Hi Everyone. Happy Naturopathic medicine Week to everyone! Just as I did last year I have decided to summarize the research I have posted over this year.
To begin with, let us examine this article. It is a general introduction to Naturopathic medicine summarizing the general trends of the profession. I often find that that article pairs well with the video below in explaining who we are and why Naturopathic Doctors exist.
Now in terms of research, we can look at a number of trials of the medicine in general. Examining the research on each individual intervention in general would be beyond the scope of this blog post. I would refer my readers to my page on Homeopathy and other blog posts here, here and here for information on the specific modality of Homeopathy.
One trial of whole Naturopathic medicine for lower back pain, found here, found significantly lower back pain, spinal flexion, BMI, quality of life and increased weight loss for patients receiving Naturopathic care when compared to the normal standard of care for lower back pain. Furthermore, an economic analysis, shown here, found that Naturopathic intervention in the above trial resulted in savings of $1212 to society and 1096 per individual.
A second Trial, shown here, shows Naturopathic medical treatment resulting in changes in blood chemistry that equate to a 3.07% reduced 10 year risk of a severe cardiovascular event and a 16.9% reduced frequency of metabolic syndrome. Furthermore an economic analysis, shown here, of the above trial showed a reduction of $1138 in costs to employers and $1187 to society. The results were so strong that the Journal of the Canadian Medical Association published an editorial that endorsed the idea of delegation of some aspects of cardiovascular care to Naturopathic Doctors. You can find this editorial here.
Turning to anxiety, a clinical trial was also conducted showing a decrease of 56.5% in Beck Anxiety Inventory scores in Naturopathic patients compared to a reduction of 30.5% in patient who received Psychotherapy in patients with anxiety over twelve weeks. A second trial, found here, examined the real world improvement of anxiety in a Naturopathic clinic. That trial found a decrease of 58.6% for those with a score greater than 10 on the Patient Health Questionaire Depression screen and 50% for patients who score above 10 in The Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 item scale.
Diabetes has also been examined in this way. In one trial, shown here, showed 65% of patients achieving a favorable outcome with 19% being able to stop antidiabetic medications completely. Furthermore, this trial clearly linked this to the Naturopathic intervention, with a 0.4% reduction in HA1C shown with with poor compliance to the interventions, 1.1% with moderate compliance and 1.7% with excellent compliance. For those who do not know, HA1c is a measure of glycated hemoglobin, a long term measure of blood sugar levels. Higher levels indicated higher chronic blood sugar. A second trial, shown here, in which not only did patient compliance and self care improve significantly, but HA1c also decrease relative to conventional care only at 6 and 12 months, although non-significantly.
The issue of Cost is a vast issue in Healthcare today, with both Canadian and American Healthcare systems struggling over an ever increasing cost driven mainly by aging and an accompanying burden of chronic disease. Naturopathic care trials are increasing tackling this issue, showing as we have seen the cost effectiveness of our interventions. More work must and will be done in this area, but this trend in research is summarized below in a video by Michelle Simon.
Secondly, one brand of criticism for our profession is in the deficiency of our education.Naturopathic Medical education is regulated strictly by the Council on Naturopathic Medical Education (CNME). Standards are maintained to a high degree, and only nine programs are either accredited or candidates. Usually we are compared very 
unfavorably with allopathic medical educations. However the Association of Accredited Naturopathic Medical Colleges created this webpage, in which the curricula are compared. Right we can see a graph comparing the relative hours within the education of each profession. The BCNA also composed a more detailed analysis of the relative hours within each curriculum, which can be found here. In terms of a personal experiences, that of one person who went to both Allopathic and Naturopathic Medical school. She found, in this article, the curricula compared well with one another. The one difference one can legitimately criticize is the institution of the allopathic residency. Indeed Naturopathic medical education lacks many residencies. However considering the extreme cost of such residencies, which are subsidized by the government to the approximate amount of $112 642 USD per resident, according to the following article. Naturopathic Doctors would indeed enjoy access to residencies, but unfortunately, without equal access to government funding and subsidies, this looks to be difficult due to cost.
Naturopathic medicine has experienced in the last few decades a great deal of improvement in terms of our acceptance by governments and other medical professions. One article, posted here, predicts the idea of integration between conventional and Naturopathic medicine as one of the trends in the future. The popular term for this is integrative medicine, and indeed Allopathic physicians have themselves began adopting some Naturopathic practices and modalities, a phenomenon in which Naturopathic Doctors have played a leading role (see this article).
Now, I am glad to see Naturopathic modalities gain wider traction. However I do hope that this diffusion of our philosophies is accompanied by greater scope of Practice for Naturopathic Doctors and with greater access to research funding and the instruments of public health policy. My vision of Naturopathic medicine is like that which occurs in India. The Indian medical system does not discriminate between professions as North American systems do. All Professions, such as Naturopathic Medicine, Allopathic Medicine, Homeopathy, Ayurveda, Sidda, Unani and Yoga are regulated, have Doctoral level training and possess institutions, Hospitals and in patient facilities where they treat patients, and refer when needed. A ministry of these Medical systems, called the Ministry of Ayush, exists and is currently undertaking an amazing program of research and improvement of all medical systems in the country. The following video explores the hospitals of Naturopathic medicine in India, the results they get, and some of the amazing projects undertaken there. It is my goal to see such institutions in all cities across North America.
Happy Naturopathic Medicine week to everyone. Take care of yourselves.
Image Credit. AANMC. https://aanmc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Contact-hours.png
