Lymphoma Cancer Treatments – Naturopathic Medicine

Naturopathic Medicine for Lymphoma

At Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA), lymphoma patients are assigned a multidisciplinary care team. Part of this care team includes naturopathic clinicians, who work with your oncologists to create a customized lymphoma treatment program for you. The goal of our Naturopathic Medicine Program is to help you maintain your physical well-being, build strength, and lessen the side effects of your lymphoma treatment.

What is Naturopathic Medicine?

Naturopathic medicine, also called “naturopathy,” is a distinct system of primary health care. Naturopathic medicine focuses on using the least invasive, most physiologically supportive methods possible to treat illness and diseases, such as lymphoma.

The practice of naturopathic medicine is based on the following principles:

The Healing Power of Nature
Your body is designed to inherently establish, maintain and restore health. The healing process is ordered and intelligent. The role of the naturopathic clinician is to facilitate and augment this 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 clinicians use methods and medicinal substances that minimize the risk of harmful effects on you, and apply the least possible force or intervention necessary to diagnose illness and restore your health. Naturopathic clinicians respect and work with the healing power of nature in lymphoma cancer diagnosis, treatment and counseling.

Clinician as Teacher
A cooperative clinician-patient relationship has inherent therapeutic value. The naturopathic clinician must work to create a healthy, sensitive interpersonal relationship with you. The clinician’s major role is to educate and empower you to take responsibility for your own health. The clinician must strive to inspire hope as well as understanding. 

Treat the Whole Person
Naturopathic medicine recognizes the harmonious functioning of all aspects of you as being essential to health. By recognizing the multifactorial nature of health and disease, naturopathic clinicians treat the whole person, not just the cancer. Naturopathic clinicians use a comprehensive, personalized approach to lymphoma cancer treatment.

Prevention
Prevention is the ultimate goal of naturopathic medicine. Prevention is achieved through education and promotion of healthy lifestyle habits. The emphasis is on building health. Naturopathic clinicians assess risk factors and genetic predisposition to disease and make appropriate interventions to avoid further harm and risk to you.

Naturopathic Practice

At CTCA, as you undergo lymphoma treatment, naturopathic therapies seek to support normal metabolism, decrease side effects, boost the body’s immune system, increase energy, and improve overall well-being. Naturopathic clinicians consult with the other members of your CTCA care team to provide diverse techniques based on an individualized analysis of your needs. 

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 (i.e., on the basis of the six naturopathic principles of healing).

The current scope of naturopathic practice includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Next Topic: Mind-Body Medicine for Lymphoma