxify, ancient healers such as Hippocrates respected the body’s own self-healing mechanisms and traditional herbs are documented for their role in supporting these processes rather than suppression.
Dr Lusk set up a teaching clinic in New York and soon became famous. More history at bottom of this page.
Because Dr Lusk proved he was a successful healer, he became unpopular with the American Medical Association who tried to close down his operations. Although his philosophies are still respected, today natural therapies operate in a much gentler and safer mode with strict education and ethics “to do no harm”. When certain unsafe practises were exposed more than a decade ago, higher education standards were introduced in Australia, USA and UK for education and registration of natural therapists. To become registered as a naturapth in Queensland, it is necessary to complete a bachelor degree either at a university or VETEC approved college of natural medicine. Core studies include anatomy, physiology, clinical medicine, pharmacology, chemistry, nutrition, and counselling, along with traditional medicine subjects that include herbal medicine, homeopathy, iridology and massage therapies.
We now know a lot more about cellular detoxification and the need to support metabolic pathways with materials such as lucein and taurine that would be deficient during a vegetable juice fast due to the absence of dietary protein. Although pioneers in the industry were, to a large degree, very successful in curing a large percentage of their patients, controversy was rife among orthodox doctors due to a number of fatalities, frail and terminally ill people unable to withstand such spartan methods of treatment but unlikely to have survived mainstream treatments of the time due to the lack of hygeine, aggressive treatments and toxic chemicals.
Because of the occasional mishaps that occur due to a lack or regulation within the industry, unqualified, unethical charlatans that pass themselves off as naturopaths, sometimes tarnish the industry due to medical misconduct and quackery. Therefore it may be a long time before naturopathy gains its much deserved respect as a profession by the AMA.
Professional organisions that govern registration of natural therapies such as ANTA and ATMS are working hard with government bodies and private health funds to guide the industry in the right direction and try to police the profession, making it more difficult for unqualified therapists to diagnose, treat and dispense complementay medicine. If a "naturopath" is unable to provide a receipt for a private health fund rebate, it is unlikely he or she is a government accredited and licensed practitioner.
Having a nursing background spanning four decades from 1959 - 2001, I witnessed dramatic changes within mainstream medicine. Modern technology has also modernised naturopathy, giving practitioners the opportunity to implement some very hi-tech diagnostic equipment and improve health outcomes. Certain modern testing devices and diagnostic tools are invaluable for treatment validation and client trust.
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How I Practise as a Naturopath
Initial naturopathic consultations involve an in depth history and health assessment including tongue and pulse diagnosis. Iridology is a useful assessment tool for constitutional weaknesses. Various tests such as allergy and organ testing using LISTEN, zinc levels, urinalysis and ionic heavy metal testing, hemaview live blood microscopy, thyroid appraisal, blood glucose testing, ABO blood cross matching and bioimpedence analysis are important benchmarks for evaluation of health and wellness. I try to find health solutions through dietary and lifestyle changes that support digestion and liver detoxification as well as elimination pathways. Many of my patients have found health benefits by selecting foods from the blood group diet, and although a great deal of research is required to prove the efficacy of this philosophy, it is thought that people of certain blood types are better suited to certain food groups from ancestral adaptation that is better tolerated by their immune system.
Carefully selected herbal and homeopathic formulas often provide support and relief from symptoms and help with the body's defense mechanism and self regulation.
A frequenly asked question is "how can I survive as a naturopath with so much competition for natural medicine in the retail industry?" The answer is VERY WELL THANKYOU ! The market is virtually flooded with health supplements in retail outlets as well as online and mail order suppliers with a naturopathic hotline. That is all to do with selling and nothing to do with fixing people up. There is always some new gimmicky wonder food such as goji berries (part of the ancient chinese pharmacopea) and when there is more money to be made out of a new (ancient) discovery to con the public, the companies move on to a new line until the market again becomes flooded.
My patients have been there and done that, whether it be menopause, weight loss fad dieting etc and are generally fed up with wasting their money on inferior and inappropriate products. Many chemists and health food shops employ a naturopath to give over –the –counter advice that enables them to sell practitioner standard products of a higher quality. However, I am reluctant to give counter advice for more than a multi-vitamin, since so much history is missed and so little help can be achieved.
