From Abracadabra to Zombies

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reader comments: naturopathy

02 Nov 2003
I noticed your reading list isn't quite up to speed at the end of your naturopathy definition! If you want to understand how naturopaths understand disease you should pick up books like Robbins Pathological Basis of Disease, Medical Physiology [by Guyton and Hall], or Medical Microbiology [by Mims et al.]. These are the books that I studied out of the last two years at naturopath college. As a matter of fact, our Dean of Education decided to take the majority of our science books straight off the UBC [University of British Columbia] medical school book list. I even bought my textbooks at the UBC medical bookstore, if you can believe that! Whenever I want to study I use the references at the UBC medical libraries and websites like Medline Plus. If you want to understand naturopathic philosophy, books like The Web That Has No Weaver, or The Organon might give you a start.

reply: I'm glad to hear that you are not opposed to conventional medicine and find it essential to your studies.

Holistic to us is understanding how all the organs in the human physiology work together as a system, something that is blatantly obvious and as simple as kindergarten but still most MDs can't understand.

reply: Well, maybe I spoke too soon. I think MDs are as capable as you are of understanding how human physiology works. I'm glad to hear, however, that holistic doesn't mean you must understand how the organs relate to the spirit or soul.

As far as diagnosis is concerned, I just recently diagnosed my mother with a textbook case of gallstones [see Robins for referral], pain referral to just under the right scapula and the whole shebang, it couldn't have been any easier! The symptoms were point for point right from the textbook, but somehow the team of specialists working on her case missed it! I'm only in third year at the college too! Some of her doctors are pushing 50.

I'll fill you in on another secret, understanding the basics in diagnosing immune disorders isn't rocket science, to be a top notch specialist is, and that requires extra years at school that most regular GPs don't get [unless they specialize]. At our student clinic they do numerous blood draws everyday so they can get a WBC [white blood cell] differential and see if any immune cell levels are off. It is true that a lot of the time our patients are prediagnosed, but we are asked to REdiagnose because a lot of the time they are MISdiagnosed. Life isn't easy as a naturopath, especially with so many ignorant people out there misunderstanding and miseducating about what we do. I invite you to our school to have a tour, sit in on some of our classes, and talk to some students before you make any more incorrect judgments about us. Naturopaths learn in psychology class that judgment fosters anger. This is bad for the spirit.

Yours Truly,
Kris Bentz
Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine

reply: Thanks for the invite, but it is a bit of a trip to British Columbia from California.

I think your psychology texts are correct. Your anger toward conventional medicine is transparent, yet you claim to study the same materials.

You advise that I read The Web That Has No Weaver and the Oraganon. The first is a book about traditional Chinese medicine. Can you really say with a straight face that you would rather be treated as a peasant in China might be treated instead of as a conventional doctor in the U.S. would treat you? The second is Hahnemann's book on homeopathy. Enough said.

naturopathy