Naturopathy began as a formal health care discipline in the United States during the early 1900s. Founded on the healing power of nature, naturopathy emphasizes
Prevention and treatment of disease through a healthy lifestyle
Treatment of the whole patient
Use of the body’s natural healing abilities
Some of this system’s principles are not that different from those of traditional healing systems such as Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine.
Naturopathy uses a combination of therapies, including acupuncture, counseling, exercise therapy, botanicals, hydrotherapy, nutrition, physical therapies (eg, heat or cold therapy, ultrasound, massage), guided imagery, and stress management.
The Association of Accredited Naturopathic Medical Colleges (AANMC) encourages using vaccinations according to guidelines from authoritative sources (eg, United States Public Health Service) when contraindications are lacking, including the COVID vaccine (see AANMC Statement on COVID-19 Immunization).
(See also Overview of Integrative, Complementary, and Alternative Medicine.)
Evidence for Naturopathy
Many naturopathic diagnostic and treatment methods have limited or low-quality evidence. Intravenous vitamin C infusions are commonly given by naturopathic providers despite lack of high-quality evidence for efficacy (1), although the therapy appears to be safe (2). Many of the studies of the naturopathic approach are small but have demonstrated non-inferiority to conventional medicine approaches and cost effectiveness at times. The whole-system, whole-patient philosophy approach of naturopathy has shown benefit in patients with heart disease, pain, type 2 diabetes, and mental health and other chronic health conditions (3).
References
1. Fritz H, Flower G, Weeks L: Intravenous vitamin C and cancer: a systematic review. Integr Cancer Ther 13(4):280-300, 2014. doi: 10.1177/1534735414534463
2. van Gorkom GNY, Lookermans EL, Van Elssen CHMJ, et alNutrients 11(5):977, 2019. doi: 10.3390/nu11050977
3. Myers SP, Vigar V: The state of the evidence for whole-system, multi-modality naturopathic medicine: A systematic scoping review. J Altern Complement Med 25(2):141-168, 2019. doi: 10.1089/acm.2018.0340
