Thou Heal Thyself
The current situation in the world is not something that we can be proud
of. Well, there are numerous creatures in existence on this planet and we
humans are one among the diverse earth life forms.
And the cause of worry is
that over 95 % of entire world’s population has one or the other health issues.
It is as though the whole of human race is plagued by diseases. As noted by Science Daily, in 2013 just one in 20 people reported that they had no diseases. This staggering number converts to approximately 4.3 % of
world’s population.
So it implies that the rest
95.7 % suffer from various diseases. And, here is a more astonishing fact –
cause of these diseases appear to remain the same in the past two decades.
The
analysis completed by Global Burden of Disease Study also indicates that few of
the major health disorders continually distressing human beings are mental
depression, low back pain, anaemia, neck pain and hearing impairment.
That
obviously explains the agitation about carrying out experiments to obtain a
cure to these illnesses and a failure to have reached any logical conclusion.
What are causing these problems? Why are we unable to find any reasonable
explanation and accordingly treat the patients with these ailments?
It seems
though that we are not getting anywhere about these questions. However, as
always happens in such situations, hope carries us forward. And in this case,
hope shows us the way in terms of alternative therapies.
The
field of medicine that looks beyond the conventional ways of treating a disease
is getting recognition and following gradually. It is not that surprising,
anyway for the reason that the basic premise in most of these alternative
healing techniques is that healing occurs naturally.
“You heal yourself”.
Thus
people who apply their rational mind towards obtaining a reasonable
justification wouldn’t get one. How can one remove a disease by himself just by
the help of nature? Is there a scientific evidence to it?
Well, allopathy has
evolved to such a state in which there is a justification in terms of chemical
reactions of drugs that will be consumed and resulting healing effects on our
brain and physical body.
In
this context of alternative medicine, an array of such practices claimed to be
derived from principles found in nature that is gaining popularity is
“Naturopathy”. As you can observe from the term, it is strongly associated with
nature. It involves a few techniques such as homeopathy, herbal medicine, water
therapy, dietary counselling, acupuncture and acupressure.
A
naturopath is someone who utilizes these natural therapies and administers them
to patients in order to heal them. One of the core principles that a naturopath
strongly believes is in the innate healing power of nature.
The known fact that
human beings are part of nature along with other life forms becomes an
important factor to be imbibed in one’s mind. It banks on the belief system
that our body has the ability to take care of itself. Of course it might
require help in the process and which is what is getting facilitated through
various techniques.
This process would be a combination of relief resulting
from outside the body and a cure that is an outcome from within the body.
The American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (AANP) defines
naturopathic medicine as:
"A distinct system of primary health care-an art, science, philosophy, and practice of diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of illness. Naturopathic medicine is distinguished by the principles upon which its practice is based. These principles are continually re-examined in the light of scientific advances. The techniques of naturopathic medicine include modern and traditional, scientific, and empirical methods".
Another important ideology of naturopathy is to find the underlying
cause of illness and treat it accordingly. It has always been alleged that
allopathy provides quick relief to the ailment thereby easing the pain or
reducing the symptoms however results in adverse side effects in most cases.
Naturopathic physicians think of symptoms as an external manifestation of a
disturbance in the harmony of energy flows into and out of the body. This
disturbance can be caused by either physical or mental imbalances or even a
combination of both.
So naturopathy tends to go into the depth to understand
the cause and believes that removal of cause will free the patient of disease
without creating any other side effects.
“Prevention is better than cure”, goes the old adage. This is of utmost
importance while practicing naturopathy. It involves looking at the whole
person and not just barely glancing at the disease symptoms.
The lifestyle of
patient is discussed, dietary counselling will be held as part of the therapy
which goes beyond solving the current problem. The person currently being
treated would become far more powerful within his or her environment and avoid
getting into the traps of illnesses lurking to drain the energy in
possession.
Considering
the underlying philosophy, naturopathy seems to have successfully treated
chronic conditions. Patients suffering from these diseases would have lost all
hopes of getting back on track with the conventional therapy.
As a last resort,
they would have come to seek help from naturopathy. And, yes, we hear many
testimonies of alternative therapies healing them completely or at least would
have brought them hope of living a fulfilled life.
Of
course it comes at a price. And here the price one has to pay is in terms of
time & patience. Yes, naturopathy does not administer a magic potion that
if one drinks would immediately be cured of all diseases.
It has its own way of
healing. It consumes lot of time, requires a healthy, open communication between
the patient and doctor. More importantly it demands lot of patience from both
the person being treated and the one who carries out the treatment.
Well,
even though naturopathy is still considered to employ pseudoscientific
practices to obtain a cure for a disease, prevent occurrences of ailments by
analysis of patient’s holistic environment, it is gradually getting attention.
There is also strong resistance from medical professionals that naturopathy is
not only ineffective but also dangerous and unethical. But remember, doing no
harm is one of the pillars on which naturopathy rests. It advocates techniques
that are gentle, non-invasive and announces that human body has the power to
heal itself.
Do
we really have that power? Has nature already bestowed us with this ability
that we have forgotten? Or is this just another fad which will not last long?
Only
time will reveal the truth.
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