Throughout modern time there has been a war fought in this country, and the battle field has been the field of medicine. This war is fought between natural medicines and chemical medicines.  This war has become a repeating cycle of transferring natural therapies into chemical therapies.

To shed more light on this subject lets go back in time and take a quick look at the history that I’m referring to.  In the beginning all medicine was derived from nature.  It is believed by many that massage was the first form of medical treatment. If it hurts, rub it, as it has been said. In China, tui na or Asian massage, was an organized medical treatment long before acupuncture was. Herbal or plant preparation like teas, salves and oils, date back to the beginning of recorded history. In 1817, the 870 foot long Ebers Papyrus, was discovered in Egypt. This is a scroll that dates back to 1550 B.C., in this manuscript there are over 800 herbal prescriptions and remedies. It’s estimated that even today 80% of the world’s population still depend on herbs for their medicine.

As time moved forward medicine began to change, the herbs that had been used as medicines for centuries, were analyzed in the laboratories of modern science. Different components were isolated and removed from the plants, no longer the way nature made them. The molecules of these compounds were then altered and patented and made into drugs. This was the start of the Pharmaceutical Industry as we know it today. I do not wish to sound like I’m attacking modern medicine in any way.  There is no question that life is better with the medications of today, but these medications do come with a price. Drug side effects are a reality in the lives of many people today. It seems the older a person becomes the more these side effects become an issue in their lives because of the problems of modern medicine.

It is my belief that drugs should not be the first line of defense against disease but used as a last resort. For this same reason, several decades ago several medical doctor chose to leave the practice of what is called allopathic or modern medicine, and return to a more traditional practice of medicine utilizing modalities such as diet, massage, fasting, herbal remedies and other natural therapies. This more traditional branch of medicine became known as Naturopathic Medicine.

As time moved on drug therapies became more and more popular. The drug companies became more influential in America and openly attacked the use of natural therapies. At one point Naturopathy was a dying profession, until the sixties when it began to make a comeback. It has continually grown in popularity, but as it has returned, a new view has been added to Naturopathy. The accreted naturopathic colleges of today teach the use of pharmaceutical drug therapies. The avoidance of these drugs was the reason the early naturopaths left their medical practices in search for more natural treatments.

It is my fear that naturopathic medicine, as it was practiced in its glory days is gone, and will never return.  This has happened to other forms of medicine.   Chiropractors in the beginning were not back doctor but general practitioners, Osteopathic Doctors were trained in manipulation and herbal medicine as well as other natural modalities, but now just practice allopathic medicine. The question I asked myself years ago was, who will pick up the pieces of natural medicine and carry on the natural ways of healing the body? The answer I came up with was a new type of massage therapists. I have said for years that a traditional naturopath was a massage therapist on steroids. They used advanced body work, diet, detoxification and all things found in nature to help heal the human body.  But more than only modalities, is the philosophies of these early healers. I wish to give you an example of what I mean by philosophies.  Let me quote Dr. Harry Spitler M.D. He was one of the medical doctors who turned to naturopathic medicine and went on to open what would become the oldest naturopathic school in America. Unfortunately this traditional naturopathic school closed a few years ago. Dr Spitler wrote,

 “Naturopath uses no drugs in the accepted sense of the word. While his treatment is without drugs it should be remembered that all drugless treatments is not naturopathic. There is a multiplicity of drugless treatments, any one of which can be used by Naturopaths, But, the way he uses them, and the effects he expects to produce is the thing that determines whether his treatment is Naturopathic, or if it is a suppressive allopathic treatment. Keep in mind that suppression breeds chronic disease and the Naturopathic job is to cure disease, not to exchange one for a worse condition in the patient.”  Naturopathic medicine has now turned a new path in healing and there is a place for it in the medical world, but it is not the same as it once was.

 It is my wish to help form a group of healers to follow the path of true natural healing.  This is the reason I started the Intermountain College of Natural Health. To have a school where people can learn healing principals that have always worked, and without the use of modern drugs. But just as important, to have a path opened that will let them receive a license to practice giving them the ability work without fear of legal action being taken against them. I wish to turn over an old leaf in the world of health care and help provide a way for those with the desire to set up their own office or clinic so they may help relieve the suffering of others. For more information go to www.icnhonline.com/