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... He also wrote extensively to foster and popularize the profession, and through his efforts, the naturopathic profession grew rapidly. [1][2][3] By the 1940s, naturopathic medicine had developed a number of 4-year medical schools and had achieved licensure in about one third of the United States, the District of Columbia, four Canadian provinces, and a number of other countries. 2,4 The profession went through a period of decline, marked with internal disunity and paralleled by the rise of biomedicine and the promise of wonder drugs. ...
... [1][2][3] By the 1940s, naturopathic medicine had developed a number of 4-year medical schools and had achieved licensure in about one third of the United States, the District of Columbia, four Canadian provinces, and a number of other countries. 2,4 The profession went through a period of decline, marked with internal disunity and paralleled by the rise of biomedicine and the promise of wonder drugs. By 1957, there was only one naturopathic college left. ...
... In this culture, standard medicine, with its growing political and economic strength, was able to force the near elimination of naturopathic medicine through the repeal or "sunsetting" of licensure acts. 1,2,11 In 1956, as the last doctor of naturopathy (ND) program ended (at the Western States College of Chiropractic), several doctors, including Drs. Charles Stone, W. Martin Bleything, and Frank Spaulding, created the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, OR, to keep the profession alive. ...
... This section gives an overview of naturopathic history to provide a contextual background for understanding the current practice of naturopathic medicine in North America. There are a number of detailed histories of the philosophy, licensing, and education of naturopathic practitioners (see Baer, 2001b;Bradley, 1999;Cody, 1999;Kirchfeld & Boyle, 1994;Schleich, 2005;Smith & Logan, 2002;Weil, 1983;Whorton, 2002). ...
... Lust fought back in his own publications. He found a receptive audience among those in the lay public who were interested in a healthy diet and followers of the natural health movement (Cody, 1999). Although allopathic physicians had gained monopolistic control over healing practices and effectively obtained "monopoly of the right to define health and illness and to treat illness" (Freidson, [1970] 1988, p. 5), Lust and his fellow naturopathic practitioners railed against allopathic dominance in health care and continued to treat patients whose diseases defied the newly established medical profession's modalities. ...
... Despite the efforts of Lust and his fellow naturopathic practitioners, naturopathic medicine continued to decline. Scientific research in the 1930s and throughout World War II led to many technological advancements in conventional medicine, such as sulfa drugs and vaccines (Cody, 1999), penicillin, insecticides, surgical advancements, and new hygienic measures (Starr, 1982, p. 335). The American public recognized that the new medical breakthroughs improved surgical outcomes and reduced mortality from infectious diseases. ...
... " Lust launched his career as the progenitor of naturopathy, adopting that name for his eclectic brand of natural therapeutics and placing the term naturopath firmly in the title of his monthly publications, which continued under his control as editor and publisher until his death in 1945. 3 One of the anomalies of Lust's work was that for at least 30 years, there was no firm definition of naturopathy; rather, Lust clearly attempted to incorporate all methods of "drugless healing" and "natural therapeutics" into his philosophy of naturopathy. This included the original concept of osteopathy devised by Dr Still and chiropractic as devised by D. D. Palmer. ...
... In Lust's view these were all pieces of naturopathy, linked together by not being "allopathic medicine. " 3,4 This "drugless" label could only incorporate Still's osteopathy in its original form, which did not incorporate a materia medic, as described, for instance, in Charles Hazzard's Principles of Osteopathy. 5 Where chiropractic was concerned, Lust's naturopathy became clearly allied with the "mixer" philosophy and both Lust and the mixers were in conflict at the time B. J. Palmer led "straights. " 4 The foundation of an integrative alternative to early 20th century-organized medicine was in "drugless healing": Allopaths used drugs, and alternative practitioners did not. ...
The foundation of an integrative alternative to early 20th century-organized medicine was in "drugless healing": Allopaths used drugs, and alternative practitioners did not. One of the earliest organizers of drugless healers as a group was Benedict Lust, the progenitor of naturopathy, who worked to amalgamate all drugless healing under the label of "naturopath." In time, it became more important to an emerging professional identity to recognize the vital force as a central tenet. But before professionalization could be successful, medical dominance would be an impediment.
... Like naturopaths, naturopathic physicians trace their history to Benedict Lust as the founding father of the profession (Baer, 1992;Cody, 1985). In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Lust expanded upon European water cure and herbal therapies to develop a comprehensive system of health care and philosophy of health. ...
... A significant decline in the popularity of naturopathy in the United States characterized the profession from post World War II until the 1970s, during which time most health care centered around the allopathic medical model. Beginning in the 1970s, increased interest in holistic and alternative health care brought about a resurgence of naturopathy (Finken, 1986;Baer, 1992;Cody, 1985;Gort and Coburn, 1988;Canadian Naturopathic Association, 1999 Naturopathy is also practiced in Germany, Great Britain, Australia, and other countries, and schools in these countries offer education and training in naturopathy. ...
... Phytochemical ingredients are the gift of nature and also a blessing to all those who are suffering from diseases and pain [62]. From the ancient times of human history, humans got their primary remedy from natural products [62,63]. Depending upon the available fauna, different ethnic groups have set up their own kind of medicinal practice [64]. ...
