naturopathic medicine
Naturopathic doctors (NDs) view each patient with a panoramic perspective of the whole body, and then hone-in on specific details within each system of the body. In an individualized treatment plan, the objective is to comprehensively balance all systems of the body. Hands-on therapies are combined with diet and supplements to treat and prevent injuries. As such, naturopathic doctors can help you coordinate and streamline your treatments to get you back in action faster. The College of Naturopathic Physicians of British Columbia is the regulatory body responsible for licensing and regulating naturopathic doctors in BC under the Health Professions Act. The College protects the public interest by ensuring that naturopathic physicians in British Columbia practice safely, ethically, and competently.
From the Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors, “Naturopathic doctors use conventional and naturopathic diagnostic tools for assessing health concerns and determining the most appropriate treatment program.” Naturopathic training integrates modern, evidence-based medicine, with establishing the foundations of health. All aspects of the physical, mental and social components of health are assessed during a thorough medical intake and with diagnostic tests. There are five main methods:
Thorough Health History - The initial intake with a Naturopathic doctor is typically one-and-a-half to two hours in length and includes a detailed history. A naturopathic doctor will take the time to find out about your family history, your lifestyle, the stressors in your life, past medical history, history of accidents or injuries and the significant events in your life that may have affected your health or well being. Often naturopathic doctors will use questionnaires to ensure that they are aware of the factors that may be affecting your current health status.
Clinical Nutrition - Understanding your nutritional status, eating habits and patterns and the type of food that you eat regularly is an important part of the naturopathic assessment. Naturopathic doctors will often take the time to assess the effect that diet is having on health and the body’s ability to process and tolerate the foods a patient may consume.
Chinese Tongue and Pulse Diagnosis - Through tongue and pulse diagnosis, a naturopathic doctor is able to understand a person’s health status according to the principles of traditional Chinese medicine, which may provide additional insight and information about an individual’s health.
Previous Medical Reports and Diagnostic Testing - All medical reports, such as MRIs, X-rays, or scans are valuable assets that a naturopathic doctor will use during their assessment of your health concerns. Naturopathic doctors will refer to another medical health professional when appropriate to ensure that all patients receive the best possible quality of health care and that all required information is available in order to fully understand the cause of a patient’s health concerns.
Comprehensive Laboratory Testing - Laboratory Testing, including urinalysis, blood work and saliva testing, is an essential aspect of a complete medical assessment. Naturopathic doctors will use standard laboratory testing to provide information for a complete naturopathic assessment. [1]
The musculoskeletal system is the first and easiest avenue people explore in an attempt to optimize performance. However, each person or athlete may have a completely different system of the body that may be their "weakest link in the chain" — even when they feel healthy. By identifying each person’s individual area for improvement, whether nutritional or structural, a ND can help take patients and athletes past their plateau and reach better performance.
Naturopathy treats conditions that include headache and whiplash, concussions and brain health; sports injuries like joint pain and arthritis, nerve pain and inflammation; infections like colds and flus; stress management like insomnia or anxiety; digestive improvement for IBS, Chron’s disease and ulcerative colitis; cardiovascular care for hypertension and hyperlipedemia; metabolic support for diabetes and weight loss; and thyroid support for hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism and Hashimodo’s Thyroiditis. Our Vancouver clinic is easy to access on Main Street and King Edward.
Vancouver Naturopathic Doctor Marieta Buse (she/her) BSc, ND, CISSN As an avid rock climber herself for 8 years, she loves integrating learning, performance, and goal-setting. In addition to completing a Bachelor of Science, Marieta is a licensed naturopathic doctor, a certified sports nutritionist, and her passion is sports medicine. She approaches injuries & physical ailments with a panoramic perspective: assessing the whole body as a system. Each of Marieta’s patients work with her to create an evidence-based treatment plan specific to their history, presentation & goals. She is a co-author of the 2018 & 2020 ProHealthSys textbook on Orthopedic Assessment and a contributing author of the 2021 ProHealthSys textbook of Naturopathic Physical Medicine. Dr. Buse is an experienced presenter, discussing naturopathic medicine at the 2019 Canadian Climbing Medicine Symposium and frequently hosts performance workshops at The Hive Climbing Gym.