[troutman]

Naturopathic Diaries: Confessions of a Former Naturopath

I have a hard time pinpointing exactly when I stopped believing in naturopathic medicine. It was a slow process. Doubt crept in insidiously when I first encountered minor issues with the profession. Initially, I saw only small medical risks from minor clinical transgressions. But, as is the case with all sins, I began to witness serious and dangerous naturopathic practices. Even though I had spent 7 years studying and a quarter of a million dollars in student loans, I knew I needed to drop my faith. I intentionally use the word “belief” to describe my experiences with naturopathic medicine. Naturopathic medicine is a philosophy, a worldview, and even a lifestyle. It is not a real and distinct medical system. Not everyone has heard of naturopathic medicine, but its principals can be found in any alternative medicine doctrine. In fact, it’s as if naturopathic medicine includes any and all tropes counter to science and borrows loosely from medicine when convenient. For naturopaths, it does not matter if science refutes the traditional ways of healing. Because for naturopathic believers, what matters is not about what science says, but about beliefs in an alternative, magical healing force. Naturopathic medical beliefs include pseudoscientific ideas like vaccines cause more harm than good, any disease can be successfully treated with homeopathy, alternative cancer therapies are safe and effective, and nutrition can cure mental illness. These beliefs are dangerous and their promotion is unethical.

http://www.naturopathicdiaries.com/

http://theness.com/neurologicablog/i...hic-delusions/

Naturopathy is pseudoscience from top to bottom. They may throw in some basic nutrition and lifestyle advice, hardly something you need a special practitioner for, but what makes up the core of naturopathy is pure nonsense. The whole “natural” vibe is just the candy coating.

What is most scary about all of this, and why we have been focusing so much attention on naturopaths, is that they are aggressively seeking licensure in the states that do not already have it, and to expand the scope of their practice. What they want, and what they are increasingly getting, is the right to function as primary care doctors. This would be an utter disaster for health care.