Huffington Post Blog - October 2013
by Amy Rothenberg, ND
On a recent cross country flight, I am standing in the galley chatting with the flight attendants, three strong, efficient and capable women, each with more than 30 years on the job. I strike up a conversation about the soda can flip tabs one of them is collecting for the Ronald McDonald house, which leads to a conversation about the negative health effects of soda, diet soda in particular. At some point early on, the fact that I work as a naturopathic doctor comes up.
Well, this airplane galley might have been my clinic waiting room. One woman is noticeably hoarse, what could I do for her? Another has arthritis in her foot and issues with bone density. The third has diverticulitis. One's brother has ALS, and one's mother has hypertension. They want my advice on everything: diet, supplements, herbal medicine, fasting. These are educated women in their 50s who want answers. They want access to doctors who work with prevention, with diet and with non-pharmaceutical and effective approaches to healing for their own complaints and for loved ones. This is what naturopathic doctors do. This is where naturopathic doctors fit in. This is where naturopathic doctors shine.