The Cause of Disease, Healing the Chronic, and Finding Health

By Aurore Adamkiewicz, ND

The cause of disease in naturopathic philosophy can be explained by dividing disease into two groups; acute and chronic. Dr. Henry Lindlahr's book "Philosophy of Natural Therapeutics" states that both acute and chronic disease have "bacteria" in common, however, it is the individual's "fertile soil" which allows bacteria to proliferate and disease and poisons to accumulate. What is fertile soil? It is the debilitating and empty diet of the western populace that has plagued generation after generation and continually gets worse. 100 years ago, in Dr. Lindlahr's time, diet was a major aspect of disease as it was considered a technological advance to boil milk, buy flour already milled, and eat large amounts of meat with cooked vegetables. These actions saved time but also destroyed enzymes, vitamins, and the life giving energy of the food itself. All of the so-called dietetic advances of that time gave way to debilitating diseases of our great grandparents, dental carries, and laid "unfertile soil" for future generations, constitutionally.

Moving forward into the later half of the 20th century, the same diet exists and is now considered "normal" and acceptable, even by the more naturopathically and healthy inclined. However the 20th century diet has added some of the most lethal and DNA damaging poisons into the equation. Food coloring, food preservatives, large amounts of depleted white, sugar, flour and salt, non-hydrogenated oils, and the hormone scrambling grain nouveau the soybean. It is also important to mention the time bombs of irradiation, genetic modification, and pesticidation which are dangerous trends in agricultural proliferation.

When looking at the modern human as being both a fertile soil for disease and an infertile soil for health one must keep in mind also the immediate and long term effects of the environment. This is an example of how the macrocosm of the universe effects the microcosm of the human organism. Outdoor pollution such as radiation from nuclear reactors and indoor pollution in the form of plastics, fluorescent bulbs and "cleaning" products are new disease causers that were not even available in the already sick and malnourished man of the early 1900s.

Some products that directly effect the United States populace and yet has been banned in other parts of the world are as I have previously mentioned, fluorescent bulbs, scotch guard fabric protector, flame retardants (notoriously sprayed on children's pajama's and furniture), water fluoridation, and many pesticides. Most recently, it was scientifically proven that pesticides, fertilizers and fungicides depleted a large amount of the American amphibian and bee populations. To this the government scientists tell us, not to worry, it still can not affect the "human."

And so, with this information, we lay the backdrop for acute, chronic and the millennially evolved and modern auto-immune disorder. The question is now posed as to why so many acute diseases eventually give way to chronic. The answer lies within the simplicity of the inflammatory response. Dr. Henry Lindlahr stated in the above mentioned book that acute disease is the result of the purifying efforts of nature and that it runs its course based on the five stages of inflammation on page 9. The five stages of inflammation are incubation, aggravation, destruction, abatement, and reconstruction. Because of modern day's reliance of anti-inflammatories such as NSAIDs, vaccines, antiseptics and anti-biotics to inhibit and/or control the immune response many acute conditions have become chronic.

Chronic disease is manifested through debilitated and weakened organs and genetic constitution. It is much harder to heal than the acute and this is the sole reason why it is urgent for modern man to change his immuno-suppressive ways. The constant thwarting of the natural and necessary healing response in the human body has generationally effected the population and has partially if not completely suppressed immune function.

Allopathic medicine has pleased the masses by giving them the wolf in sheep’s clothing, the immediate aesthetic benefits of health by suppressing fever and chasing germs and symptoms for a comfortable and easy “appearance” of health. However, the long term and harmful chronic effects far outweigh the immediate benefits of “fake” health. One can only look to a family member or neighbor to see the modern plagues of our time such as diabetes, MS, lupus, cancer. Not to mention the constitutionally weakened new generation of children who are afflicted on a large degree by poor dentition (cavities), poor eyesight, and ear infections. The chronic childhood disorders such as autism and arthritis are more prevalent everyday. We as an adult society are clearly too comfortable with disease but is that belief good and beneficial for our children and for the future of mankind?

Naturopathy works…..

Naturopathic living works because it pleases the body and mind by bringing man back to nature and back to its core. It guides people towards healthy living by teaching others what they already know, what comes natural to them. By honoring the human body simple and effective natural means the person is empowered to heal themselves and treat illness not as a faceless monster but as a catalyst to a stronger and more fulfilling existence. Besides the long term disease preventative benefits, it also positively effects the future by blessing our offspring with knowledge and wisdom and not fear and disability. In this way, one can support the human body and mind by finally believing in its power rather than constantly trying to disprove it.

The story of the Pottinger cat experiment in Appendix VI of Lindlahr’s book shows that it takes only a few generations of unhealthy living and eating to weaken an organism but many generations to build it back up to thriving sufficiency. Furthermore, the food experiment where animals fed white flour and white sugar died sooner than animals fed nothing was to me, shocking and sobering. However, this should not discourage us but inspire us to the urgency and dire need to lead a healthier life and make better choices for us and our families. Is it self-hate which causes us to continue on in a disease positive direction? If so, let us think about our children and how much we love them and how they deserve a better future and reality than us, after all if we cannot do it ourselves,

Than how can they?