Allopathy (MD): A method of treating disease with remedies that produce effects antagonistic to those caused by the disease itself.
Naturopathy (ND): A system of therapeutics in which surgery and prescription medications are avoided, and preparations such as vitamins, nutritional supplements, and herbs are used to treat and prevent disease.
Naturopathic Doctors
Naturopathic doctors -- who carry an N.D. behind their name -- focus on the whole health of patients and emphasize the use of diet, exercise, nutritional supplements and herbal therapies to help prevent disease and to promote wellness. They attend accredited, four-year graduate level naturopathic medical schools to become primary-care practitioners, but have a more limited scope of practice than do medical doctors. They receive the same basic sciences as an M.D., but also study clinical nutrition, acupuncture, homeopathic and botanical medicine and psychology. They do not go through residency programs, but must pass rigorous national and state boards to practice.
Homeopathy: A system for treating disease based on the administration of minute doses of a drug that in massive amounts produces symptoms in healthy persons similar to those of the disease.
Its very interesting that you bring up naturopathy as legitimate medicine and offer their benefits, because my wife and I are currently seeking one for my daughter. My daughter has some sort of attention deficit. We aren't sure if its attributed to ADHD currently, because we have recieved conflicting diagnoses. We feel that the ADHD phenomenon is something of the latest rage and likely is due to television as the main culprit. Doctors are often times too quick to slap on a faulty diagnosis at the first sign of inattentiveness, when they may misinterpret the child's behavior.
The remedy has been to administer drugs which I scarcely see as an actual remedy. If anything, its like offering a band-aid to an amputee. I think drugs is a last resort. Drugging kids and dulling their wits is the last thing they need, literally. If another avenue, such as redirection techniques can be employed, they should before anyone tries medicine. I have seen the affects of ritalin and other drugs similar to it. I don't think there is a long-term consensus made about them. That's where naturopathy comes in.
Naturopathic physicians are viewed by some as kind of pseudo-scientific. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, most naturopathic physicians are highly trained in both Eastern and Western medicine. Naturopaths, if anything, are often more qualified because they go through additional, specialized training. Its been my experience that they test more thoroughly than your average MD or psychotherapist, to really find the root of the cause. Aside from which, MD's are often supported by the pharmaceutical industry share a reciprocal relationship and are basically instructed to 'push' certain drugs. I don't like that because it has a special interest attached to it, rather than what's in the best interest of the patient. Of course, having said that, this isn't a sweeping indictment to all physicians. But I have personally seen this kind of bias in action and it is not in the best interests of many patients.
Now to discuss childhood vaccinations
Vaccination is the process of administering weakened or dead pathogens to a healthy person or animal, with the intent of conferring immunity against a targeted form of a related disease agent. It succeeded and is distinct from inoculation.
Somebody has already shared that it is incontrovertible that vaccines work. For the most part, I do agree. There is no telling how Polio could have succeeded had not Pasteur came along. I do believe vaccines, by and large, work. However, I think there is an overstatement on their true effectiveness. In order to legitimize this belief, we have to look at other countries that
do not focus highly on western medicine and see how the results weigh out.
We have to be mindful, I think, that the pharmaceutical industry needs sick people for their buisness to survive. And I think they offer some solutions, but at the same time, I think they may be too idealized at times. This is not some conspiratorial rant against the pharmaceutical industry. I don't think their representatives are twisting their moustaches, hatching some diabolic scheme to keep people sick. I just think its a false sense of hope in many instances.
We have been lead to believe that vaccinating our children is necessary to protect them and to stop the spread of various diseases.
I believe that geriatric and pediatric vaccinations are the most important. Some of them, I believe, are unnessesary. For instance, the Hep C vaccine is about worthless. Hep A and Hep B vaccines have some legitimacy.
And while I think
this website might be a bit over the top, they make a good point.
Its kind of like the Flu vaccine. Its completely unnecessary for the majority of the general public. The reason why, is that influenza has a propensity for mutation. Hell, that's practically its job. And by the time you get vaccinated, there is already a new strain seeking a host. And the old vaccine is already antiquated. A normal persons white blood cell count and their overall antibodies can fight the Flu. But, some people do need it. But if anyone thinks that getting a Flu vaccine is going to save them, that is not necessarily the case.
Edited by nemesis_juggernaut, : edit to add and correct typos
Faith is not a pathetic sentiment, but robust, vigorous confidence built on the fact that God is holy love. You cannot see Him just now, you cannot fully understand what He's doing, but you know that you know Him." -Oswald Chambers
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