J Fish

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience in using a naturopath as their primary physician. I'd like to make the change but I'm curious how this could impact my medical. I am currently on blood pressure meds and would love to get off of them but am concerned that a natural remedy of supplements may not be approved.

Peoloto

Ask your AME? Doesn't seem like that big of deal?

Excargodog

Depends on the supplements and whether they really work. FDA approved drugs must show safety and efficacy. “Natural supplements” don’t. Generally supplements are marketed under much looser guidelines. The better ones are merely ineffective rather than harmful.

I’ve often wondered why people feel somehow reassured by something being “natural.” Strychnine is natural, so is opium, ricin from castor beans, nicotine from tobacco, lots of others. Most of these plants evolved poisons to keep insects or herbivores from eating them, not out of the goodness of their little green hearts.

In any event, if you can control your blood pressure to within FAA standards (155/95) with diet and exercise they will certify you, even though that level of blood pressure was set by a court case decades ago and is generally considered blood pressure that is excessive and should have long since been appropriately medically treated by contemporary standards:

https://www.acc.org/latest-in-cardio...sure-in-adults

If you can find some supplement with no significant side effects that can help you get there, I doubt the FAA would mind, but most of the natural products that do actually decrease blood pressure have adverse reactions with most people.

Personally I think you are taking an unnecessary risk if you don’t comply with established medical procedure which in this case is even MORE proactive than current FAA policy. Talk to your own MEDICAL doctor about the pros and cons of treatment if your blood pressure, taken daily over a week or more, averages 140/90 or better.

MadDogMikeATL

Naturopaths are not real doctors. They are quacks.

https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/nat...facts-edition/

https://www.naturopathicdiaries.com/

Bleeds On

Contact AMAS, assuming you're ALPA, and run it by them. They're AME's that work confidentially on your behalf and you've already paid for the call via your union dues. It's a no-brainer phone call. Please talk to them before you stop any meds or take new ones.

gloopy

Anyone who reflexively prescribes statins, PPI's or numerous other devistating medications in an attempt to address a downline symptom and never looks at the nutritional and lifestyle underlying causes as the primary issue is a quack.

Excargodog

And most doctors would probably agree with that - although “devistating” is a little over the top - which is far different from claiming that naturopathy is an appropriate way to treat clinically significant hypertension or other potentially career or life ending medical conditions.

https://medium.com/@ZDoggMD/naturopa...s-a99de55e1948

https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2016/01...ic-doctor.html

https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/nat...patients-lose/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/brittma.../#3610e14a6ad7

https://drjengunter.wordpress.com/20...iva-no-really/

interceptorpilo

Just imagine how many links I could post about bad MDs who killed people or even bad pilots. All professions have their bad practitioners.

Vincent Chase

There's a naturopath in the Whidbey Island area that my wife made me see about 8 yrs ago. (Before my Delta time.) I thought it was quackery too. Then I went through his regimen and without telling him anything about my history, he was "devistatingly" accurate about my conditions. I tried some of his (expensive) supplements and voila. Fixed some non-issue issues that no MD could fix before. I'd be cautious using the term "quack" when you haven't even seen a naturopath.


Now to the OP, I'd recommend checking with your FAA med examiner for his take.

Excargodog

Absolutely, but most professions have good ones too, not ones that are merely less bad. This is as good as Naturopathic education gets, most other schools are worse:

https://bastyr.edu/academics/naturop...thic-doctorate

Here are the prereqs - this for a GRADUATE degree mind you:

Prerequisite Coursework
College-level Algebra: 1 course
Chemistry* (science-major level): Minimum of 4 courses. Must include a minimum of either two sequential courses in organic chemistry or one course in organic chemistry and one course in biochemistry. (This latter option is highly recommended.) (The standard prerequisite for science-major level organic chemistry is one year of general chemistry.) Appropriate, hands-on lab work required. (Hands-on labs are those taken in person or using home lab kits.)
General Biology* (science-major level): 2 semesters or 3 quarters. Must cover concepts in cellular biology and genetics. Appropriate hands-on lab work required. Individual courses in the biological sciences may count if the above competencies are met, i.e., anatomy, physiology, microbiology, and botany.
Physics: 1 college-level course. It must be algebra-based; calculus-based is also acceptable. A lab is not required.
Psychology: 1 course. Introduction to/ General Psychology or Developmental/ Lifespan Psychology

*Required chemistry and biology courses not taken within seven years of matriculation into the program are subject to review by the admissions committee. Additional coursework may be (but is not always) required. Please contact Admissions with any questions about older courses.