The Naturopathic Model of Chronic Illness

Normal health is interfered with by a disturbing factor which the body then responds to (ex. inflammation, fever, etc.)  The disturbing factor can be emotional, physical or spiritual AND the response can also be manifested on those different planes as well.  Chronic illness arises when any or all of the following factors occur:1. The disturbing factor persists (ex. bad lifestyle habits such as poor diet, sleep, bad relationship) which continues to burden the body cumulatively.2.  The body's natural reactive mechanism is blocked or suppressed, usually by drugs, which interferes with the capacity of the body to process and remove its disturbances.3.  The vitality of the system is insufficient or has become too overwhelmed to mount a significant and sufficient healing reaction.As these factors persist the body slides into a chronic, weakened state.  The body is ALWAYS making the wisest choice each moment given the information and resources it has.  Ultimately as this condition persists the body becomes ulcerated or scarred.  (Once again these could be emotional and spiritual scars as well).  Reversal of this situation is rarely accomplished by medicating the pathological state which often mitigates or controls the situation but does not result in true healing.  Hence the Naturopathic approach which is a philosophy of looking at this as a process and analyzing and reducing the disturbing factors, supporting the body in its healing process and rebuilding the vitality.