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Most services are covered by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP)
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What is Naturopathic Medicine?
Naturopathic medicine is a medical approach that mixes modern medicine and traditional medicine (Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors, 2021).
It is considered part of the complementary, integrative, or alternative medical (CAM) approaches to healthcare. This means that naturopathic medicine is an addition to modern medical treatments and not a replacement for it.
Naturopathic medicine was recognized as a branch of medicine by Ontario in 2007, through the Naturopathy Act, which established the provincial regulations governing the profession.
In Ontario, naturopathic doctors are a registered and regulated profession that requires the individual to have completed a four-year naturopathic medicine program at a recognized university (About Naturopaths – College of Naturopaths of Ontario, 2023). This program can only be accessed after having completed at least three years of university, including pre-medical classes.
Personalized Healing at Wilderman Medical Clinic
Harness the power of Naturopathic Medicine at Wilderman Medical Clinic. Get your personalized treatment plans to promote wellness from within. Whether you are seeking relief from chronic pain or support for post-surgery care, discover a path to vitality and longevity with us.
What is the Scope of Practice of a Naturopathic Doctor?
The scope of practice of a naturopathic doctor is regulated by the Naturopathy Act passed in 2007 (“Standard of Practice,” 2023; Controlled Acts – College of Naturopaths of Ontario, 2020). It outlines the exact procedures and treatments that a naturopathic doctor can perform or order. These are:
The overall scope of practice:
The assessment of a health condition to provide naturopathic treatment that promotes, restores, or maintains an individual’s health.
Controlled Acts:
- Inserting an instrument or digit into the anal or vaginal cavity without passing beyond a specified point.
- Administering a controlled and prescribed medical substance.
- Moving spinal joints beyond the normal range of motion using the appropriate, safe technique.
- Providing a naturopathic diagnosis after a naturopathic assessment. Please be aware that a naturopathic diagnostic is not medical and may not be considered valid for legal documentation.
- Drawing blood for the purposes of a naturopathic assessment.
- Prescribing, providing, mixing, or selling a drug approved for use by naturopathic doctors as per the Naturopathy Act.
A naturopathic doctor must keep up to date with the latest training, regulations, and research in their profession. The College of Naturopaths of Ontario highly suggests that any visit to a naturopath be done after having used their registered naturopathic doctor directory. This is to ensure that the individual is a qualified and registered naturopath.
Underlying Approach to Health
Naturopathic medicine approaches health issues as a symptom of a malfunctioning system (Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors, 2021). This results in a very personalized and long-term treatment plan that focuses on reinforcing and creating healthy habits while allowing the body to heal itself.
The typical treatment plan may consist of:
- Lifestyle changes to emphasize healthy habits
- Nutritional and dietary changes
- Botanical and traditional Chinese medicine
- Acupuncture/Massage/Body manipulation
- Hydrotherapy: The act of using water as a form of therapeutic support. This may include steam inhalation, hot-cold water baths, and in-water exercise programs.
At its core, naturopathic medicine considers an illness or disorder to be a process that can be reversed or stopped.
Integration of Naturopathic Medicine in Medical Treatment Plans
As a CAM, naturopathic medicine provides the best results when it is combined with modern medicine (Myers & Vigar, 2019). At the moment, there are few valid large-scale research studies that show that naturopathic medicine can provide the same or better relief than modern medicine. In the few studies directly comparing naturopathic medicine to modern medicine, the health outcomes of patients who used only naturopathic medicine were significantly worse (Block, 2021).
While there is some evidence that naturopathic medicine can provide relief for chronic conditions, the exact reason for this additional relief is unknown and may be the result of a placebo, the effect in which believing that something is working affects an individual’s symptoms (Myers & Vigar, 2019). The appearance of the placebo effect is likely caused by the fact that naturopathic doctors can spend more time with their patients, focus on creating individualized care plans that accommodate circumstances often not considered by general practitioners, and encourage patients to have a more active role in their health treatment plan.
This placebo effect has a positive impact on an individual’s health and should be considered an acceptable reason for a patient’s improvement, so long as evidence-based medical interventions are not negatively impacted by it.
In cases where the placebo effect cannot explain the results, the current theory is that naturopathic medications may act as a support for modern medications, increasing their effectiveness. This supportive effect needs further research to confirm which herbs or supplements may best support specific medications and/or treatments.
