The Science of Healing

As with any other emerging nonconventional medical fields, naturopathic medicine will soon undergo drastic change—not in the way it is carried out, but in the degree of importance it will receive from 'regular' doctors, health facilities, and governments worldwide. The craft, however, needs a deep commitment from its practitioners, and comprehensive academic requirements and practice audits might have to be fulfilled in order to preserve or strengthen its integrity. More details below:

              Rebecca Cannon and father Jim Farquharson both practise naturopathy.

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AYR — Naturopathy runs in the Farquharson family.

Four generations have practised the health profession, even helping to establish it in the province by being involved in the creation of its first legislation and founding a school.

Now the latest two generations closely watch as naturopathy is on the cusp of major change.

Naturopathic medicine will soon have a new regulatory college and come under the umbrella of the Regulated Health Professions Act, which regulates a host of medical professionals in Ontario including doctors, dentists, pharmacists and massage therapists.

"It's a positive change," said Jim Farquharson, who runs the Ayr Natural Health Centre.

Naturopathy has been regulated since 1925 in Ontario under the Drugless Practitioner's Act — legislation Farquharson's grandfather and namesake helped create.

Bringing naturopathy under the health professions act is intended to better protect and serve the public by clearly defining what the profession does and what it's allowed to do and establishing a regulatory college to govern members, as well as access to an independent appeal board to review complaints decisions of the college.

"It's definitely progress for the public," Farquharson said.

The Ministry of Health is working closely with a transitional council of the College of Naturopaths of Ontario and stakeholders to finalize regulations before the Naturopathy Act is officially proclaimed and the new regulatory framework adopted, which is expected to happen this year.

"There's a deep commitment to this thing being finished," Farquharson said.

While he said the change won't affect the care he provides his patients, he said naturopaths will have more continuing education requirements and practice audits.

"It will be well defined what we're allowed to do and not do," Cannon said.

Farquharson has been practising naturopathic medicine for 25 years, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, and then his oldest daughter Rebecca Cannon kept the tradition going.

She explains naturopathic medicine as a patient-centred, holistic approach to health care.

"The body is encouraged to heal itself using natural methods or products," said Cannon, who has an office in Elmira.

"The whole goal of it is to get the person well, not just treat the disease or symptoms."

Naturopathy draws on a range of treatments, including nutrition, homeopathy, acupuncture, herbal medication and hydrotherapy. Cannon said most practitioners focus on a couple of areas, such as homeopathy, supplements and dietary counselling for her.

Naturopaths complete a four-year program, after the required undergraduate university degree. The program starts out with basic sciences, including anatomy and physiology and then focuses on treatment methods.

The Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine in Toronto emerged from the Ontario College of Naturopathic Medicine, started in Kitchener in 1978. One of the founders was Farquharson's father Robert, who also served on the regulatory agency being phased out and as college chair.

One misconception about naturopathic medicine is that it's a new profession, but it's been around as long as acupuncture and herbal remedies.

"We're the traditional medicine," said Farquharson, who has been practising naturopathy for 25 years.

He said the profession may seem new because people are now becoming more interested in the holistic, natural approach naturopathy offers. More people of all ages are coming to his office looking for help with a range of health complaints from acute to chronic. Naturopathy is not covered by OHIP.

"Now people are becoming much more informed and they're searching," he said.

Often a person will come in with a single complaint and then the issues will broaden, Farquharson said. He will spend at least an hour talking with a new patient, going over the history of the person, family and disease. A return visit will be about 30 to 40 minutes.

It can take a lot of digging to find the root cause of a complaint. While there are guiding principles of naturopathy, he said diseases are becoming far more complex and each person is a new challenge.

"There are very few textbook cases and every human being is so unique."

“Blame it on the hormones” is not just a cliché women use to get away with mood swings and random food cravings. Hormones essentially affect how people feel and react to a situation. When imbalanced, they can lead to a multitude of symptoms that make life seem miserable.

