Naturopathy

Naturopathy as a system of medicine may not be very old, but it has been practiced by all right-thinking physicians for more than two millennia. In fact, its genesis can be traced to Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.), who is mistaken as the father of modern medicine, as he tried to treat his patients according to the basic principles of nature cure. According to Hippacrates, " Nature is the physician of all our diseases". He, therefore, laid stress on the right diet than on drugs.But the real father of naturopathy was Vincenz Priesnitz, who established a clinic in Grafenburg, a small village in the Silesian mountains, more than a century ago. A simple, unlettered farmer, Priesnitz was endowed with a sharp intelligence and the capacity to go to first causes. It was he who discovered the healing power of a cold bath. His clinic became a center of pilgrimage from all over the world. Initially he had to face a lot of scorn and opposition from all quarters. He was hounded by traditional physicians who ridiculed and abused him. Priesnitz had a milestone near his clinic inscribed with the dictum YOU MUST BE PATIENT since he found that perseverance alone could deal with stubborn ailments. He found that the best way to deal with chronic illness was to strengthen the resistance of the body so that it could throw out the poisons accumulated in it due to a wrong way of life.Johannes Schroth followed his footsteps, mainly on the basis of his personal experience.He, too, faced ridicule and banter but the Duke of Wintumburg came to his help in 1849, when wounds in his feet refused to heal and the traditional physicians advised amputation as the only remedy. The patient insisted, however, on giving Schroth a trial and, not surprisingly, he was healed. Impressed by the natural system of drugless healing, the Duke had an account of his treatment printed and distributed to the armed forces of Austria, silencing Schroth's detractors.While Priesnitz depended on the cool waters of the streams and rivers, Schroth gave pride of place to the application of heat through compresses and fomentations. He also devised a system of dietetics, known as the Schroth System.Naturopathy is indebted to the German innovator, Dr. Heinrich Lahmann who opened a clinic in Dresden. He measured the nutrition value of the various food in terms of milk, using it as a standard. His contribution to the science of dietetics is considerable. He underlined the importance of natural foods as aids to health and dilated on the harmful effects of table salt and the senselessness of liquor.One of the greatest teachers of naturopathy was Kunhe, a German, who had lost his health at the young age of 20 years. Disappointed with traditional medicine as it failed to provide him any relief, he turned to nature cure with remarkable success. His recovery convinced him of the utility of the system which he studied for many years and opened a health home in Leipzig. His treatments included sun-bathing, steam baths, hip baths and the like. His dictum was that cleanliness is the only answer to diseaseAnother great teacher of nature cure, Adolf Just, is known for his discovery of the healing property of clay. He stressed the need for going barefoot so that the life giving properties of mother earth may touch a person's body. He believed that disease was a punishment for disregarding the laws of nature. He was a staunch opponent of inoculation.The first American exponent, James C. Jackson, suffered an intractable ailment at the age of 35 years which improved when he sought the help of Silas O. Gleason, one of Priesnitz's disciples. Having got considerable relief after a stay of about a year at Gleason's sanatorium, he went into partnership with him. Disregarding drugs, Jackson used hydropathy, rest, exercise, diet and a psychological approach - all tools of naturopathy. "The way to heath," Jackson taught, "is sane living". Other Americans who contributed to the science of naturopathy include Dr. Russel T. Trall, Dr. J. H. Kellog and Dr. Henry Lindlarh . Dr. Henry Lindlarh believed every acute disease was the sign of natural resistance which the human body possessed. The pride of place among the naturopaths of the USA goes to Dr. J.H. Tilden who taught that the real cure lay in mending one's habits.