Have you ever wondered what really sets apart Naturopathic Doctors (NDs) from Medical Doctors (MDs)? I’ve heard many people say that NDs focus on natural therapies, whereas a conventional doctor will focus on pharmacological interventions. This is partially true, but it really does not convey a primary important aspect that can be easily overlooked. Conventional medicine focuses on population-based statistical data to determine how best to treat the person in front of them. Naturopathic Doctors do the same, but they tend to place more weight upon the individual and their unique needs, rather than the population-based data. This is how we’re better able to offer personalized, precision medicine for each patient.
Both approaches have their place and offer benefits to the patient. Focusing on the individual takes a lot of time and effort and can require a lot more testing as well. There are certainly many other differences, but this is really the biggest distinction between NDs and MDs.
In cancer care we have tools that did not exist 10 years ago. We can run testing that not only gives us possible individual causes behind the cancer’s occurrence, and we can also run testing that looks at individual cancer cell mutations. When we understand possible causes, we can often utilize therapies that remove those obstacles to improved health and thus improve cancer disease outcomes and prevent recurrence.
In addition, when looking at cancer cell mutations, we can recommend both natural and conventional therapies aimed at treating those specific pathways, therefore diminishing the growth of the cancer cells. Believe it or not, there is a ton of data out there to support this approach to cancer care. Conventional oncologists are certainly aware of it and utilize aspects of this data as well. Unfortunately, it is often utilized later in cancer progression. Personally, I believe natural therapies should be utilized alongside the conventional approaches to help improve outcomes in early cancer care. With cancer, we need to use every tool at our disposal to provide the best individualized outcome possible.
At Mederi Center, the individual human being in front of us is the focus of all our efforts. Cancer is not a diagnosis anyone wants to get, but the more we understand about the cancer characteristics within that particular individual, the more options we have to support healing.
If you or a loved one has cancer, please consider calling Mederi Center at 541-488-3133 to schedule a new patient appointment with me. I would be honored to support you or your loved one with our effective Mederi Care approach to integrative cancer care.