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Our hormones are like little messengers in our body, communicating with one another and with our cells. When our hormones are well balanced, we should feel vibrant, with stable moods, minimal food cravings, glossy hair and clear skin, a healthy libido and a regular, pain-free cycle. But female hormones are quite delicate and susceptible to imbalance, which can leave us feeling somewhat crummy (to put it nicely).

Here are five signs your hormones might need some lovin':

Low, or no sex drive. Yes I'm going straight to the pertinent matters in life. If you would rather clean the toilet bowl than have sex with your significant other, then alarm bells should be firing. You might have low testosterone, which is responsible for getting you fired up for some between-the-sheets action or you could have high cortisol, which is your stress hormone. Both of these bad boys are produced by your adrenal glands, so employing stress-reduction techniques, such as deep belly breathing, yoga, meditation and acupuncture, could help bring back the spark

Acne along the jaw-line or on the back aka "backne." Speaking of feeling sexy! If you have some of these not-so-flattering symptoms, your testosterone might be too high (see how we need to find a nice middle ground?). Try eating more protein-rich foods, avoid sugar (which increases insulin and cranks up testosterone), increase your intake of anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids (hello oily fish) and get some exercise to improve insulin sensitivity and help with weight maintenance

Irregular or no menstrual cycles. Your monthly lady holiday, or lack thereof, should be seen as the canary in the coalmine. If your cycles are irregular or worse still, absent (amenorrhea), take this as a strong indictor that your hormones (and general health) need support. Don't leave it too long, or your fertility, bone and heart health may suffer. There are a number of reasons for menstrual irregularities and amenorrhea, including elevated stress, excess exercise, eating poorly and/or not eating enough, low body fat, the contraceptive pill and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). If you have PCOS, follow the tips for decreasing testosterone, above. If you think the other factors might apply to you, try cutting down on intense exercise, especially cardio (yoga can be a game-changer here), adopt the stress reduction strategies mentioned above, eat well and eat enough and learn to love your boobs and booty!

Belly fat, low immunity, sleep problems and blood sugar swings are all warning signs that you're burning the candle at both ends and your adrenal glands are running on empty. You have relied on cortisol, your main stress hormone, for too long and it is shutting up shop and leaving you high and dry. Get some spring back in your step by showing your adrenals some love -- cut out caffeine (sorry!) and sugar, manage your stress levels, sleep in a pitch black room for at least seven hours each night, exercise smarter, not harder, and consider a vitamin C supplement

Constipation, low energy, weight gain and freezing hands and feet could indicate a sluggish thyroid. Your thyroid gland controls your metabolism and is your body's thermostat. Nourish your thyroid by minimizing stress (do you see a theme here?), eating foods rich in iodine (such as seaweed) and selenium (three Brazil nuts per day will do the trick), and including good quality carbohydrates in your diet (such as starchy veggies, fruit, quinoa and brown rice)

If nothing else, ensure you consume a healthy, balanced diet, minimize packaged and processed foods, keep stress levels under control, and be gentle with yourself.

Some things, like pain, cost a lot more than what people think: As more than 76 million Americans suffer from persistent, nagging and debilitating chronic pain, the country loses more than $335 billion yearly in lost productivity.

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The good news is that even the most severe pain can be managed and relieved through safe and effective means. Among the available treatments are trigger point injections (TPI) that stop muscle pain right at its source.

Trigger points are the focal points of spasm and inflammation in the skeletal muscle, causing irritation to the nerves. In turn, the affected nerves signal pain and discomfort in temples, joints, shoulders, neck, and lower back. Persons suffering from fibromyalgia, myofascial pain syndrome, and chronic pain conditions benefit the most from this treatment.

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TPI procedures are done in two ways: For one, injections containing a mixture of anesthetics or corticosteroids are administered to numb the pain. Dry needling, on the other hand, involves inserting a needle right into the trigger point, with no medications, but with the same relieving effect.

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As the needle or medication is injected, regions blocked in pain and inflammation are unblocked, relieving discomfort and allowing patients to return to their normal routines as soon as possible. TPI injections are administered in hospitals, clinics, and similar medical facilities. In addition to intravenous treatment, integrative medical facilities include homeopathy and ozone treatment.