Principles of Naturopathy 2010, Week 3

HISTORY OF ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

(Referenced from: Jonas & Levin: Essentials of Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins, 1999.)

 The notion of Complementary medicine has appeared only recently.

 Before the 1990’s, unconventional therapies were largely dismissed by the American medical
profession as opposed to and incompatible with scientific medical practice.

 Even the term Alternative , which has been used since the 1970’s, would not have been acceptable
to the allopathic practitioners of previous generations. The term Alternative would have implied some
respect, implying that perhaps alternative modalities were in some way equal or a valid option.
 Historically the phrases used to describe alternative therapies by mainstream physicians would have
been: irregular medicine, fringe medicine, sectarian medicine, medical cultism and quackery.
 An awareness of these historical attitudes and developments is essential for understanding the
philosophies that bind together many alternative systems of practice.
 Whether an alternative system of medicine proclaims itself to be natural healing (the favoured
description in the 19th century), drugless healing ( the term popular in the early 20th century), or Holistic
healing ( The label since the 1970’s), consistently, even from its beginnings in the 17 th century,
alternative medicine has seen itself as providing a distinctive approach to healing as well as to the
physician– patient interaction

 This distinctive outlook on medicine is drawn ironically from the work of the same physician whom
orthodox practitioners revere as the “father” of their medicine – Hippocrates.

Origins of Alternative Medicine

“ I am stating only what everybody knows to be true, when I say that the general confidence which has
herefore existed in the science and art of medicine ………has within the last few years been violently shaken
and disturbed, and is now greatly lessened and impaired. The hold which medicine has so long had upon the
popular mind has is loosened; there is widespread skepticism as to its power of curing diseases, and men are
everywhere to be found who deny its pretensions as a science, and reject the benefits and blessings which
it proffers them as an art” (E. Bartlett, An inquiry into the degree of certainty in medicine. Philadelphia:
Lea and Blanchard, 1848.)

 Although this complaint sounds modern it is actually from 1848.

 At that time (as with today) there was a rapid growth in alternative healing systems as a result of
peoples growing dissatisfaction with conventional medicine.
 These alternative systems claimed to be more effective and safer than conventional medicine and
began to appear at the turn of the century, to a great extent as protests against the bleeding, purging
and other heroic measures practiced by the physicians of the day.

 The different versions of alternative medicine that developed during this time were actual systems
of care.

 The practitioners of these new alternative therapies were bound together not just by their
opposition to the medical establishment, but also by shared theoretical knowledge, therapeutic regimens,
by membership in local, state, even national societies and by publication of their own journals and
operation of their own schools. (Sound familiar?)

 Essentially these alternative systems were professional.

 By the end of the 1840s this medical counterculture had cornered 10% of the healthcare market.
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A Brief History of Naturopathy

(from Encyclopaedia of Natural Medicine, by Murray & Pizzorno) :
Naturopathy, or “nature cure,” is a method of healing that employs various natural means to empower an
individual to achieve the highest possible level of health. Although the term "naturopathic medicine"
was not used until the late nineteenth century, its philosophical roots go back thousands of years.
Naturopathy draws on the healing wisdom of many countries, including India (Ayurveda), China (Taoism),
and Greece (Hippocrates).
The European tradition of “taking the cure” at natural springs or spas gained a foothold in America by
the middle of the eighteenth century, making the United States receptive to the ideas of naturopathy.
Among the movement's earliest promoters were Father Sebastian Kneipp, a priest who credited his
recovery from tuberculosis to bathing in the Danube, and Benedict Lust, a physician who trained at the
water-cure clinic that Kneipp founded in Europe. Lust arrived in the United States in the 1890s and
began using the term "naturopathy" to describe an eclectic combination of natural healing doctrines.
In 1902, Lust founded the first U.S. college of naturopathic medicine in New York City. It taught a
system of medicine that included the best of what was then known about nutritional therapy, natural
diet, herbal medicine, homeopathy, spinal manipulation, exercise therapy, hydrotherapy, electrotherapy,
stress reduction, and other natural therapies. The basic tenets of Lust's view of naturopathy are
summarized in his book, The Principles, Aim, and Program of the Nature Cure.

The natural system for curing disease is based on a return to nature in regulating the diet, breathing,
exercising, bathing, and the employment of various forces to eliminate the poisonous products in the
system, and so raise the vitality of the patient to a proper standard of health ...

THE PROGRAM OF NATUROPATHIC CURE

1. ELIMINATION OF EVIL HABITS, or the weeds of life, such as overeating, alcoholic drinks, drugs,
the use of tea, coffee, and cocoa that contain poisons, meat eating, improper hours of living, waste of
vital forces, lowered vitality, sexual and social aberrations, worry, etc.

