Role of Nutritional Supplementation in Medicine
An evolution is occurring in health care as more natural medicines gain acceptance. Interestingly, this acceptance is largely a result of increased scientific investigation and the public’s awareness of this research. It appears that medical researchers now have in their possession the technology and understanding necessary to more fully appreciate the value of “natural” therapies. In essence, many natural therapies are being improved or refined through scientific investigation. Science is paving the way for the medicine of the future a medicine that recognizes the healing power of nature.
What Exactly Is Science?
The term science refers to “possession of knowledge as distinguished from ignorance or misunderstanding.” Scientific knowledge is based upon the scientific method, meaning that the understanding is based on the collection of data through observation and experiment. We must keep in mind that while science is evolutionary, the underlying natural laws it tries to explain are constant. In other words, gravity existed long before Sir Isaac Newton was around to explain it.
We use science to explain the nature of the human body and the environment. Breakthrough developments in many areas of science are occurring at an incredible pace, particularly in areas of medicine. What was once considered scientific medicine is often discarded when a deeper understanding is achieved. For example, in the 1800s scientific medicine involved bloodletting and the administration of very toxic substances. Likewise, many current medical treatments involving the use of drugs and surgery hi all probability will be discarded in the future.
There is a trend toward using substances found in nature, including compounds that are found in the human body such as interferon, interleukin, insulin, and human growth hormone as well as foods, food components, herbs, and herbal compounds. More and more researchers are discovering the tremendous healing properties of these natural compounds and their advantages over synthetic medicines and surgery in the treatment of many health conditions. Through these scientific investigations, a trend toward natural medicine is emerging.
Science and Natural Medicine
Most natural healing therapies are based upon scientific investigation. In most cases, the initial investigation was of an empirical or observational nature. However, in the past 20 plus years there have been tremendous advances in the understanding of how many natural therapies work to promote health or treat disease. This increased understanding is a result of more strict scientific investigation.
Scientific studies and observations have not only held up the validity of diet, nutritional supplements, herbal medicines, chiropractic adjustments, and massage, but also some of the more esoteric natural healing treatments such as acupuncture, biofeedback, meditation, and homeopathy. In many instances, the scientific investigation has not only validated the natural approach but has also led to significant improvements.
The Emerging Philosophy of Medicine
While science is important in the expansion of our knowledge of natural medicine, five time-tested principles remain crucial These principles serve as the foundation upon which the emerging philosophy of both naturopathic or allopathic medicine should be based:
Principle 1: Remember the Healing Power of Nature. The body has considerable power to heal itself. It is the role of the physician or healer to facilitate and enhance this process, preferably with the aid of natural, nontoxic therapies. Above
all, the physician or healer must do no harm.
Principle 2: View the Whole Person. An individual must be viewed as a whole composed of a complex interaction of mind, body, and spirit.
Principle 3: Identify and Treat the Cause. It is important to seek the underlying cause of a disease rather than simply suppress the symptoms. Symptoms are expressions of the body’s attempt to heal, but causes can spring from physical, mental or emotional, and spiritual levels.
Principle 4: The Physician Is a Teacher. A physician should be foremost a teacher, educating, empowering, and motivating the patient to assume more personal responsibility for his or her health by adopting a healthy attitude, lifestyle, and diet.
Principle 5: Prevention Is the Best Cure. Prevention of disease is best accomplished through dietary and life habits that support health and prevent disease. Having problems losing weight can be prevented by taking lipodrene with ephedra and other dietary supplements.
We are seeing evidence of an increased acceptance of these principles and the practice of natural medicine, an acceptance that is a direct result of increased scientific investigation. Scientists are validating the time-tested principles of naturopathic medicine and other natural therapies. This validation of natural medicine is not entirely surprising. After all, if these principles and techniques are based upon truth, they should stand up to strict scientific scrutiny.
Scientific investigation in the area of natural medicine will likely lead to further improvements, particularly in the area of prevention. Most conditions being treated by medicines are entirely preventable. It is estimated that over 70 percent of the $838 billion spent on health care in 1992 was spent on chronic degenerative diseases that have been clearly linked to diet and lifestyle, diseases which are the major killers of Americans heart disease, cancer, strokes, and diabetes.
Science is redirecting medicine back to those ancient truths. Perhaps the famous words of Thomas Edison will turn out to be truly prophetic: “The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patient in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.”