Published May 1, 2004 in the North Island Weekender
Naturopathic medicine celebrates 83 years in the province of
British Columbia this year. National Naturopathic Medicine Week May1st –8th
aims to educate the public what Naturopathic Medicine can do for them. There
are about 1000 ND’s nation wide and it is one of the fastest growing
professions. However our small numbers translates into a small budget for
public education so celebrating this week is one way to get the message out.
For the first time in history we finally have some funding for advertising so
we are very excited about that it commences early May to July on CBC Newsworld
and Discovery Health.
The benefits of naturopathic medicine are very broad. I will see patients who
are going in for surgery who want to have pre and post operative advice to
speed their recovery and minimize discomfort. I see patients who have had a
cough for weeks and haven’t been able to shake it, or those who get frequent
colds and flus and they come in wanting to detoxify and boost their immune
system. I see babies with skin conditions, frequent ear infections or bowel
problems and their parents want to avoid antibiotics. I see toddlers with
asthma and the parents are tired of using the puffers to control it. I see
young women with frequent urinary tract infections or period problems and acne.
I see a lot of peri-menopausal and post-menopausal women who are avoiding the
HRT dilemma. I see men who have skin problems, digestive problems or prostate
problems that haven’t been fixed by their MD. I see a lot of fatigue, sleep
problems and stress related problems. You name it we see it, however many
people may not consider naturopathic medicine because: 1. they don’t realize we
treat such things; 2. they are not ready to make changes ; 3. they feel that if
they aren’t ready to make the appropriate changes there is no point in coming
in; 4. they don’t realize that naturopathic medicine is often complementary to
the medication they are taking from their MD and can be taken together if they
are being supervised; 5. they don’t realize that our medicine can be very
powerful no matter what their lifestyle is.
For example an elderly woman suffered with a cough for three weeks. She was on
her second round of antibiotics and they weren’t working. I prescribed my
“Upper Respiratory Formula” along with a probiotic to recolonize her bowel with
health flora. These medicines were to be taken while she was on the antibiotics
and then continued for one month. She was considerably better in one week on
this regime alone. She might have gotten better faster had she avoided dairy
and sugar but her appetite was already very low and I was afraid that she would
continue to lose weight so we didn’t change her diet right away.
In another case a gentleman was suffering from prostatitis. He was on his
second round of antibiotics and I prescribed several medicines for him while he
continued on his antibiotics. His recovery time was significantly improved by
taking both medicines. Naturopathic medicines are still very effective for many
health conditions without making lifestyle changes, although making lifestyle
changes is the preventive part of our practice.
Naturopathic Medicine Week is presenting “Naturopathic Solutions to Healthy
Weight Management”. During this week I invite everyone to visit out office to
pick up our two handouts: “Zinc… Who Needs It?” and “Naturopathic Solutions to
Healthy Weight Management”. Our office is open for anyone to drop in. We
consider our office to be an educational center just as is my website. I will
be offering free testing and consultations on May 8th at Healthyway
Vitamins Plus and The Vitamin House so call to reserve a time and
learn more about what Naturopathic Medicine can do for the optimal health of
you and your family.
Dr.
Pincott has been practicing naturopathic medicine since 1985 and is currently
practicing in Campbell River. She can be reached at (250) 286-3655 or www.DrPincott.com