Gallbladder Cancer Treatment: Naturopathic Medicine

Naturopathic Medicine for Gallbladder Cancer

Naturopathic medicine is one of many complementary therapies offered by Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) to help customize and enhance your whole-person, gallbladder cancer treatment. Naturopathic medicine can be a powerful way to help maintain your physical well-being, improve strength and also lessen the side effects of conventional gallbladder cancer treatments, such as surgery, chemotherapy or radiation.

What is naturopathic medicine?

Naturopathic medicine is a distinct system of primary health care that believes in the inherent and natural power of nature to heal the body. While not a licensed healing art where CTCA facilities are located in Illinois and Oklahoma, it is an art, science, philosophy and practice that can be used to help diagnose, treat and ultimately prevent illness. Naturopathic medicine focuses on using the least invasive and most physiologically supportive methods possible for gallbladder cancer treatment.

At CTCA, our cancer doctors can consult with naturopathic practitioners to develop a diverse gallbladder cancer treatment plan that combines the strengths of naturopathic medicine with the effectiveness of conventional therapies. Naturopathic medicine centers on the principles included below.

The healing power of nature

Your body has the inherent ability to establish, maintain and restore health. The healing process is ordered and intelligent; nature heals through the response of the life force. The physician's role during your gallbladder cancer treatment is to encourage the natural healing process, to identify and remove obstacles to your health and recovery, and to support the creation of a healthy internal and external environment for you.

First do no harm

Naturopathic practitioners (also known as naturopaths) use methods and medicinal substances which can help to minimize side effects during gallbladder cancer treatment. Therapeutic actions should be complementary to, and synergistic with, this healing process.

Doctor as teacher

Beyond an accurate diagnosis and appropriate prescription, your doctor must work to create a healthy, sensitive interpersonal relationship with you. A cooperative doctor-patient relationship has inherent therapeutic value. Your physician should educate and encourage you to take responsibility for your own health during your gallbladder cancer treatment and beyond.

Treat the whole person

Health and disease result from a complex combination of physical, mental, emotional, genetic, environmental, social, spiritual and other factors. Naturopathic medicine recognizes the harmonious functioning of all aspects of you as being essential to health. The multifactorial nature of health and disease requires a personalized and comprehensive approach to gallbladder cancer diagnosis and treatment. Naturopaths treat the whole person that is you, taking all of these factors into account.

Prevention

The ultimate goal of naturopathic medicine is prevention of all forms of disease, including gallbladder cancer. The emphasis is on helping you to build your health. This is accomplished through education and promotion of lifestyle habits that create good health. Naturopaths assess your risk factors and hereditary susceptibility to disease and makes appropriate interventions to help you avoid further harm and risk.

Naturopathic practice

While naturopaths are trained to be primary care physicians, some choose to emphasize particular treatment methods (see below) and others may concentrate on particular medical fields, such as pediatrics, gynecology, allergies or arthritis. Even though it has its own therapeutic specialties, naturopathic medicine incorporates the natural therapies of many different healing traditions. What makes a therapy part of the naturopathic scope of practice is the way it is applied to your gallbladder cancer treatment, on the basis of the six naturopathic principles of healing. The current scope of naturopathic practice includes, but is not limited to:

Clinical nutrition: That "food is the best medicine" is a cornerstone of naturopathic practice. Many medical conditions can be treated more effectively with foods and nutritional supplements than they can by other means, with fewer complications and side effects. At CTCA, your naturopath may suggest integrating diet, natural hygiene, fasting and nutritional supplementation into your gallbladder cancer treatment plan.

Botanical medicine: Many plant substances are powerful medicines. Where single, chemically derived drugs may address only one problem, botanical medicines are able to address a variety of problems simultaneously. Their organic nature makes most botanicals compatible with the body's own chemistry. Hence, they can be gently effective with few toxic side effects compared to other drugs used for gallbladder cancer treatment.

Physical medicine: Naturopathic medicine has its own methods of therapeutic manipulation of muscles, bones and spine. Naturopaths use ultrasound, diathermy (the controlled production of "deep heating" beneath the skin in the subcutaneous tissues, deep muscles and joints for therapeutic purposes), exercise, massage, water, heat and cold, and gentle electrical therapies.

Eastern medicine: Eastern medicine is a healing philosophy that naturally complements the beliefs of naturopathic medicine. Meridian theory offers an important understanding of the unity of the body and mind. It adds to the Western understanding of physiology. Acupuncture provides a method of gallbladder cancer treatment that can unify and harmonize the imbalances present in disease conditions, which in turn stimulates the immune system and the healing response.

Psychological medicine: Mental attitudes and emotional states may influence, or even cause, physical illness. Counseling, nutritional balancing, stress management, hypnotherapy, biofeedback and other therapies are used to help gallbladder cancer patients heal psychologically.

Homeopathic medicine: This is based on the principle of "like cures like." Clinical observation indicates that it works on a subtle, yet powerful, energetic level, gently acting to strengthen the body's healing and immune response during gallbladder cancer treatment to help trigger a natural healing process.

Naturopathic practice also includes the use of any medical substances that contain elements that are components of bodily tissues, or can be employed by the body, for the maintenance of life and the repair of tissues. This also encompasses all methods of diagnostic testing and imaging, including X-ray and ultrasound.

Next Topic: Mind-Body Medicine for Gallbladder Cancer