Naturopathic Medicine Archives - Page 11 of 13 - Plattsville Natural Health Clinic

Training of Naturopathic Doctors

June 9, 2015 by elisha

Throughout my training and practice of Naturopathic Medicine, I have encountered many people who were surprised to find that Naturopathic Doctors (NDs) not only used a Stethoscope, but were also trained to diagnose different conditions. As a result, I wanted to clear the air on how Naturopathic doctors are trained, and how they might compare to other health care providers.

Requirements to be a Naturopathic Doctor

In order to enter Post graduate training to become a naturopathic doctor, one needs to have graduated from a three to four year university program. Typically, it is required to have had pre – medical sciences in that training, with specific courses in biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, psychology, and biochemistry. With these requirements being met, and an application being received and reviewed, an individual may receive an interview from the college. This interview involves questioning about ethical dilemmas and reasons for wanting to enter the program.

As long as the individual is accepted into the program, they will then begin their four year training. Once the training is complete, which includes 4,500 hours of classroom training and 1,500 hours of clinical experience, the individual is then required to pass NPLEX board exams.

Once license is obtained, the individual will be able to retain this licence with appropriate continuing medical education training on a regular basis.

Below is a chart distributed through the AANMC, which compares the hours of training between various health care professions. As one can see, MDs and NDs have very similar amounts of training as health care providers.

Source: http://aanmc.org/schools/comparing_nd_md_curricula/

Training of Naturopathic Doctors

In the naturopathic specific education, individuals are trained in basic sciences, clinical disciplines (including diagnostics, radiology, laboratory diagnosis, and naturopathic assessment), naturopathic disciplines (including clinical nutrition, botanical medicine, traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture, homeopathic medicine, hydrotherapy, naturopathic manipulation, and lifestyle counselling), and clinical experience (including treating patients under the supervision of a registered naturopathic doctor).

What all of this means is that Naturopathic Doctors are trained to diagnose different medical conditions, similar to what your medical doctor might diagnose. NDs are also able to read and interpret lab work, similar to your medical doctor. That being said, you could say that NDs are highly skilled and trained health care providers. Below I have provided a chart that was distributed by the AANMC, which compares the training of Naturopathic Doctors versus Medical Doctors and how they may differ.

Source: http://aanmc.org/schools/comparing_nd_md_curricula/

Another difference in training between MDs and NDs is in regards to residency. Both professions have 4 years of training, but in regards to the residency, It is mandatory for MDs but not for NDs due to the lack of available residencies available for NDs. In addition, NDs and MDs are trained to treat and look at patient cases differently. That being said, this blog is not meant to prove that NDs are equal or superior to MDs, but to provide more information as to what your ND is qualified to do. With the training that a naturopathic doctor is given, they are able to help you with all of your primary care needs, and are able to distinguish when referral to your MD or other health care providers may be necessary (for example when you might need antibiotics). The primary health care needs may include treatment of such conditions and symptoms as fatigue, high blood pressure, depression, diabetes, asthma, allergies, anxiety, pain, constipation, inflammatory bowel disease, bloating, indigestion, menstrual problems, acne, psoriasis, arthritis, and the list goes on. If you have any more questions about what your Naturopathic Doctor can do for you please do not hesitate to contact me (Elisha Cook) through the contact portion of this website.

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Some of the information provided above may not be appropriate for everyone, please consult with your doctor before trying any of the above. If you are interested in Naturopathic Medicine and wanting a different approach to your health care needs, please contact Elisha Cook for more information.

Source: http://aanmc.org/schools/comparing_nd_md_curricula/

Natural Remedies for Athlete’s Foot

May 5, 2015 by elisha

Summer is a great season for playing sports, getting out, and being active. With all of the excess heat, moving around, and protective gear, Athletes’ Foot can often result. You might be asking “What exactly is Athletes’ Foot, and how do I know if I have it?” It is my hope that this blog will provide you with the information you need to identify it in yourself and your family, and give you some time tested home remedies that I and my family have found useful.

What is Athletes’ Foot?

Athletes’ Foot is a form of a fungal infection that can affect the skin between the toes, and possibly spread to the toe nails. Often, you might experience itching and burning pain, with skin scaling and areas of white skin. As mentioned above, this can spread to the toe nails, where a build-up of debris can begin underneath the toe nail and even cause the toe nail to fall off.

What can I do to prevent?

First and foremost is prevention. Making sure the area is kept as dry as possible is important for preventing it from occurring. Several ways that you can do this is making sure you wear “fresh” socks (not reusing socks after a day’s worth of use), and drying your feet thoroughly after a showering. Some people have even used baking soda in their shoes to make sure that their feet stay dry.