Part of the reason most self-prescribed products prove ineffective, is inaccurate diagnosis and prescription. Most retail supplements contain very minute dosages and quality and if they do no harm they also do no good. That is why my patients are grateful for the privilege of paying for my services and getting the right diagnosis and appropriate treatment, and that is why they call in especially to thank me, because they are feeling so great and telling their friends about Bribie Natural Health Clinic.
NB: no claims are made for cures to irreversivble degenerative diseases and cancer. Natural Therapies can reduce symptoms and slow disease processes. Regulations for Natural Therapies allow external physical assessments that do not include inspection of the genital regions, nor internal examinations. Treatments for such problems as genital herpes and prostrate problems would require medical diagnosis by a registered medical doctor. Natural therapies are aimed at supporting wellness, improving immunity, digestion and detoxification pathways thus reducing inflammation and pain and increasing vitality. Alternative medicin includes herbal medicine, homeopathy and nutraceuticals plus certain approved medical equipment to support healing such as FS microcurrent therapy and Bioptron Light Therapy. Naturopathy does NOT include any form of intra-venous therapy or medical drugs. Jennifer is registered as a mesotherapist that allows the injecting of sterile saline sub-cutanoeosly with the consent of her patients. This is a non medicare provider service that can be claimed as acupuncture or naturopathic treatment through private health fund extras only.
Bribie Health Clinic provides access to HICAPs from private health funds affiliated with the scheme. HICAPs takes all the paper work out of private health fund rebates. The card is swiped and the patient pays the gap.
READ ON for more history
Bachelor of Health Sciences Naturopathy ANTA Professional Registration
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MORE HISTORY
"Nature has provided us generously with everything we need to remain in good health."- Sebastian Kneipp
Based on this conviction, Sebastian Kneipp (1821-1897), a naturopath and priest, created a life philosophy that sees man going about his daily habits and routines in his natural habitat as an inseparable entity. Sebastian Kneipp’s holistic approach is still of increasing relevance today.
At the age of 28, Sebastian Kneipp cured himself of a severe case of tuberculosis. At that time, the disease was usually fatal, but Kneipp came across an eighteenth-century book about hydrotherapy that inspired him to immerse himself several times a week in the icy Danube River. These brief exposures to cold water seemed to bolster his immune system. His tuberculosis went into remission and so he dedicated the rest of his long life to harnessing the healing power of water, specific plants and herbs.
The years from 1855 to 1880 were a very significant period in Kneipp’s life. His success in healing himself motivated him to combine and extend his tried and tested water treatments. This he did by observing and carrying out numerous tests on himself and his patients in order to create a successful preventative and curative concept with constantly improved and refined methods. His treatments included cold rinses, water stepping, hot and cold half and full baths, contrast baths as well as hot and cold wet packs and compresses.
Advanced in years, Sebastian Kneipp became friends and close partners with a Würzburg pharmacist who shared his conviction using naturopathic medicine and healing remedies. Using natural plant essences and other pure ingredients as a base, they created the formulas that still, to this day, constitute the basis for many of our products.
In 1891, Sebastian Kneipp entrusted his friend and fellow pharmacist with the legacy of his lifelong studies by granting him the exclusive right to develop, produce, and sell products “under the name and with the image of Father Sebastian Kneipp“. This contract formed the foundation for the Kneipp Group of today.
Sebastian Kneipp died in Bad Wörishofen on 17 June 1897 at the age of 76. At the time, together with Emperor Wilhelm II and Bismarck he was one of the three most famous people in the German empire.
Sebastian Kneipp
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Benedict Lust
(1872–1945) German healer, Benedict Lust, is credited with naming the natural medical technique of naturopathy. He was married to Louisa Lust who was a student of another naturopathy pioneer, Arnold Rikli.
Benedict, who was born in Germany in 1872, immigrated to the United States in 1892 but returned to his native Germany when he contracted tuberculosis. In Germany he met Father Sebastian Kneipp who treated and cured Lust using hydrotherapy. Lust subsequently returned to the United States as Kneipp's representative to publicize the cure. He founded the Water Cure Institute in New York City and established Kneipp Societies throughout the United States.