2. CORRECTIVE HABITS. Correct breathing, correct exercise, right mental attitude. Moderation in the
pursuit of health and wealth.
3. NEW PRINCIPLES OF LIVING. Proper fasting, selection of food, hydropathy, light and air baths,
mud baths, osteopathy, chiropractic and other forms of mechano-therapy, mineral salts obtained in
organic form, electropathy, heliopathy, steam or Turkish baths, sitz baths, etc....

There is really but one healing force in existence and that is Nature herself, which means the inherent
restorative power of the organism to overcome disease. Now the question is, can this power be
appropriated and guided more readily by extrinsic or intrinsic methods? That is to say, is it more
amenable to combat disease by irritating drugs, vaccines, and serums employed by superstitious
moderns, or by the bland intrinsic congenial forces of Natural Therapeutics, that are employed by this
new school of medicine, that is Naturopathy, which is the only orthodox school of medicine? Are not
these natural forces much more orthodox than the artificial resources of the druggist? The practical
application of these natural agencies, duly suited to the individual case, are true signs that the art of
healing has been elaborated by the aid of absolutely harmless, congenial treatments.
The early naturopaths and their contemporaries attached great importance to a natural, healthful diet.
John Kellogg was a physician, Seventh-Day Adventist, and vegetarian who ran the Adventist Battle
Creek Sanitarium, which utilized natural therapies. His brother, Will, built and ran a factory in Battle
Creek, Michigan, to produce health foods such as shredded wheat and granola biscuits. Driven both by

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personal convictions about the benefits of cereal fibers and by commercial interests, the Kellogg
brothers helped popularize naturopathic ideas about food, as did their former employee C. W Post.

Naturopathic medicine grew and flourished from the early 1900s until the mid 1930s. At that point,
several factors allowed the conventional medical profession to initiate its virtual monopoly of health
care:
 The medical profession finally stopped using such "heroic" therapies as bloodletting and mercury
dosing and replaced them with new therapies that were more effective and much less toxic
 Foundations supported by the drug industry began heavily subsidizing medical schools

 The medical profession became much more of a political force, and legislation was passed that
severely restricted the use of other health care systems.

However, in the last two decades naturopathy has experienced a tremendous resurgence, largely as a
result of two factors: increased public awareness of the role of diet and lifestyle in chronic disease,
and the failure of modern medicine to deal effectively with these disorders. In addition, the emergence
of Bastyr University (founded in 1978) and its focus on teaching science-based natural medicine has
played a major role.

Thomsonianism
 Was the first alternative system to be developed in America. However the system diminished after
Thomson’s death in 1843.

 Involved a program of botanical healing formulated in the 1790s by Samuel Thomson, a New
Hampshire farmer. Thomson used two herbs extensively – Lobelia and Capsicum – as broad-spectrum
purgative remedies.
 Thomson’s treatments were designed to open the “vents” of the body, allowing the body’s ‘inner fire’
to spread outwards to the periphery, eliminating toxins and restoring health. He understood the
importance of diaphoresis (sweating).

 His combinations of plant drugs that either evacuated or heated the body (eg emetic lobelia,
cayenne pepper enemas) were warmly received by the public of the 1820 and 30s.

Homeopathy
 System formulated by German physician and genius Samuel Hahnemann in the 1790’s and further
evolved until his death in 1842. Hahnemann gave up his medical practice as he felt the medicine he
had learnt did his patients more harm than good. This was the impetus behind his search for a
system of healing that was both gentle and curative.
 Homeopathy spread through Europe and Britain and established a foothold in the US in the 1830s.
Homeopathy was by far the most popular medical alternative by the mid 1800s and remained so until
the early 1900s. By the end of the 19th century Homeopathy and other ‘alternative’ systems of
medicine such as Eclecticism were so popular they threatened to overrun Allopathic medicine. For
example, in the Boston area at this time around 40% of all physicians were Homeopaths. Such
historical facts have been taken out of the modern teaching of medicine.
 Derived from Greek roots meaning “like the disease” or “similar suffering to”, Homeopathy treats
symptoms of disease with drugs that produce the very same symptoms in healthy individuals – the
law of ‘like cures like’. This natural law of healing was first described by Hippocrates, and later
expounded by Paracelsus (ironically, both touted as ‘fathers of modern medicine’).

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Hydrotherapy
 The next most popular alternative therapy at mid-century 1800s.
 Created in Austria during the 1820s, imported to the US in the early 1840s.

 The “Water Cure” as Americans called it, stimulated the body to rid itself of disease through a
variety of baths (usually cold), supplemented with careful regulation of lifestyle (diet, exercise,
sleep and dress). (Sound familiar???)
 Hydrotherapy maintained a sizeable following into the 1860s but steadily faded after the American
Civil war.

