Biologically based therapies use substances found in nature, such as herbs, foods, and vitamins.

Examples include dietary supplements, herbal products, and the use of other so-called "natural" therapies ( example, using shark cartilage to treat cancer).

Herbal Medicine, the oldest known form of health care, uses plants to treat disease and promote health. Either a single herb or a mixture of different herbs can be used.

In the case of Chinese herbal medicine, mixtures can also contain minerals and animal parts.

Unlike conventional drugs, in which the active substance is extracted from the herb, herbal medicine usually makes use of the herb in its whole form. Herbal medicines are available as extracts (solutions obtained by steeping or soaking a substance, usually in water), tinctures (usually alcohol-based preparations, with the alcohol acting as a natural preservative)

Examples of some commonly used herbal medicines:

• Artichoke and several other plants reduced total serum cholesterol levels in preliminary studies.
• Black cohosh and other plants that contain phytoestrogens (plant molecules with estrogen activity) have some benefits for treatment of symptoms resulting from menopause.
• Echinacea extracts limit the length of colds in some clinical trials, although some studies have found it to have no effect.
• Garlic lowers total cholesterol levels, mildly reduces blood pressure, reduces platelet aggregation, and has antibacterial properties.[citation needed].
• St John's wort, though dangerous in incorrect doses, is more effective than a placebo for the treatment of mild to moderate depression in some clinical trials.
• Peppermint tea for problems with the digestive tract, including irritable bowel syndrome and nausea.
• Nigella sativa (Black cumin)is a generalist medicinal plant used for diverse ailments such as cough, pulmonary infections, asthma, influenza, allergy, hypertension and stomach ache. The seeds are considered carminative, stimulant, diuretic and galactogogue. It is often taken with honey. Seed powder or oil is externally applied for eruptions of skin.

Infusions (the most common method of internal herbal preparation, usually referred to as a tea). Decoctions (similar to an infusion), pills, and powders and even in a moistened cloth applied to the skin. In the United States, the government has very little oversight of herbal products and places few regulations on the industry.

Naturopathic medicine is defined as the practice of improving health through methods of treating disease, using nutrition, exercise, heat, cold, etc., that assists the natural healing processes of the body (Webster Unabridged definition).

Naturopathic physicians and traditional naturopaths

There are two groups calling themselves "naturopaths" who have recently been engaged in legal battles. The term when originally coined by John Scheel, and popularized by Dr. Benedict Lust (a German name pronounced "loost") was to apply to those receiving an education in the basic medical sciences with an emphasis on natural therapies:

• Naturopathic physicians
• Traditional" naturopaths

Naturopathic physicians

Naturopathic physicians are independent providers with training in conventional medical sciences, diagnosis and treatment, and natural therapeutics with licenses or registration granted by an individual state Naturopathic Board of Medical Examiners.

Traditional naturopaths

The traditional naturopathic doctor practices in a complementary fashion by applying natural means in an attempt to improve the patient's health. Through application of good dietary and lifestyle practices, combined with the addition of modalities such as herbalism (also known as botanical medicine), bodywork (also known as manual adjustment, physiotherapy, massage, physical medicine), spiritual and mental exercises; this type of naturopathic practitioner claims that he/she "returns control of the patient's mind and body to the patient. Naturopathic physicians consider these practices as being complementary rather than alternative.

Naturopathy is based on six tenets or principles:

"The healing power of nature"

The healing power of nature, has two aspects: first that the body has the ability to heal itself and it is the naturopathic doctor's role to facilitate this natural process, and second that nature heals. Following this principle includes getting enough sleep, exercising, feeding the body nutritional food and, if needed, additional earth food such as herbs and algae which is a living food.

"Identify and treat the cause"

The underlying root causes of disease must be removed for complete healing to take place. These root causes can exist at many levels: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. It is the naturopathic doctor's role to identify this root cause, in addition to alleviate suffering by treating symptoms.

"First do no harm"

The process of healing includes the manifestations of symptoms, so that any therapy that interferes with this natural healing process by masking symptoms is considered suppressive and should be avoided. The natural life force of the individual should be supported to facilitate healing.

"Treat the whole person"

A core tenet of naturopathy is the belief that health must go beyond treatment of immediate symptoms (as with medicine), and instead treat the entire person's well being, that is to treat the entire body, as well as the spirit and mind.

"The physician as teacher"

It is the role of the naturopath to educate an individual in their practices and encourage that individual to "take responsibility for their own health." This cooperative relationship between doctor and patient is essential to healing.

"Prevention"

The ultimate goal of the naturopathic physician is prevention. The emphasis is on building health not fighting illness. This is done by fostering healthy lifestyles, helthy beliefs, and healthy relationships.

Orthomolecular medicine or optimum nutrition, emphasizes the use of natural substances found in a healthy diet such as vitamins, dietary minerals, enzymes, antioxidants, amino acids, essential fatty acids, dietary fiber and intestinal short chain fatty acids (SCFA) in the prevention and treatment of diseases.

Orthomolecular medicine focuses on the role of proper nutrition in relation to health. Nutrition comes first in medical diagnoses and treatment, drug treatment is used only for specific indications.

Method

In orthomolecular medicine, diseases are assumed to originate from multiple nonspecific causes, congenital and acquired. These causes give rise to biochemical aberrations, the accumulation of which results in symptoms and signs, from which the perception of a disease state follows. Clinically-apparent diseases may be described as fuzzy sets of biochemical anomalies. Clearly, it is advantageous for physicians to recognize and to correct patients' small sets of biochemical anomalies at an early stage, before expansion of the anomalies results in recognizable diseases.

In practice, the orthomolecular doctor relies heavily on laboratory testing. In addition to standard clinical chemistries, orthomolecular doctors now employ a wide range of sophisticated laboratory analysis, including those for amino acids, organic acids, vitamins and minerals, functional vitamin status, hormones, immunology, microbiology, and gastrointestinal function. Many of the newer tests have not been accepted by conventional medicine.

Orthomolecular therapy consists in providing optimal amounts of substances normal to the body, most commonly by oral administration. In the early days of orthomolecular medicine, this usually meant high-dose, single-agent nutrient therapy. However, some ailments require the withholding of normal substances. Thus, "optimal" is a matter for clinical judgment. Most often, the orthomolecular practitioner employs multiple vital substances--amino acids, enzymes, non-essential nutrients, hormones, vitamins, minerals, etc.--in a therapeutic effort to restore those (or derivative substances) to levels statistically normal for healthy young persons.

Often supplementation with relatively large doses of vitamins is given and the name megavitamin therapy has become popularly associated with the field. Megavitamin therapy is the administration of large amounts of vitamins, often many times greater than the recommended dietary allowance (RDA). Short chained fatty acids are produced by fermentation of dietary fiber in the colon, then absorbed and utilized, often aided with a combination of probiotics, prebiotics and "glyconutrients" added to the diet.

The substances may be administered by changing the diet to emphasize certain elements high in nutrients, dietary supplementation with tablets, or intravenous injection of nutrient solutions.

Edited by: Kevin Hart MA

 

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