Here are some health conditions that may benefit from the addition of naturopathic medicine:
- Chronic pain (Hassan et al., 2019)
- Anxiety (Breed & Bereznay, 2017)
- Post-surgery care (Lederer et al., 2018)
- Type 2 diabetes (Myers & Vigar, 2019)
- Cardiovascular disease
- Menopause-related symptoms
- Cancer-related side effects (Greenlee et al., 2017)
Many of the reasons identified for the benefits of naturopathic medicine can be found and applied without visiting a naturopathic doctor. These include mental health therapy, lifestyle changes that are commonly suggested as part of modern medicine, and dietary changes.
Individuals who seek out naturopathic doctors are more likely to implement these changes over the short term, though there is little to no evidence of the beneficial impact over the long term (Myers & Vigar, 2019).
The main advantage of integrating naturopathic medicine into your treatment plan is that the naturopath will be able to spend more time with you. This allows for your treatment plan to be adjusted based on your specific needs and circumstances without interfering with your care. For example, while physical activity is often recommended for a variety of health conditions, a naturopath will help you identify what kind of exercise you can safely do and more easily access.
Wilderman Medical Clinic Integration with Naturopathic Medicine
The Wilderman Medical Clinic has a naturopathic doctor onsite, Dr. Shiva Jamshidi (ND). Dr. Jamshidi provides naturopathic medicine for a variety of health conditions, including pain management.
Please be aware that naturopathic doctor visits are not covered by OHIP. Some private medical insurance may cover naturopathic medicine.
Reference
About Naturopaths – College of Naturopaths Of Ontario. (2023, July 27). College of Naturopaths of
Ontario. https://www.collegeofnaturopaths.on.ca/public/about-naturopaths/
Block, K. I. (2021). Does adjunctive naturopathic care decrease survival rates in breast cancer patients?
Integrative Cancer Therapies, 20, 153473542110583. https://doi.org/10.1177/15347354211058399
Breed, C., & Bereznay, C. (2017). Treatment of Depression and Anxiety by naturopathic physicians: An
observational study of naturopathic medicine within an Integrated Multidisciplinary community health
Center. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 23(5), 348–354.
https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2016.0232
Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors. (2021, December 7). About Naturopathic Medicine –
Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors. Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors -.
https://www.cand.ca/about-naturopathic-medicine/
Controlled Acts – College of Naturopaths Of Ontario. (2020, November 24). College of Naturopaths of
Ontario. https://www.collegeofnaturopaths.on.ca/members/standards-guidelines/controlled-acts/
Greenlee, H., DuPont-Reyes, M. J., Balneaves, L. G., Carlson, L. E., Cohen, M., Deng, G., Johnson, J. A.,
Mumber, M. P., Seely, D., Zick, S. M., Boyce, L., & Tripathy, D. (2017). Clinical practice guidelines on the
evidence-based use of integrative therapies during and after breast cancer treatment. CA: A Cancer
Journal for Clinicians, 67(3), 194–232. https://doi.org/10.3322/caac.21397
Hassan, S., Zheng, Q. A., Rizzolo, E., Tezcanli, E., Bhardwaj, S., & Cooley, K. (2019). Does integrative
medicine reduce prescribed opioid use for chronic pain? A Systematic Literature review. Pain Medicine,
21(4), 836–859. https://doi.org/10.1093/pm/pnz291
Lederer, A., Schmucker, C., Kousoulas, L., Fichtner-Feigl, S., & Huber, R. (2018). Naturopathic treatment
and complementary medicine in surgical practice. Deutsches Arzteblatt International.
https://doi.org/10.3238/arztebl.2018.0815
Myers, S. P., & Vigar, V. (2019). The State of the Evidence for Whole-System, Multi-Modality
Naturopathic Medicine: A Systematic Scoping Review. Journal of Alternative and Complementary
Medicine, 25(2), 141–168. https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2018.0340
Raddysh, M. E., & Delgado, D. (2021). Integrating supplementation in the management of patients with
heart failure: an evidence-based review. Expert Review of Cardiovascular Therapy, 19(10), 891–905.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14779072.2021.1999806
Standard of Practice. (2023). In The College of Naturopaths of Ontario.
http://www.collegeofnaturopaths.on.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Standard-Scope-of-Practice.pdf
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