What can I do at home to treat this?

There are quite a few different ways you can treat this at home. Below, I have provided several different treatments my family and I have used at home with success!

Tea Tree Oil

Tea tree oil can be applied directly to the area in order to treat the fungal infection. Alternatively, 2 drops of tea tree oil can be put into a foot bath. For the foot bath, simply leave your feet soaking in warm water (to your tolerance) for 15-20 minutes.

Epsom Salt Foot Bath

Not only are Epsom salt foot baths useful for athletes’ foot, but it is also a great way to relax after a long day at work. The salt will help kill off any infection, as well, the magnesium will help to soothe the area.

Black Tea Foot Bath

I like using black tea foot baths to treat athletes’ foot, because not only is it effective, but most people have tea bags at home that they can use without trying to find specific ingredients or products that they have never even heard of let alone used at a store. You simply add 1-2 tea bags to your hot foot bath and let soak for 15-20 minutes.

Garlic

Though this treatment can be a bit messy, it is quite effective for treating fungal infections. To apply garlic to the area, you can mince it and apply it directly to the skin. The caution I would give to you for this is that it might burn and be uncomfortable. I would use this as a last resort if the other home remedies did not work first, because of the possible discomfort involved with this.

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Transitions: End of One Journey, the Beginning of Another

April 28, 2015 by elisha

As most of you may know, this is my last week of internship at the Robert Schad Naturopathic Clinic. The feeling really is bitter sweet. I will miss many of the wonderful people that I have had the pleasure of walking with, but I also embrace the opportunity to be back home and transition into the next phase of my life.

This past year has been quite the journey, full of ups and downs. I have learned much about myself, patient care, and the healing capabilities that everyone has. I have laughed with many, cried with some, and cheered on many who strived for better in regards to their health. Often I feel we take for granted those opportunities in life that we each have to walk with others, speak encouraging words, and cheer others on as they run their race. I am so blessed to have had this position where I can embrace this opportunity to provide hope. I so appreciate the opportunity I have had to be in the position with so many patients, and I would like to thank each of you for allowing me to be a part of your healing journey. Though you may not realize it, you have taught me a great deal and I appreciate the lessons taught. I also appreciate the vulnerability each of these patients showed in the sense that they opened up about themselves and the aspect of their lives that they may not have been so fond of. I also want to thank you for being a part of my growth and development into the practitioner that I will become.

From here, I will go back home, prepare for my board and licensing exams, and pursue the career that I have always dreamed of, which is becoming a Naturopathic Doctor. I will keep you all updated as to when that dream becomes a reality (hopefully November 2015), where I will be, and how I can support you through your journey. For now, I will continue to write blogs, provide information, and stay in touch with you. If you are interested in subscribing to my blogs, send me an email through the contact portion of this website, indicating that you would like to be on the mailing list.

Finally, I want to thank you all for being a part of these past four years, and for helping me to grow, learn, and become who I am today. Thank you and God Bless. – Elisha Cook

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Naturopathic Approaches for Depression

March 31, 2015 by elisha

Depression can be a very crippling condition to experience despite it being classified as a mental health condition. However, there are treatments that can help, that can be provided through your naturopathic doctor. A Naturopathic doctor can use the following therapies to achieve therapeutic benefits in depression:

Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture
Botanical Medicine
Nutrition, Diet and Lifestyle
Hydrotherapy
Homeopathy
Physical Medicine

Ultimately, the goal of treatment will be to treat the root cause of disease. This will be different for each individual based on the cause of depression for that specific individual, eg nutrient deficiency vs. grief. As a result, the following list offers examples as to what goals might be developed for a treatment plan for an individual:

Correct for deficiencies
Reduce stress or Improve stress management
Improve coping mechanisms
Improve mood
Alter lifestyle and diet to increase mood and reduce stress
Improve gut microbiology and digestion

How can Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) help?

TCM views the body differently than western medicine. TCM theory suggests that when there is an imbalance in the body system, disease manifests. Each “organ” is associated with an emotion: Heart with joy and is the center of one’s personality, liver with anger, spleen with worry, lungs with grief, and kidneys with fear. As one can see, all of these organs could play a part in depression, and so, individual cases are taken, and the root cause is determined. Once a specific diagnosis is made, a treatment plan is created, and may involve using acupuncture, herbal formulas, diet, or lifestyle, all with the purpose of bringing the body back into a state of balance.

Specifically regarding acupuncture, acupuncture has been shown in some studies to be beneficial for depression and decreasing symptoms associated with depression. The following link offers one such study where benefits were received from acupuncture. http://www.i-healthbenelux.nl/pages/comp.concept/Clin_Psychiatry_2006.pdf

How can Botanical Medicine help?

