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Naturopathy
provides holistic, or whole body, health care by taking advantage of resources
drawn from numerous traditional healing systems. Dating back to the early
part of the 20th century, naturopathy is organized around three fundamental
principles: the physician should strive to aid the body's natural healing
abilities; the root cause of an illness should be addressed rather than
its symptoms; and above all, only therapies that cause no harm should
be used (which means that toxic drugs and surgery are avoided whenever
possible).
A naturopathy doctor, or N.D., may pay considerable attention to a patient's
lifestyle, since naturopathy theory holds that physical, psychological
and even spiritual elements can all contribute to disease. In treating
patients, the naturopathic practitioner may use a number of alternative
therapies, including homeopathy, herbal remedies, traditional Chinese
medicine, spinal manipulation, nutrition, hydrotherapy, massage and exercise.
Doctors of naturopathy train at accredited four-year naturopathy medical
schools. The first two years include many of the same core science classes
as regular medical schools, while the final two years focus on training
in natural healing techniques.
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