describes naturopathic medicine as a blend of modern scientific knowledge and traditional and natural forms of medicine and encompasses everything from acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine, hydrotherapy, homeopathy, botanical medicine and clinical nutrition.
“It’s about individualized care,” says Fontes. “We might see five patients with an acute viral infection or migraine, and they’re not all going to leave with the same plan, depending on their current health status and medical history.”Fontes says there are nearly 3,000 naturopathic doctors practising across Canada — a number that’s growing. And since millions of Canadians are without a primary care physician, he says NDs can help bridge the gap.
“The three most common reasons patients don’t disclose their use of these products was, one, that their doctor will view it negatively; two, that physicians don’t deal in this area so they don’t understand what the indications or uses are; and three, it wasn’t relevant, that these are natural products and natural products can’t be harmful,” says Dr. Jason Busse, researcher and associate professor at McMaster, and senior author of the survey.