Origin of Naturopathy

The term “naturopathy” originates from “natura” (in Latin meaning birth) and “pathos” (in Greek meaning suffering) to suggest “natural healing” The ancient Greek “Father of Medicine”, Hippocrates, is considered to be the first advocate of naturopathic medicine, way before before the term existed

Naturopathic medicine is a system where natural remedies support the body healing processes and also furnishes “constituents that the body requires. The main objective in naturopathic medicine is to treat the whole person – this always must involve mind, body, and spirit as Plato – the Greek philosopher reminds us “”…the greatest mistake physicians make is to attempt to cure the body without curing the mind, yet the mind & body are one and should not be treated separately”. Naturopathic medicine basically aims to heal the root causes of an illness and not merely address the symptomatic aspect.

Different Studies of Naturopathy

There are many different areas embraced by naturopathic medicine – phytotherapy and herbal medicine, Aromatherapy and Aromascience, acupuncture Traditional Chinese medicine, nutritional counseling and quality of life counseling naturally we must forget the various and numerous manual techniques. Today, it is considered an Integrative Medicine that can be combined to the many traditional medical treatments of modern science.

One of the outstanding and ever growing fields in naturopathy is definitely connected to the use of essential oils and aromatherapy. As head of the department I would like to clarify that aromatherapy does not mean using nature’s perfumes but as the word indicates it is a therapeutical use of the various aromatic constituents contained in any essential oil. This automatically places this natural therapy under a different and more important light. The last 20 years of research has ever more demonstrated that central oils thanks to the simple isoprenic and terpene structures of the constituents that essential oils interact in many many different ways with our bodies physiology neuroreceptors.

Aromatherapy : a Growing Field

Just as a reminder essential oils are a mixture of natural aromatic volatile oils extracted from plants and if they are not adulterated, thanks to a continuous scientific research and screening essential oils worldwide, there is scientific evidence demonstrating a range of biological activities(1). Aromterapy addresses and has both scientific and evidence based biological activities such as “antiparasitic, antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antiaging, and neuroprotective properties. We must underestimate the ever-growing importance demonstrated when we consider its application towards problems such as arousal, cognitive performance, circadian eating behavior, emotional modulation, consumer acceptance, caregivers’compliance and palliative care. Some of the mainstream uses of Clinical Aromatherapy when considering many different pathophysiological that hinder quality of life – a factor that today is ever more important in our “stressed out” society.

Clinical aromatherapy is an integrated medicine therapy that has revealed to be beneficial in both the inpatient or outpatient setting and has been extensively applied for over 8 years in many institutional medical environments in Ticino (Switzerland). Essential oils have been used by medical practitioners and qualified nurses to ensure a higher life quality and managing for symptoms such as

pain, nausea, general well-being, anxiety, depression, stress, and insomnia. Aromatherapy has also been beneficial for preoperative anxiety, oncology, palliative care, hospice, and end of life. While I must remind the reader that essential oils can be dangerous and toxic, causing skin dermatitis, being phototoxic or causing oral toxicity or death scientific research has widely demonstrated that this is mainly connected to two factors: adulteration and dosage (2).

I would like to conclude by stating that essential oils show promising effects in many physiological areas as well as emotional and endocrinal areas that regulate our health and our bodies capability of reacting to external stressor aggressions. Hey

The naturopathic department of bio quantum Academy offers a high quality postgraduate diploma in Clinical AromaTherapy and AromaScience that indulges in the science and the evidence based knowledge it is a unique educational platform that should be a must for every naturopath or practitioner who wants to have an in depth site of how to use essential oils in a compliant, effective and practical way.