Mesmerism (Magnetic therapy)

 During this time in America, the rise and fall of mesmerism, or magnetic healing occurred.
 The invention of 18th century Austrian physician Franz Mesmer.

 Magnetic therapy relied on hypnotism and the power of suggestion to relieve patients.
 Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science in the 1870s was highly influenced by
Mesmerism.

Eclecticism
 Was an assortment of therapies (hence the title ‘Eclecticism’) selected from all schools of practice,
allopathic and alternative, on the basis of clinical experience. Basically, if it worked in practice the
Eclectics used it.

 Originated by New York practitioner Wooster Beach in the late 1820s, eclectic medicine lasted into
the 1930s.

 The American herbalist Matthew Wood champions the style of medicine practiced by the Eclectic
physicians in the modern day.

The movement which came to be known as “eclecticism” developed out of the work of “botanical
physicians” and “medical reformers” who practiced in the early decades of nineteenth-century America.
These doctors were educated in the emerging schools of conventional medicine, but turned away from
the excesses of "heroic" therapy, seeking a less dangerous method. They did not initially reject
conventional doctrine, but sought to work from within the system in a more enlightened way. Eventually,
however, their experiences led to the formulation of an essentially eclectic doctrine which was
distinctive from that of other schools. They developed a knowledge of the pharmacology and properties
of American medicinal plants. This was coupled with an understanding of patterns in the organism. They
prescribed botanical and chemical remedies in accordance with these patterns.

Unlike the other complementary medicine movements, eclecticism was developed over several
generations, through the input of many individuals. It is therefore artificial to trace the history of the
movement as if it arose from a single root. Several independent strands joined together to create
eclecticism and were joined yet again by other strands. Despite these complications, the more salient
figures and doctrines have impressed themselves on the pages of history.

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Origins of Eclectic Medicine

Dr. Wooster Beach (1794-1868) is “generally conceded to have been the founder of Eclecticism,” wrote
Dr. Harvey Felter, the historian of the movement. In 1825, Beach began to teach “reform medicine” to
a nucleus of students in New York City. Eclecticism developed out of this impulse. Beach called himself a
"medical reformer." He taught moderation in the use of conventional therapy and introduced the use of
several native American remedies. About 1840 his work found greater acceptance among regular
physicians, but he was ostracized by his followers. It was at this time that the term eclecticism was
substituted for “reform medicine.” It is not entirely clear what the nature of the conflict was, or the
significance of the name change, but it is possible that Beach wished to work from within the system as
a "reformer," while his students wanted to found a separate movement. At any rate, Beach passed the
remainder of his years in painful alienation from the movement he launched.
Beach had been interested in the reformation of medicine since his youth. He was repelled by the
standard therapy of his era and “perused eagerly all the adverse criticisms upon medicine” which he
could find in the literature. “I had no idea that there was a single individual in existence who practiced
medicine on different principles,” he writes. However, “one day I accidentally saw a medical preparation
brought from a distance by a relative, which had cured him of a critical complaint.” On examination, he
realized that it was not of ordinary provenance. The source was Jacob Tidd, an old Pennsylvania Dutch/
German root doctor living in New Jersey. “From that hour a hope sprang up in my mind that I should be
enabled to obtain a knowledge of his practice.”

The Second Generation of Alternative Therapies

 A second wave appeared in the later 19th century, beginning with Osteopathy, a technique of
musculoskeletal manipulation originated by Andrew Taylor Still in the 1870s.
 However the first Osteopathic school would not begin operation until 1892.

 The first school of Chiropractic opened in 1895, the same year it was discovered by Daniel David
Palmer in Davenport Iowa.

 During the last few years of the 19th century, a German named Benedict Lust blended these new
manipulation procedures with hydropathic philosophy and treatments, herbal tradition and other
natural remedies to create Naturopathy.
 By then nearly 20% of all medical practitioners were alternative, up from the 10% during the 1850s.

 In 1900, within America there were approximately 110,000 allopaths, 10,000 homeopaths, 5000
eclectics and another 5000 alternative practitioners using other alternative systems.

 Acupuncture was experimented with briefly in Europe and America in the 19th century, but more
recent reports of its efficacy from travellers to China triggered an explosion of interest in
acupuncture, but also in TCM and Ayurvedic medicine from India.

“All healing power is inherent in the living system” (Russell Trall, hydropath 1864)

“Naturopathy, with all its various methods of treatments, has always one end in view and only one: to
increase the vital force” (Benedict Lust, naturopath, 1903).

Principles of Naturopathy Week 3 – History of Alternative Medicine