On June 5, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper signed a bill that allows qualified naturopathic doctors to register in that state, making the current number of states where naturopathic doctors can practice legally, with all of the responsibilities and privileges that implies, up to 17, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto...

I am unduly impressed by the Feb. 21, 2013 release by the ABIM Foundation and Consumer Reports announcing a new iteration of the Choosing Wisely campaign. From the Choosing Wisely website, the idea is to help patient consumers to choose care that is: supported by evidence, does not...

The New York Times Magazine published a compelling piece this week, "The Boy With a Thorn in His Joints" by Susannah Meadows, written by a mother of little boy who had been diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). After pursuing appropriate diagnostic workups and trying the conventional medical...

I have been a practicing naturopathic doctor (ND) for the past 27 years, most of that time in Connecticut, where I enjoy the benefits and responsibilities of state licensure and a busy practice. Each day when I go to work, I get in the car in Massachusetts and drive about...

In this cogent and timely editorial in the New York Times, a good case is made, in light of the severe shortage of primary care doctors, that the American medical scene should make better use of non-MD options for patient care. Missing from the list of options was...

Some years ago a patient came into my office with an unusual complaint: He said he had a capillini condition. For those less familiar, capillini is a very thin, rod-shaped spaghetti enjoyed by many pasta lovers. He held out his hand to show me the problem. He had an infection...

I have a particular fondness for my compost bucket. It's really more of a pail, shiny silver with a sturdy handle and a fitted lid. Recently, I toss my scraps on the backyard pile and the handle comes loose; one of the screws holding it in place falls out and...

Swede, a lovely, bright and effusive woman, has been a patient of mine for 15 years. She weathered her share of acute illness and some brushes with more serious pathology, but in the last number of years she enjoyed good health as she entered her middle years and now braces...

As we head into this summer 2012, I have the Olympics on my mind. I think back to a sultry day in 1972, sitting spellbound in front of a Magnavox TV. Wide-eyed on the cool linoleum floor, I am riveted to the screen where Olga Korbut, the spritely Belarusian gymnast,...

A sure sign of summer for me is a long rollerblade on the bike path near my home. From lengths of this bike path I have witnessed a pileated woodpecker nesting, great blue herons gliding over still water, piles of water snakes breeding and curious young beavers exploring pond-side thickets....

Intense seasonal allergies bring Larry, a 45-year-old construction worker, to my office. A straight-talking, upbeat guy, he's not convinced naturopathic medicine can help him, but he'll give it a try. Over-the-counter meds are not effective for Larry's sneezing, itching eyes, sinus congestion or the headaches he endures every fall and...