Our Philosophy of Naturopathic Medicine:

God designed and created humans to live active, happy, fulfilling, and immortal lives. The first man and woman were perfect, created in His image. They had perfect health as long as they lived in perfect Godliness. By stepping outside God’s perfect will and way, they suffered the decay of life’s myriad small traumas but with incomplete restoration. The trauma injured their structure and resulted in the slow degradation of the function of the body’s molecules, organelles, cells, tissues, organs, and systems. Micro-trauma results from the collisions of atoms and molecules by radiation and mass and disturbs the cells’ perfect order. Without God’s perfect pattern restoring the body’s structures, the myriad functions gradually wane, and we move inexorably toward death.

When man violated God’s perfect order, he became subject to sickness and death, as we see illustrated in the story of Jesus healing a man and equating forgiveness of sins with healing. Jesus illustrated the connection between health and Godliness in Luke 5:23-24, “Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat, and go home.” When Adam and Eve violated His perfect way, they lost their communion with Him, sin reigned in their bodies, and they became subject to the forces of decay.

Broadly defined, TRAUMA is any injury or physical impact. It is my thesis that trauma is the fundamental/underlying/always-present and necessary cause of all disease, illness, and dysfunction. All interactions involve force; however, in a healthy body, mind/soul, and spirit, appropriate healthy interactions that do not disturb the body’s structure or function are chosen, and divine power continually restores perfect structure and function.

There is a magnitude of force that does not damage structure or function, and we should choose that when walking in His way. Every interaction involves force, and the body must restore its original, God-given, perfect form when physical contact impairs structure or function and reduces the degrees of freedom of the mind, body, soul, or spirit. Injury results from trauma, a force that disturbs the body’s God-given structure. Healing is then the process of recovery from that trauma. Chronic debility results when the trauma is so great that the body takes an extended time to heal or lifelong reduced ability.

Medicine’s function/purpose/goal is to stimulate the body’s repair processes to restore its structure and function and speed recovery from an energetic impact. Trauma overcomes the ability of the body’s systems to maintain homeostasis. Homeostasis is the state of the body systems when they can maintain structure and function after collisions/impacts with various types of energy.

Illness/disease/debility is a state of disturbed structure and limited function. Contact with the various forms of mass or energy produces trauma. Examples of the various energy-body collision effects include:
* Structural Trauma: Sticks and stones can break our bones. Trauma disrupts structure and function by cuts, blows/blunt trauma/crushing/breaking, piercing, and abrasion.
* Micro-Trauma: Dysfunction from damage to biochemical-metabolic physiology. The entirety of internal medicine concerns itself largely with the disordered reaction of molecules in the various cellular compartments. The disruption of cellular function results from poisoning of enzymes, disruption of energy production, membrane and organelle damage, free radical reactions, toxin accumulation, disturbance of molecular/atomic fluid concentrations, and genetic damage with the associated molecular malformations, deficiencies, and excesses of protein production.
* Cellular/Organ/System Trauma: Cellular trauma results in organ dysfunction, which results in system dysfunction. The systems include the urinary system (kidney-bladder), Respiratory (lung, trachea, bronchi), Cardiovascular (heart, arteries, veins), immune system (marrow, spleen, thymus, lymph nodes), Endocrine system (pancreas, adrenals, thyroid, parathyroid, pituitary, thymus, ovaries/testes), Male reproductive system (penis, testes, prostate) and Female reproductive system (vagina, uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, breasts), Musculoskeletal system (muscles, bones, tendons, joints, bursa, discs), Peripheral nervous system (sensory nerves/receptors and motor nerves/end plates, ganglia, synapses, axons, and dendrites), Central nervous system (spinal column, brain), and integumentary system (skin, hair, nails).

Types of Trauma:
* Radiation, the impact of electromagnetic energy, damages tissue; infrared burns flesh; bright light can blind; ultraviolet ionizes superficially, causing sunburn; x and gamma rays penetrate deeper into the body with more energy, creating free radicals, molecular damage, cross-chaining, and genetic damage; microwave radiation (radar, cell phone) can burn and disrupt nervous system function
* Sound: the energy of air pressure can damage the acoustic receptive apparatus, but sufficiently intense sound can mimic the effects of physical/blunt force/mass-collision trauma. Discordant noise, repetitive or loud noise, can disturb sleep and affect emotions.
* Excess caloric consumption: fills the body with stores of fat and sugar molecules, stresses the joints, exhausts hormone systems (insulin/blood sugar), crowds the metabolic spaces, and disrupts liver metabolism with glycogen and fat.
* Toxins: Diet, prescription, metabolism, air, water, and environment can poison/interfere with metabolic pathways.
* Infection: bacteria, viruses, and protozoa can overwhelm the immune system’s response by overgrowth.
* Words and events: When hope is lost, a man can become disheartened, discouraged, and depressed. Words and circumstances can dampen a man’s spirit. Imprisonment, kidnapping, and bullying deny the God-given liberty we were designed to live in. Lies, false doctrine, propaganda, and partial truth create a fictional reality, a false narrative that directs men into useless and damaging actions.

