The Difference Between Disease Management and Disease Reversal: A Paradigm Shift
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by Dr. Alicia McComas, ND
When it comes to healthcare, there are two fundamentally different ways of understanding health and disease: the conventional medical paradigm and the naturopathic paradigm. Let’s explore how these approaches contrast and how they shape the path to healing.
Conventional Paradigm: Treating the Disease
In the conventional medical model:
Health conditions are identified as diseases, separate entities that "invade" the body. These diseases are often viewed as the cause of suffering.
Diagnosis becomes the key step in assigning a name to the problem. This name is then matched to a specific treatment protocol.
Treatments are typically pharmaceutical drugs or surgical interventions aimed at eliminating the disease or silencing its symptoms.
The absence of symptoms is considered a successful outcome, equated with a cure.
In this paradigm, the condition is seen as the cause of suffering. For example:
Patient A presents with recurring headaches. A diagnosis of hypertension (high blood pressure) is made, and blood pressure-lowering medication is prescribed. The treatment reduces the symptoms, and the headaches disappear. By managing the disease, the patient’s suffering seems resolved.
However, this approach often overlooks the deeper story behind the symptoms. Patient A’s hypertension wasn’t an isolated event—it was the body’s response to prolonged stress, poor lifestyle choices, and underlying imbalances.
Naturopathic Paradigm: Restoring Balance
In the naturopathic model:
The human body is viewed as intelligent and self-regulating, with health as its natural state. Illness is seen as a temporary response to disturbances in this balance.
Symptoms are not the enemy but valuable messages from the body. They signal that something is out of harmony and needs to be addressed.
The focus is on identifying and removing the root cause of the imbalance, allowing the body to heal itself naturally.
Interventions are designed to use the least force necessary to support this process, respecting the body’s innate wisdom.
In this paradigm, the condition is seen as the result of suffering. Revisiting Patient A:
His hypertension is understood as a consequence of multiple stressors: a high-stress job, sleep apnea, smoking, and poor dietary habits. These factors disrupt his body’s natural state of balance, leading to the condition.
Instead of merely managing symptoms, the naturopathic approach would help Patient A make lifestyle changes, address his stress, improve his diet, and support his sleep. As these obstacles to health are removed, his body can restore balance, and his hypertension—and the headaches—can resolve naturally.
A Key Difference: Cause vs. Effect
The table below summarizes the core differences between these paradigms:
Conventional Paradigm | Naturopathic Paradigm |
Health conditions are labeled as diseases causing suffering. | The body is orderly and intelligent, with illness as a response to imbalance. |
Diseases are identified and named through diagnosis. | Symptoms are messages to decode and address. |
Treatment focuses on eliminating the disease (pharmaceuticals, surgeries). | Interventions aim to restore balance with the least force necessary. |
The condition = the cause of suffering. | The condition = the result of suffering. |
Choosing Your Path
When faced with a health condition, you have a choice:
Disease Management: Focuses on symptom suppression, often silencing the body’s cries for help.
Disease Reversal: Seeks to understand and address the root cause, empowering the body to heal itself.
The naturopathic approach encourages you to listen to your body and work with its innate intelligence. By removing the obstacles to health and restoring balance, true and lasting healing becomes possible.