Aspire Natural Health – Did You Know?

Naturopathic doctors take their roles as teachers very seriously. Our goal is to teach our patients how to improve their health through dietary and lifestyle changes so they can have lasting and vibrant health without having to take drugs or supplements forever.

Many patients visit an ND after no other doctor or health care practitioner can help them or get to the bottom of their symptoms. NDs use a comprehensive assessment, physical exam skills and lab testing to assess all aspects of their patients.

A first visit with a Naturopathic Doctor is 60-75 minutes, whereas follow-ups are usually 30-45 minutes in length. This allows enough time for the ND to hear all concerns, gain a holistic understanding of the patient's health and understand the root cause of the health condition.

Depending on your specific health insurance plan, naturopathic visits may be covered by insurance. With the expansion of naturopathic medicine throughout Canada, more insurance companies have recognized the growing preference for naturopathic medicine. So if you have an extended health insurance plan double check with your provider to see if and how much coverage you receive for naturopathic medicine.

Naturopathic medicine is ideal for providing complementary care to existing conventional medical care. Naturopathic doctors are willing and able to provide stand-alone primary care and can also often provide complementary care to address the patient from a different perspective. NDs will often provide additional treatment recommendations that work in conjunction with conventional approaches or when conventional intervention is the most appropriate. The best results are often obtained from a team-based approach and including conventional medicine and naturopathic medicine on that team is important.

Naturopathic medicine treats common ailments including allergies, muscle pain, headaches, fatigue, diabetes, hypertension, sleep troubles, and digestive problems including constipation, diarrhea, reflux or IBS. In addition to common conditions, naturopathic medicine is also beneficial when treating more complex medical diagnoses including neurological disorders, hormone or endocrine disorders and patients who experience symptoms that do not necessarily point to a clear diagnosis.
Naturopathic doctors work well with patients who experience more complex medical conditions or who have a diagnosis that the conventional system offers limited treatment interventions. Because naturopathic medicine looks at the individual person and the symptoms that they present with, it is able to utilize a variety of tools to treat a wide range of complaints.

Prior to attending Naturopathic school, individuals must possess a bachelor's degree and meet additional prerequisite requirements.Then Naturophatic Doctor (NDs) must graduate from an accredited naturopathic college where they receive high levels of medical training both in conventional interventions and alternative options to treatments.
Prior to provincial licensing, graduates must pass several board exams and once licensed, and then naturopathic doctors are required to obtain a specific number of hours of continuing education, annually as determined by the provincial regulations.

As an example, a study published in the prestigious Canadian Medical Association Journal found that Naturopathic medicine reduced the risk of cardiovascular disease. There also is a large body of research supporting each of the therapies that are used by ND’s. For example, try typing the word probiotics into Pubmed to see how many references you get (hint: it’s in the thousands!).