All contact with the human body-mind from any mass or energy that changes the body’s structure is a type of trauma, whether it be the trauma of excess or deficient calories, proteins, essential fats, micronutrients, toxins, infective agents, or words. Trauma, in the conventional sense, is typically just considered physical force contacting the structures of the body. But by expanding the definition of trauma to include every type of force (radiation, chemical, and environmental effects), then we can see how trauma is reasonably understood as the cause of all illnesses. This is useful because it implies the value of avoiding the various types and magnitudes of trauma.

The most controversial inclusion in this definition of trauma is starvation/malnourishment. I justify this definition by noting that force acts on the environment, whether from an act of God (weather, war, riot, pestilence) or man (self or others), preventing adequate nourishment flow. Man is part of an ecosystem, and his health depends upon and includes his interactions with the environment.

In summary, all illness results from myriad types of trauma and result in myriad debilities on the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual levels. Thus, I use the term “trauma” to include any force exerted on the body or environment that impairs the function of the body on any level.

Obviously, the impact of mass and radiation can damage/impair our bodies’ structure, cells, and genetic code. The impact of radiation (ultraviolet, x-ray, and gamma radiation and reactive molecules) causes free radicals and cross-linking with damage to the cellular organelles and possibly damage to the germ line of humanity (sperm and ova).

But radiation damage has another side, as scientists posit radiation damage is a primary mechanism driving the evolutionary rise of humanity from apes. Likewise, the Darwinian worldview posits that all life evolved from the first accidentally produced amino acids and their subsequent accidental organization into more and more functional/adaptations to the environment. This upward evolution proceeded by the self-organizing statistics of complex interactions and the natural selection of the most adaptable to the environment. By this mechanism, life naturally and inexorably evolved from the simplest to the most complex lifeforms. This explanation for man’s existence is suspect because most radiation damage has degraded the human genome throughout recorded history. As a result, I consider the evolutionary origin of plants, animals, and man incompletely understood. I believe that if evolution was the primary cause of man’s structure and adaptation to his environment, which took only a couple hundred million years, then at the very least, there was a divine direction in that evolution.

We see in recorded history that each successive generation has been susceptible to various weaknesses in structure and function. The impact of mass caused us to be malformed and incapable of spontaneously recovering because of the inherited mutations. Thus, we decay daily by accidents, dietary excess or deficiency, toxins, and radiation.

The role of medicine is to stimulate the repair and restoration of cells, tissues, and organs to their God-given structure and function. The body has self-healing/repair mechanisms coded within its genetic code. One of the foundations of naturopathic medicine is coded in the Latin phrase, “Vis Medicatrix Naturae,” translated as “The Healing Power of Nature.” The Naturopathic Physician thus attempts to facilitate the body’s repair by employing the stimulation or sedation of herbs, homeopathic remedies, heat, light, frequency, diet, and supplements. The physician teaches/warns/counsels about avoidance of the various types of injury, whether physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual.

When we suffer from various types of trauma/injury, the programming of the cell (the innate programming encoded in our DNA) is largely able to self-correct and restore its function and structure to the God-given original specifications. But, while we are subject to sin and are not perfectly restored in our fellowship with Him, we will continue our daily decay/degradation. Thus, in addition to avoiding trauma of the various types, we must meditate upon the Word of God and partake of the Bread of Life by reading from the Bible and meditating on its words daily.

As a physician, my job is to help identify the trauma and the resolution to that trauma. It may be an herb, homeopathic, vitamin, mineral, amino acid, peptide, essential fat, or a mental, emotional, or spiritual exercise. To give advice, I must accurately diagnose the cause of the body’s symptoms, which I do through a detailed history, physical exam, and possibly lab testing and imaging.

I collaborate with my patients to help solve their health problems. I look for the causes of symptoms, the etiology of the disease, and the trauma at the bottom of the chain of traumas that caused the debility that produced the complaint. When we agree on a plausible cause, we can begin discussing the options for applying natural therapeutic agents to help normalize your body’s function. This may include a referral to another practitioner with specialized restoration expertise after a particular type of injury. After using the recommended therapy, we will examine the symptoms and adjust treatments to help the body restore its structure and function. Healing takes time, and we support your body in restoring its God-given natural function.

Specialties of Diagnosis and Treatment

BHRT

Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy

Hormones control cellular metabolism. Hormone deficiency can have a profound effect on your sense of well-being.
* Testosterone – older men
* Estrogen – post menopause
* Progesterone premenopausal
* Thyroid and Cortisol for energy
* Insulin for sugar metabolism.
Learn More

 

NAFLD – Fatty Liver

Years of excess sugar may cause your liver to store fatty deposits, cause liver inflammation, filling it with fat and glycogen, and lead to high blood sugar levels and insulin resistance.  Consider treatment with anti-inflammatory herbs, high fiber, moderate protein, complex carbs, a healthy fat diet, and intermittent fasting.

Diagnostic Consults

Are you having symptoms and don’t know what to do?  Give a call and have a phone consult with Dr. Thomas about your condition.  He cannot treat you over the phone, but it may be possible to get insight into the problem and possible solutions from a Naturopathic perspective.

  

To Contact us:

Call (503) 255-9500, 9-4 PST, M-F for a consultation.
Contact Dr Thomas Abshier, ND, at drthomas@naturedox.com.