Botanical formulas have similar effects to medications, often without the side effects, however this is not true for all herbs and plants. Specific herbs or plants will be selected based on their properties and combined based on the specific individual’s presentation of depression. For example, one person may need help with sleep, where as one may need help with stress, both in combination with needing help with mood. Some beneficial properties that some useful herbs may have include: nervine, anti – depressant effect, sedative and adaptogenic.

There are several plants that have more research behind them in regards to their use in depression, but other plants exist that are effective as well. Research has shown that such plants are beneficial for various degrees of depression. The following link offers one such study where the benefits of various plants were outlined: http://www.europeanneuropsychopharmacology.com/article/S0924-977X(11)00071-X/abstract

How can Nutrition and Diet help?

Depression can be aggravated or caused by various nutritional deficiencies. Therefore, it may be necessary to correct for these deficiencies in order to treat the root cause of the depression. In addition, various changes to one’s diet can help to improve mood and decrease inflammation (and thereby decrease inflammation in the body, which may contribute to the depression). Based on your specific case, several classes of action may be recommended for you, and thus foods or supplements recommended. These actions might include: anti-oxidant, mood – boosting, or anti – inflammatory.

Research has shown that not only are nutritional deficiencies associated with depressive symptoms, but specific dietary patterns can be associated with depression. For example, diets that were higher in fruits and vegetables were associated with less depressive symptoms, where as diets that were deemed lower in fruits and vegetables were more likely to be associated with depression (http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1475-2891-8-31.pdf).

How can Hydrotherapy help?

Hydrotherapy involves alternating hot and cold water applications to achieve the following goals: promote detoxification and relaxation, increase circulation, improve immune system functioning, promote digestion, and decrease pain. Based on all of the following actions, hydrotherapy could be beneficial for depression based on different root causes. For example, if an individual is depressed because they are stressed, hydrotherapy may be beneficial by helping the individual to relax.

Hydrotherapy can be performed via a number of methods: constitutional hydrotherapy, sauna, peat bath, Epsom salt baths, or alternating hot and cold showers. These therapies may not be available at every naturopathic doctor’s clinic, but if you are interested in these therapies, they can be performed by myself, Elisha Cook, at the Robert Schad Naturopathic Clinic (416-498-9763).

Very little evidence has surfaced for the efficacy of hydrotherapy to treat depression, however, the research that has surfaced has been quite promising. The article link provided below shows a study where depressed patients were given hydrotherapy treatments ending in cold (most hydrotherapy ends in cold for approximately 30 seconds), that caused anti – depressive effects soon following treatment (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030698770700566X).

How can Homeopathy help?

Homeopathy is an energy medicine that involves finite doses of a substance that are diluted in water, which amount to a higher therapeutic dose overall. In this form of medicine, individualized remedies are chosen based on the individual’s specific symptoms and presentation. Each person requires a different remedy based on their unique presentation. Homeopathy does not interact with any medications, making it quite useful especially if you are taking other medications.

In recent studies, homeopathy has been shown to be just as effective as anti – depressant medication in the relief of depressive symptoms. In addition, other studies have shown homeopathy to be 58% effective (http://www.readcube.com/articles/10.1111%2Fj.20427166.2012.01163_5.x?r3_referer=wol&show_checkout=1).

How can Physical Medicine help?

Physical medicine involves a number of different potential therapies. These therapies might include massage, naturopathic manipulation, ultrasound, laser therapy, electroacupuncture, or Gua Sha. The general effect of these therapies includes relaxation, increased circulation, decreased pain, and decreased inflammation. Similar to what was mentioned above, depression may be decreased or alleviated based on these potential effects.

Research has shown that patients with depression may benefit from massage therapy (http://journals.lww.com/jnrtwna/Abstract/2004/03000/The_Effect_of_Acupressure_With_Massage_on_Fatigue.7.aspx).

How can Lifestyle changes help?

Various lifestyle factors can play a role in depression. By improving sleep, exercise, scheduling, and stress management, it is possible that some individuals may have reduced depressive episodes. In addition, the way that an individual thinks can influence mood. By addressing negative thought patterns, poor sleep patterns, lack of exercise, or stress management concerns, one may experience decreased depressive episodes. Naturopathic doctors are trained to help individuals through lifestyle counselling, and can use methods use as motivational interviewing or cognitive behavioural therapy to do so.

Research is quite extensive regarding exercise and its benefit on depression. Even as little as two times per week has been shown to benefit depression (http://condor.depaul.edu/hstein/NEMSSAH.pdf).

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