The British Naturopathic Association is on the frontline of integrative, complementary and alternative medicine research for integrative healthcare practitioners, students, faculty, and anyone interested in the field of naturopathic medicine.
Although naturopathy is a traditional practice, it has been the subject of rigorous peer-reviewed research. In some countries, naturopaths have the right to practice medicine, and are able to directly treat patients for conditions like diabetes and cancer, and can prescribe essential medicine for conditions such as low thyroid function and hypertension in addition to natural products. The fact that naturopathy is eclectic and personalised to the individual makes it unsuited to typical blinded clinical trials, which are designed for either a specific drug or a placebo to be given to patients and the response is measured. Therefore a body of evidence is required to show an overall effectiveness of naturopathic treatment, and the ways it is measured uses different types of study.
This web page is a collection of published studies on how naturopathy or naturopathic medicine treatment has been effective either as an adjunct to allopathic medicine or as a standalone treatment, and is a work in progress.
Muscular system
·“Homeopathy in the treatment of fibromyalgia - a comprehensive literature-review and meta-analysis.”Complementary Therapies in Medicine. 22(4): 731-742. Boehm K, Raak C, Cramer H, Lauche R., andOstermann T. (2014)
· “Physical activity and exercise for chronic pain in adults: an overview of Cochrane Reviews.”The Cochrane database of systematic reviews.4(4): CD011279. Geneen, L. J., Moore, R. A., Clarke, C., Martin, D., Colvin, L. A., and Smith, B. H. (2017).
· “Is there role for vitamin D in the treatment of chronic pain?”Therapeutic advances in musculoskeletal disease.9(6): 131–135. Martin, K. R., & Reid, D. M.
(2017).
Digestive System
Nervous system
Integumentary system
Skeletal system
· “Efficacy and Safety of Massage for Osteoarthritis of the Knee: a Randomized Clinical Trial”. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 34(3): 379‐386. Perlman A, Fogerite
SG, Glass O, et al. (2019).
· “Alternative and complementary therapies in osteoarthritis and cartilage repair”. Aging – Clinical and Experimental Research. 32(4): 547‐560. Fuggle NR, Cooper C, Oreffo ROC, et al. (2020).“
· “Effect of daily vitamin B-12 and folic acid supplementation on fracture incidence in elderly individuals with an elevated plasma homocysteine concentration: B-PROOF, a randomized controlled trial.”American Journalof Clinical Nutrition. 100(6):1578‐1586. vanWijngaarden JP, Swart KM, Enneman AW, et al. (2014).“
- "Effect of a hydrotherapy based alternate compress on osteoarthritis of the knee joint "Archanah T., Shashikiran H. C., Prashanth Shetty, Chandrakanth K. K.
Circulatory system
Respiratory system
Lymphatic system
Endocrine system
Excretory system
Reproductive system
Naturopathic Medicine Studies
Find a Naturopath
The British Naturopathic Association is affiliated with the General Council and Register of Naturopaths (GCRN), the leading registering body of Naturopaths in the UK.
All members listed in the Register of Practitioner Members are qualified in Naturopathy and either hold a Degree, Masters, PhD in Naturopathy or have gained a minimum Level 6 qualification.