Lust acquired degrees in osteopathy and medicine and drew from his combined knowledge to devise the healing art of naturopathy. In 1901 he organized the Naturopathic Society of America, and he founded the American School of Naturopathy. He purchased the rights to the term naturopathy from John H. Scheel in 1902 and publicized himself as a naturopath. Lust's school initially offered a two-year, post-graduate curriculum and later expanded into a four-year residential program. The school received a charter in 1905 and, thereafter, awarded degrees in naturopathy and chiropractic. Lust established a second school devoted to teaching the principles of massage and physiotherapy. Additionally he offered home-study courses in naturopathy and started a magazine about naturopathy.
Lust later reorganized the Naturopathic Society of America at the national level, calling the group the American Institute of Naturopathy. Likewise in 1919, he combined the independent Kneipp Societies into a unified group, called the American Naturopathic Association (ANA). In 1921 the ANA elected Lust to a lifetime term as president of the society. Benedict Lust, a staunch proponent of natural healing and natural food remedies, championed the cause of the naturopath and spent much of his lifetime battling the American Medical Association for legitimacy.
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Read on for more information on the medical practises that evolved following Louis Pasteur's "germ theory"
Sir Joseph Lister
"The Father Of Modern Surgery"
The hospital environment has not always been a place of sterility and extreme cleanliness that is associated with it so readily today. Prior to the work of Joseph Lister, the hospital was a place to go to die, not to be cured. If an individual was able to survive the pain and torture of surgery without anesthesia, a postoperative infection would most certainly be their ultimate demise. Thanks to Joseph Lister, later known as Baron Lister, a hospital is now a place of healing and cleanliness, not one of death and filth.
Surgery Using Lister’s Carbolic Acid Sprayer
Although many were slow to adopt Lister’s theory of invisible germs causing surgical infections, it was clear from the greatly increased surgical survival rates that his methods worked. At the time, Lister’s theories were controversial because many 19th century surgeons were unwilling to accept something they could not see – germs – as the culprit. Also, perhaps another reason that surgeons were slow to pick up on Lister’s methods was the fact that carbolic acid had a very strong and unpleasant smell. Sir Joseph Lister was invited to speak at a medical conference during the U.S. Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. This event celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and showcased advancements in technology and innovation, among other things. In the audience was Robert Wood Johnson the first, who immediately grasped the importance of Lister’s work and saw an opportunity to create and market the world’s first sterile surgical dressings.
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Asepsis Secundum Artem*
(* “According to the Art of Asepsis”)
Johnson & Johnson manufactured the first-ever sterile surgical dressings, but what did that really mean? Let’s take a look… Surgery in the 19th century was risky and dangerous, and patients undergoing even the most routine operations literally took their lives in their hands. The primary reason surgery was so dangerous was because it was not sterile. The operating room, the surgeon’s hands, and the surgical instruments were full of germs, which caused extremely high levels of mortality. Surgeons in the mid-1800’s often operated wearing their street clothes, without washing their hands.
19th Century Surgeon’s Coat with Needle in Lapel
They frequently used ordinary sewing thread to suture wounds, and stuck the needles in the lapels of their frock coats in between patients. Surgical dressings were also unsterilized, and were often made up of surplus cotton or jute from the floors of cotton mills. It was against this background that French scientist Louis Pasteur demonstrated that invisible organisms caused disease.
Louis Pasteur Sir Joseph Lister
Pasteur’s work influenced the eminent English surgeon Sir Joseph Lister, who applied Pasteur’s germ theory to surgery, thus founding modern antiseptic surgery. To disinfect, Lister used a solution of carbolic acid, which was sprayed around the operating theater by a handheld sprayer.
Robert Wood Johnson
Johnson already was in the medical products business, and his personal experience of having two brothers who fought in the Civil War with its terrible medical conditions also may have spurred him to think about ways to improve surgery. When he and his brothers started Johnson & Johnson in 1886, sterile surgical dressings were among the Company’s first products, as were sterile sutures.
Fred Kilmer published a treatise on sterile wound care in 1897 called “Asepsis Secundum Artem,” Latin for “According to the Art of Asepsis.” Kilmer’s treatise was widely read. A great deal of the scientific data in it was developed in the Johnson & Johnson Bacteriological Laboratory, which had been built to test and enhance improvements in sterilization techniques. The advent of the Company’s sterile surgical dressings and sutures in the market, and its ongoing improvements in sterilization methods, greatly reduced surgical mortality rates.
