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A Brief History
Modern-day naturopathy can be traced to the concepts of Sebastian Kneipp (1821-1897), Benedict Lust (1872-1945), Henry Lindlahr (1853-1925), Bernarr Macfadden (1868-1955), and John H. Tilden, M.D. (1851-1940). Father Kneipp, a German priest, opened a "water cure" center after becoming convinced that he and a fellow student had cured themselves of tuberculosis by bathing in the Danube River. Kneipp also developed herbal methods using whole plants. Lust, also German, was treated by Kneipp and in 1892 was commissioned to establish Kneipp's practices in the United States. In 1895, he opened the Kneipp Water-Cure Institute in New York City and began forming Kneipp Societies whose members had been using Kneipp's methods or other "drugless therapies." Subsequently, he acquired degrees in osteopathy, chiropractic, homeopathic medicine, and eclectic medicine [8].
In 1901, Lust organized a national convention and chaired a committee that endorsed the use of massage, herbs, homeopathy, spinal manipulation, and various types of occult healing. In 1902, he purchased the rights to the term "naturopathy" from John H. Scheel, another Kneipp disciple, who had coined it in 1895. That same year, he began referring to himself as a naturopath, opened the American Institute of Naturopathy, and replaced the Kneipp Societies with a national naturopathic organization. Lindlahr further systematized naturopathy and opened a sanitarium and a school in a Chicago suburb. Macfadden popularized exercise and fasting. Tilden contributed notions about "auto-intoxication" (said to be caused by fecal matter remaining too long in the intestines) and "toxemia" (alleged to be "the basic cause of all diseases"). [9]
Naturopathy's grandiose claims attracted the sharp pen of Morris Fishbein, M.D., who edited the Journal of the American Medical Association and spearheaded the AMA's antiquackery campaign for several decades. He noted:
Whereas most cults embrace a single conception as to the cause and healing of disease, naturopathy embraces everything in nature. . . .
The real naturopaths were, of course, such healers as Father Kneipp . . . and others who advocated natural living and healed by use of sunlight, baths, fresh air, and cold water, but there is little money to be made by these methods. Hence the modern naturopath embraces every form of healing that offers opportunity for exploitation. [10]
The practices Fishbein debunked included:
Aeropathy: baking the patient in a hot oven
Alereos system: spinal manipulation plus heat and mechanical vibration
Astral healing: diagnosis and advice based on reading the patient's horoscope
Autohemic therapy: giving a solution made by modifying and "potentizing" a few drops of the patient's blood
Autotherapy: treating infections with potions made from the patient's infected tissues or excretions
Biodynamochromic diagnosis and therapy: administering colored lights while thumping on the patient's abdomen
Bloodwashing with herbs
Chromopathy: healing with colored lights
Electrotherapy with various devices
Geotherapy: treating disease with little pads of earth
Irido-diagnosis: diagnosis based on eye markings—now called iridology
Pathiatry: self-administration of spinal adjustment, massage, and traction
Porotherapy: treatment applied through the pores of the skin to the nerves said to the control internal organs
Practo-therapy, a fancy term for intestinal irrigation
Sanatology, based on the notion that acidosis and toxicosis are the two basic causes of all disease
Somapathy: spinal adjustment followed by applications of cold or extreme heat
Tropo-therapy with special nutritional foods
Vit-O-Pathy, a combination of 36 other systems
Zodiac therapy, combining astrology and herbs
Zonotherapy (now called reflexology): pressing on various parts of the body to heal disease in designated body "zones." [10]
Most of these methods disappeared along with their creators, but some (or their offshoots) are still used today.
The total number of naturopathic practitioners in the United States is unknown but includes chiropractors and acupuncturists who practice naturopathy. The AANP was founded in 1985 and is closely allied with the 4-year naturopathic colleges. Its membership is said to be limited to individuals who are eligible for licensing in states that issue licenses. Its online directory contains about 1300 names. The American Naturopathic Medical Association (ANMA), founded in 1981, claims to represent about 2,000 members worldwide. Although some have recognized credentials in other health disciplines, others merely have an "ND" degree obtained through a nonaccredited correspondence school. The Homeopathic Academy of Naturopathic Physicians (HANP), which requires a recognized professional degree and additional homeopathic training, lists about 50 members in the United States and Canada.
