The above quote gives an insight into the next two principles of naturopathic medicine: Treat the Whole Person and Treat the Root Cause. The same disease can manifest as different symptoms for different patients. If you identify why the patient has a particular disease, that is, why this patient and not another, you may be able to treat them much more effectively. I thought the best way to illustrate these two principles would be through patient stories as case examples. Both patients A & B in the stories below had identical major concerns and official diagnoses at their initial intake visits but since the root cause of the problem and the patients were very unlike each other, so were their treatment plans and corresponding results: MAIN CONCERN: Difficulty losing weight and keeping it off, tried many diets/ programs MAIN DIAGNOSIS: Obesity Other official diagnosis common to both cases: Type 2 Diabetes, Hypertension, High Cholesterol Patient A:
Root Cause Assessed to be:
Initial Recommendations:
Result in 6 months:
**He went on to lose over 200lbs by the end of his complete treatment and is now an animal rights activist and marathon runner. Yes, you read that right- not a typo, You can read more about him and his complete weight loss journey in his book named, Walking with Peety. Patient B:
Root Cause Assessed to be:
Initial Recommendations: Counseling provided on healthy, balanced vegan diet and frequency of visits set at every 2 weeks.
Result in 6 months:
Patient B is still an active patient is continuing to lose weight at her steady rate of 3 lbs/month. She has recently been diagnosed with Sleep apnea and upon correcting that she lost > 5lbs in one month and no longer has elevated BP. As you realized, both patients were very different: male vs. female, single vs. in long term relationship, lonely vs. socially active and more. Therefore, the investigation was very different for both even with the exact same diagnoses! Both had positive outcomes, though with varying degrees, and were content with their results. That is the power of Naturopathic Medicine! Signing off for today! Day4 #NatMedWeek. Be sure to call us if you need help with your weight loss journey
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