Hi everyone. As many of you who follow me on twitter (@DrPaulND) know, I spent the recent Naturopathic Medicine week detailing some of the research on my profession. I have decided to summarize this for a blog post to have it available for reference. These are some of the predominate trials of Natuorpathic medicine as a whole, that is our interventions done together in the clinical context.
The first trial can be accessed here. It is a trial of whole Naturopathic care ( meaning care by a Naturopathic Doctor incorporating the whole of our arsenal, Nutrition, Homeopathy, Acupuncture, Lifestyle, Counselling, and Supplementation) on the metabolic measurements used to assess the risk of a severe Cardiovascular event. The Naturopathic Program results in a reduced risk of 3.07% and a decrease in the frequency of metabolic syndrome of 16.9%, both of which are highly statistically significant.
The second trial (Click here for the link) assesses the economic impact of the above Cardiovascular trial. Including Naturopathic care resulted in a savings of $1138 to society and $1187 to employers per person per year of Naturopathic care.
These two trials prompted an editorial from the Canadian Medical Association Journal (click here to read it) which suggested that Medical Doctors delegate certain aspects of cardiovascular care to NDs due to these results.
The next trial (read here) is one comparing Naturopathic treatment of anxiety and Psychotherapy. Naturopathic care was found to be significantly more effective than psychotherapy in treatment success, although both had a good effect.
The next trial (read here) studies back pain. Naturopathic care was compared with the general standard of care for back pain ( which is exercises). Naturopathic care was significantly more effective in relieving pain, and also resulted in improved mental outlook, and weight loss. The economic analysis of this trial (read here) showed that Naturopathic care resulted in a savings of $1096 per patient in direct healthcare costs and $1212 in employer costs.
As we can see from these trials, Naturopathic medicine compares well, and often better with the standard of care in the treatment of many conditions. It also results in significant costs savings both to individuals, health spending, and employers.
More of these types of trials are underway, and we can anticipate more and more data on this subject in the future. Canadians and Albertans deserve the best care possible, especially if that care can result in significant cost savings to them and to society, and better long term health.
Our education is unto a high standard. One ND/MD recently wrote an article comparing the two educations they received. It can be found here.
As a final note, I would suggest watching this video, made by one of my Teachers, Dr Michael Prytula:
Take Care of Yourselves!
Dr Paul.