The AANP published the Journal of Naturopathic Medicine six times between 1990 and 1996. The issues ran from about 80 to 100 pages. The third issue was devoted to "Non-Standard HIV/ARC/AIDS Management." The fifth, which attacked immunization, contains papers suggesting that vaccines may be a factor in causing cancer and that homeopathic prophylaxis using nosodes would be effective and safer than standard vaccines. (Nosodes are homeopathic products made from pathological organs or tissues: causative agents such as bacteria, fungi, ova, parasites, virus particles and yeast; disease products; or excretions.) The sixth issue promoted the use of "natural" products for cancer and contains an absurd article claiming that measuring the electrical resistance of the skin may be a useful way to diagnose the early stages of cancer and AIDS.
Education
A 1927 AMA study listed 12 naturopathic schools with fewer than 200 students among them [11]. During the 1920s and 1930s, about half the states passed laws under which naturopaths and/or "drugless healers" could practice. However, as modern medicine developed, many of these laws were repealed and all but a few mail-order schools ceased operations. The doctor of naturopathy (N.D.) degree was still available at several chiropractic colleges, but by 1957, the last of these colleges stopped issuing it. The National College of Naturopathic Medicine (NCNM) was founded in 1956 in Portland, Oregon, but, until the mid-1970s, had very few students. From 1960 through 1968, the average enrollment was eight and the total number of graduates was 16. [1]
Today, within the United States, a "doctor of naturopathy" (N.D.) or "doctor of naturopathic medicine" (N.M.D.) credential is available from five full-time schools of naturopathy and several nonaccredited correspondence schools A few years ago, one correspondence school, the Progressive Universal Life Church, offered a "Ph.D. in Naturopathy" for $250 plus "life experience with no coursework and another nonaccredited school offered a "Naturopathic Practitioner" diploma to eligible individuals who completed a 15-month program of home-study plus a dozen weekend seminars. Training at the full-time schools follows a pattern similar to that of chiropractic schools: two years of basic science courses and two years of clinical work. Three years of preprofessional college work are required for admission.
The leading naturopathy school, Bastyr University, in Seattle, Washington, was founded in 1978. Besides its N.D. program, Bastyr offers a B.S. degree program in Natural Health Sciences with majors in nutrition and Oriental medicine; a B.S. program in psychology; B.S. and M.A. programs in applied behavioral sciences; M.S. programs in nutrition and acupuncture/oriental medicine; and a certificate in midwifery. Bastyr has also provided health-food retailers and their employees with home-study programs that promote "natural" approaches for the gamut of disease. Students in the naturopathic degree program are required to take three courses in homeopathy and can elect to take three more. The Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine and Health Sciences in Scottsdale, Arizona, was founded in 1992. The University of Bridgeport College of Natural Medicine in Bridgeport, Connecticut, began classes in 1997. The National University of Health Sciences, located near Chicago, which has offered chiropractic degrees since 1966, got itsdoctor of naturopathy program approved in 2006.
Naturopathy schools receive much of their financial support from companies that market dietary supplements, homeopathic products, and/or herbal remedies.
Accreditation
In 1987, the U.S. Secretary of Education approved the Council on Naturopathic Medical Education (CNME) as an accrediting agency for the full-time schools. As with acupuncture and chiropractic schools, this recognition was not based upon the scientific validity of what is taught but on such factors as record-keeping, physical assets, financial status, makeup of the governing body, catalog characteristics, nondiscrimination policy, and self-evaluation system. NCNM, Bastyr, and Southwest became accredited.
In 1999, the U.S. Department of Education staff and the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) asked U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley to deny CNME's application for renewal of recognition. The recommendation was based on evidence that CNME did not respond appropriately to violations of its standards at Southwest College. The staff report [12] and testimony at a NACIQI meeting [13] indicated that in 1997 and 1998, the school underwent an administrative upheaval that had nearly led to its closure. Several officials resigned or were abruptly fired, classes were suspended for two weeks, and the school's bank accounts were temporarily frozen after the school's chief financial officer was fired. CNME testified at the hearing that it had closely followed the situation and urged school officials to correct the problems. However, the Department of Education staff and a majority of NACIQI members concluded that CNME had failed to issue a timely order to show cause why Southwest should not have its candidacy for accreditation ended [13].
In January 2001, Riley agreed that CNME's approval should not be renewed, which means that naturopaths in the United States no longer have a national accrediting agency recognized by the United States Education [14]. Curiously, none of the naturopathic college Web sites mentioned that CNME lost its recognition. Three of the schools remained accredited and the fourth was a candidate for accreditation by recognized regional accrediting agencies that are not health-related. Although Riley's decision may have made it more difficult to promote licensing, it received almost no publicity. Riley's decision could not be appealed, but CNME was free to reapply, which it did. In June 2003, The National Advisory Committee recommended that the U.S. Secretary of Education approve CNME's application. In September 2003, the U.S. Secretary of Education granted two-year recognition.