One of the Aseptic Rooms in the Company’s Early Laboratories
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Eighteenth Century Medicine
In the winter of 1818 Mary Way (1769-1833), a painter of portrait miniatures, was working in New York City and going blind,1) She was being treated by an orthodox physician and thus endured "the usual routine of bleeding, blistering, &c." In December she described the pain of the blistering that was part of the treatment:
My neck is now broiling and smarting with blisters, and literally speaking I have my part in the lake that burns with fires and brimstone, for I can compare it to nothing else.
Blistering was produced by a harsh irritant placed on the skin - most likely cantharides, or powdered Spanish flies - causing a second-degree burn. The procedure was believed to draw disease from within the body to the surface of the skin in the form of blood and pus. Painful as it was, blistering was one of the common procedures early Americans endured in the hope of regaining health.
There were alternatives to such painful treatments. Americans in fact had a wide array of choices when it came to ministering to their health. Their own home remedies usually came first, but for serious illness they sought outside help. The healing properties of water, steam, vegetable compounds, patented nostrums, and electricity were some of the unorthodox methods of healing to which Americans subscribed. In addition, there were many healers skilled in American Indian, African, and European traditions of folk medicine.
It was, however, practitioners of orthodox medicine who claimed the most prestige in healing - a claim that convinced many Americans and made others wary. The tools and equipment orthodox doctors used might today be viewed as curious, if not gruesome, but in their time they were widely believed to be essential. These instruments of intervention help give us some insight into the attitudes and values of early Americans regarding the care of their bodies before the development of X rays and antibiotics.
Most of the theory and virtually all of the practice of orthodox medicine in early America stemmed from the humoral theory of the body, which originated in ancient Greece. It was based on the correspondence between the four elements of nature (fire, water, air, and earth) and the four bodily fluids, or humors (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile). The humoral system was also correlated to the four primary qualities (hot, dry, cold, and wet), the four seasons, and the four temperaments. A body was healthy, it was believed, as long as it maintained internal equilibrium among the four humors. Illness was caused by an imbalance among the humors. The role of medical treatment then was to restore the balance of bodily fluids - a notion that influenced medical thinking for centuries.
By the early nineteenth century some practitioners of orthodox medicine had taken the humoral theory to a new extreme in what was known as heroic medicine. Named for its boldly experimental methods, heroic medicine was promoted here by Benjamin Rush (1745-1813), the founding father of American medicine. A Philadelphia-born physician who had studied in Edinburgh, Rush believed that all disease was the result of tension and congestion in the arteries and that the key to relief was massive bloodletting, or phlebotomy (derived from the Greek words for "vein" and "to cut"). Other treatments used by heroic physicians were blistering, purging, and vomiting. Blistering was thought to bring up poisoned blood. Purging was achieved with laxatives such as castor oil or the more powerful calomel (mercurous chloride), a drug that often led to the loss of hair and teeth from acute mercury poisoning. Vomiting was induced by strong emetics such as ipecac or tartar emetic.
The administration of such foul-tasting physics was not easy, and sometimes force was needed. The medicine or invalid spoon shown in Plate I is a form designed by Charles Gibson in London in 1827 and was primarily used for difficult patients, children, or the insane. Made in the form of a wedge to force open the patients' teeth if they resisted, the spoon was filled with medicine through the hinged lid and held there by the doctor or caregiver covering the end of the hollow handle with his or her thumb. When the spoon was inside the patient's mouth, the thumb was removed and the medicine flowed out of the spoon.
The heroic regime of bleeding, blistering, purging, and vomiting was fashionable in the United States from the 1790s until the mid-nineteenth century. It was Rush's zeal for bleeding that led to the widespread use of such implements as the spring lancet shown in Plate VI. Whether ornately engraved or plain, the razor-sharp blade was forced into the patient's vein by the spring mechanism. Unlike simple thumb lancets , spring lancets did not require the operator to use force and were easier to use by those less skilled in anatomy because the depth of the cut was controlled and the operator was less likely to sever the vein.
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