FAYETTEVILLE--Laurell Matthews, ND, former president, Arkansas Naturopathic Physicians Association, advocates licensing of naturopathic doctors in Arkansas to help provide natural healthcare to patients while helping meet the critical need for primary care in the state.
“Licensing naturopathic physicians to practice in Arkansas could help eliminate the shortage of primary care doctors,” Matthews said.
Naturopathic physicians are licensed in 18 states. Matthews said these natural medicine practitioners earn degrees at accredited, four-year universities, and often serve as primary care providers in rural communities where doctors are needed most.
“They give shots, prescribe pharmaceuticals, order lab tests, and work hand in hand with MD colleagues to help patients,” she said. “In fact, naturopathic doctors already work in Northwest Arkansas. Unfortunately, our practice is limited by lack of legal protections given through state licensure. Changing state law to license naturopathic medicine is guaranteed to draw more naturopathic doctors to Arkansas, which would increase healthcare options for all Arkansans.”
Matthews said people in Arkansas are increasingly looking for alternatives beyond conventional medicine. “The Arkansas Naturopathic Physicians Association encourages state lawmakers to help foster a healthy future by allowing naturopathic doctors to serve Arkansas,” she said.
However, that is opposed by the Arkansas Medical Society (AMS), said David Wroten, AMS vice president.
“They are not ‘medical’ or ‘healthcare’ providers and licensing would give the appearance that they are,” Wroten said. “They cannot replace primary care physicians or take their place. This is not meant as a knock on homeopathic remedies. They have their place in the arsenal of treatments used by medical and residency trained physicians. But the education and training to diagnose the cause of a patient's illness and then to know how and with what to treat should be the prerequisite for licensure.”
Mamie C. Burruss, ND, Little Rock Natural Medicine, finds it ironic that Arkansas is The Natural State, yet the state doesn’t license naturopathic doctors who focus on natural healing methods.
“Individuals who graduated from an accredited naturopathic medical school and passed all licensing board examinations should be recognized as healthcare professionals by the State of Arkansas,” Burruss said. “Prevention is the best medicine, and naturopathic doctors are armed with many tools to promote health and prevent chronic diseases.
Rising healthcare costs are such a burden to our nation, but so much of it could be prevented. Naturopathic doctors could more fully support nationwide preventive healthcare efforts with licensure that actually recognizes the full scope of our training and skills.”
Burruss said when she decided to offer naturopathic consultations in Arkansas, she didn’t realize how hungry people are for this kind of knowledge, guidance and care.
“Despite advances in modern healthcare, we are getting sicker as a nation,” Burruss said. “Cancer is on the rise. Chronic disease and autoimmune disorders are commonplace. Our children are obese and developing type II diabetes at alarming rates. For the first time, we have a generation of children who may not outlive their parents. What we are doing is not working.”
Burruss said people are looking for a holistic approach that focuses on addressing the root cause of their health concerns through natural remedies and therapies.
“They want to feel listened to, and they want to be educated and empowered so they can regain control of their health,” she said. “They are looking for another approach besides pharmaceuticals, which often have undesirable side effects.”
Most clients she sees have been dealing with health concerns for many years. “In my experience, the positive impact that diet, exercise and natural remedies can have on health is unparalleled,” Burruss said.
Both Matthews and Burruss spend a large amount of time with new patients, 90 minutes. That kind of attention alone to what can be complex medical issues is reassuring to many people.
Matthews, who received her degree from Bastry University in Seattle, Wash., said naturopathic doctors complete a four-year program designed to be similar to four-year medical school where they learn how the body function, how it fails when there have disease, and how to diagnose those diseases. Naturopathic medical students spend more time that MDs learning about herbal remedies, nutrition, lifestyle, homeopathic remedies, and dietary supplements--all the natural options.
“But we also spend time studying pharmaceutical drugs because many patients will be reliant on them,” said Matthews.
Sometimes Matthews sees patients who want to get off prescription medicines such as addictive anxiety drugs or anti-depressants that are having negative side effects. She tries to work with them to find natural remedies that may include lifestyle and diet changes, in addition to supplements.
Matthews asks patients to bring in all the supplements they are taking.
“I definitely know what it is like to be confused as a consumer,” Matthews said. “That confusion years ago is what made me want to get my current degree so I would have a strong scientific foundation for my opinions. There is a lot of information out there, but some is contradictory. You often don’t even know if the product you are taking has what it says is in there. There are not always studies to rely upon with herbal supplements like there are with prescription drugs.”
She suggest looking for the seal GMP, which stands for General Manufacturing Principles. But some high quality companies don’t put GMP on their product.
Some products need more care than others. For example, Vitamin C is inexpensive and stable, but fish oil is susceptible to going rancid.
“The harder it is for there to be a quality product, the pickier I get when it comes to these things,” Matthews said. “If a fish oil supplement has an unpleasant taste and causes you to burb, it might be a sign that it is rancid. I actually taste it. I chew into the capsule, and if it is bitter or excessively fishy, I reject it.”
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