Parkinson's disease (PD) is an old-age neurodegenerative motor disorder characterized by resting tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, and postural instability due to degeneration of midbrain dopaminergic neurons that results in decrease in the level of neurotransmitter dopamine (DA) in the striatum. In the eighteenth century, James Parkinson first described the disease as “shaking palsy,” which was later named as PD. However, a description of equivalent parkinsonian symptoms is found in ancient Indian medical system of Ayurveda under the name Kampavata. As early as 300 BC, a coherent picture of parkinsonism was found in the Ayurvedic literature – Charaka Samhita, where head tremor (Sirakampa) and generalized tremor were described. Ayurvedic physicians used a cocktail of powdered seeds of Atmagupta (Mucuna pruriens) and Paraseekayavanee (Hyoscyamus reticulatus) with roots of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) and Bala (Sida cordifolia) in cow's milk to treat Kampavata. Presently, use of a DA precursor, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (l-DOPA), is the choice of treatment to alleviate motor symptoms of PD. However, long-term l-DOPA treatment is associated with adverse side effects, such as motor fluctuations, dyskinesia, and drug-induced toxicity. A prospective clinical trial on the effectiveness of the Ayurvedic formulation in PD patients provided significant improvement of the symptoms, which has been attributed to the presence of l-DOPA and other neuroactive components in the formulations. Thus, the recent trend of therapeutic approaches in PD research has shifted to natural products or herbal formulations that would provide independent therapy or neuroprotective support to the existing drug, where Ayurveda will be of immense significance. In this chapter, we discuss the potentials of natural products used in Ayurvedic formulations as alternative/adjuvant to the DA replenishment therapy for PD and highlighted their molecular mechanisms of action.
Nineteenth century hygiene might be a confusing concept. On the one hand, the concept of hygiene was gradually becoming an important concept that was focused on cleanliness and used interchangeably with sanitation. On the other hand, the classical notions of hygiene rooted in the Hippocratic teachings remained influential. This study is about two attempts to newly theorise such a confusing concept of hygiene in the second half of the century by Edward. W. Lane and Thomas R. Allinson. Their works, standing on the borders of self-help medical advice and theoretical treatises on medical philosophies, were not exactly scholarly ones, but their medical thoughts - conceptualised as hygienic medicine - show a characteristically holistic medical view of hygiene, a nineteenth-century version of the reinterpretation of the nature cure philosophy and vitalism. However, the aim of this study is to properly locate their conceptualisations of hygienic medicine within the historical context of the second half of the nineteenth century rather than to simply introduce the medical ideas in their books. Their views of hygiene were distinguished not only from the contemporary sanitary approach but also from similar attempts by contemporary orthodox and unorthodox medical doctors. Through a chronological analysis of changes in the concept of hygiene and a comparative analysis of these two authors’ and other medical professionals’ views of hygiene, this paper aims to help understand the complicated picture of nineteenth-century hygiene, particularly during the second half of the century, from the perspective of medical holism and reductionism.
Holistic medicine and therapeutic systems are increasingly popular health care alternatives. Reference librarians, when asked about subjects pertaining to the vast field of holistic health, have found the bibliographic resources to be obscure, confusing, and inconsistent. The first two sections of this article discuss the subject access that is provided by Library of Congress and National Library of Medicine subject headings. In the final section there is an annotated bibliography of the chief reference sources for the field. Reference librarians are encouraged to work through the difficulties of finding answers in this field and to treat such queries as typical consumer health care questions.
Naturopathic medicine is an eclectic form of primary health care that encompasses many complementary modalities in the treatment and prevention of disease. Treatment protocols are integrative in nature, combining the most suitable therapies to address the individual patient's needs. Although naturopathic physicians often are referred to as general practitioners of complementary medicine, practitioners share a common philosophical belief in the profession's founding principles. Naturopathic physicians have started to contribute to research and incorporate modern scientific methods into clinical practice, which has served to develop and validate the profession further. In contrast to many other forms of complementary medicine, naturopathic medicine is regulated partially by law. Legislation of naturopathic medicine has worked well in jurisdictions where it is legislated and has led to uniform standards of education and practice. In addition, regulation has helped with integration and naturopathic cooperation with all other branches of medical science. Within licensed jurisdictions, patients receiving naturopathic care can expect the practitioner to be held to high standards, established by state or provincial law. As alternative therapies become more integrated in nature, conventional medicine will face new challenges. Licensed naturopathic physicians are trained sufficiently to play an active role in this new primary health care team. Although the exact role has yet to be determined, the eclectic approach taken by naturopathic physicians may be of benefit in this evolutionary process.
Whereas naturopathic physicians have either "licensure" or state-mandated "registration" in 13 US states and four Canadian provinces, naturopaths in Australia have thus far failed to obtain "statutory registration" in any political jurisdiction, despite the fact that chiropractors and osteopaths have done so in all Australian states and territories, and acupuncturists and Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners have done so in the state of Victoria. Ironically, naturopathy and various other complementary medical systems are taught in many public tertiary institutions. This essay presents an overview of the development and the current socio-political status of naturopathy in Australia and its redefinition in some contexts as "natural therapies" and "natural medicine" or even as the major component of complementary medicine. It also examines reasons why the Australian state has come to express an interest in naturopathy along with other complementary medical systems.
Naturopathic medicine in the United States had its inception around the turn of the 20th century. Subsequently, it underwent a process of relatively rapid growth until around the 1930s, followed by a period of gradual decline almost to the point of extinction due to biomedical opposition and the advent of "miracle drugs." Because its therapeutic eclecticism had preadapted it to fit into the holistic health movement that emerged in the 1970s, it was able to undergo a process of organizational rejuvenation during the last two decades of the century. Nevertheless, U.S. naturopathy as a professionalized heterodox medical system faces several dilemmas as it enters the new millennium. These include (1) the fact that it has succeeded in obtaining licensure in only two sections of the country, namely, the Far West and New England; (2) increasing competition from partially professionalized and lay naturopaths, many of whom are graduates of correspondence schools; and (3) the danger of cooptation as many biomedical practitioners adopt natural therapies.