Digestive Disorders and Naturopathic Medicine

Digestive Disorders have been known for many decades in almost every country of the world, however, recently high incidence rates happened in Toronto and many cities in Ontario and the GTA. As many as 20 Million Canadians (almost half of the Canadian population) suffer from a digestive disorder every year https://cdhf.ca/digestive-disorders /  (2020)

Digestive disorders can be related to many health problems such as stomach inflammation (called gastritis), peptic ulcer, duodenal ulcer, and chronic gastritis.

Pancreatic diseases can be another reason for digestive disorders such as acute and chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic fibrosis, and pancreatic cancer.

Bowel disorders have a big share in the causation of digestive disorders that can be caused by Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) such as Crohn’s Disease (CD), and Ulcerative Colitis (UC), Diverticulosis and colon cancer can be other reasons for the digestive disorders.

Having so many reasons for Digestive Disorders makes the identification of the root cause of the problem difficult and sometimes impossible to define.

How do Healthcare Professionals Identify the reasons for Digestive Disorders?

Proper and comprehensive history taking and proper physical examination, can help to achieve the accurate diagnosis in a high percentage of patients, leaving only a few who need further investigations such as an abdominal ultrasound or an upper or lower Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.

What does Conventional Medicine do for Digestive Disorders?

Medical treatments for digestive disorders are based on the treatment of the cause such as giving medications for stomach hyperacidity or peptic ulcers, giving anti-inflammatory medications for pancreatitis, and Immune Suppressive Medications for Crohn’s disease and  Ulcerative Colitis. Sometimes patients respond well to these medications, however, others may not respond completely or develop severe side effects to some of these medications, especially the immune suppressive medications.

Naturopathic Medicine and Digestive Disorders

Naturopathic Medicine's approach to the diagnosis and treatment of Digestive Disorders differs to a large extent from that of Western Medicine. Many Diagnostic tools depend on the assessment of the Chinese Medicine Principles Because the Digestive System functions depend on the integrity of the energy Channels or Meridians that control the digestive system such as the Stomach Meridian, Large Intestinal and Small Intestinal Meridians, Gall Bladder, and Liver Meridians.  These are energy channels that regulate the digestion process and from the Chinese Medicine Perspective, a disturbance of these energy meridians either with an excess or deficiency can result in Digestive Disorders. The Meridians can be returned to their normal activities through Acupuncture Needles that can be used to treat either the excess or the deficiency states.

 

Acupuncture is not as painful as many think, it is just an insertion of tiny very thin needles (like a thread) into these energy Meridians and can be manipulated to either stimulate the weak meridians or weaken the overactive Meridians. They usually stay for 20-30 minutes in the body then they can be taken and disposed of in special hazard containers. Usually, Acupuncture treatments are given over many sessions to restore the Meridian channel's energy.

Herbal Medicine and supplements can be other additives to Acupuncture in treating Digestive Disorders that have shown great success over many years. Many herbs are usually used to treat Digestive Disorders. They can be used as a dry herb after being soaked for a few minutes in hot water or as a tincture.

Naturopathic Medicine interventions can be used alone or hand in hand with Western Medical Interventions.

Have a question? Need Help?

Contact us with this link https://www.ontarionaturopathicclinic.ca/site/contact-naturpathic-dr-grimsby-niagara