The history of Naturopathy
Naturopathy dates back to the 18th – 19th century, however, its vital roots go as far back as 400BC with Hippocrates School of Medicine. In 1902 Benjamin Lust introduced Naturopathy to the USA and founded the American School of Naturopathy. It was following this that dietary and lifestyle advice became very popular in the treatment of illness. Between 1920-1940 there was a rapid increase in technologies and pharmaceuticals, and so naturopathic medicine declined. However, over the past 40-50 years its practice has steadily increased, particularly in the area of evidence based complementary medicine. Naturopathy in Australia in 1977 was reasonable in their coverage of basic biomedical sciences on paper.
There is a very strong history of Naturopathic medicine globally. It is time proven, however, most Naturopaths now days must complete years of education to be eligible to practice as a Naturopath, very different to even a few decades ago, where regulation of the profession was very low. Today most Naturopaths are qualified with a Bachelors level University degree, often in Health Science or Complementary Medicine.