In the next six years the value of the natural health sector in annual revenue terms globally is expected to be somewhere in the region of $350 billion, making it the third fastest growing world market behind technology and cosmetics.
That represents a doubling of growth in a decade.
Given its rapid growth, it’s important to stop for a while and consider how natural medicine has become increasingly important in the prevention and treatment of health conditions over the last five years and the need for patients to have better access to information about it.
In general, consumers today have access to far more knowledge and information regarding healthcare solutions than ever before thanks to the media explosion of the last five years.
We all now have a variety of options to select from when deciding how we want to take care of ourselves, and the internet has made it relatively easy to engage with providers of natural treatment, such as The Natural Doctor.
The days when we relied almost entirely on our general practitioner to correctly diagnose and treat whatever condition we might be suffering have long gone.
The world has advanced significantly in the last two decades, and as those years have gone by, so the digital resources that can help us in making important decisions about how we want to be cared for have grown.
For example, we now have a much better awareness of the role of natural remedies and of complementary treatments and therapies. And with that has come a greater understanding and appreciation of the fact that conventional curative and preventative approaches we took for granted aren’t always as reliable or effective as we once thought.
Look at how menopause and breast cancer are treated, for example.
Recent shortages of synthetic HRT treatments due to supply chain issues around Brexit and the war in Ukraine have exposed the frailty of our dependence on traditional care for women experiencing the end of their reproductive life.
One might have thought that this dearth of medication might have prompted the health establishment in the form of Public Health England and the National Institute for Clinical Health Excellence (NICE) to ensure patients were aware of possible natural HRT alternatives.
Not at all. The NHS still resolutely refuses to proactively ensure women are aware of treatments such as Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT), preferring instead that women should endure their symptoms whilst waiting for their local pharmacies to restock.
Natural substances are used in bioidentical (or body identical) HRT, that are just as successful as, if not more so than, conventional HRT in relieving symptoms.
Yet a huge percentage of women remain unaware that this treatment is available as a low-risk, highly effective alternative to synthetic HRT that would help them get through what may otherwise be a deeply miserable 5 years or more, according to even the most basic survey.
Public health agencies are in similar denial about the efficacy of breast cancer screening.
We have known for some time that mammography has very particular risks and drawbacks, something that I discussed in my most recent article.
These are just two areas where the development of natural medicine has been very advantageous. There are numerous others, such as therapies for hair loss and heart health checks.
Why the general public isn’t more aware of the natural remedies that are available to people when making decisions regarding their care is a major question.
The two main factors, in my opinion, are ignorance and wealth.
NICE (the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence), the government organisation in charge of authorising therapies for the NHS, will inform you that there isn’t enough proof that some natural remedies work.
This is plainly nonsense given that numerous natural remedies have been found to be, at the very least, nontoxic and the efficacy of a considerable fraction of the pharmaceuticals currently provided by the NHS is mainly unproven.
By that standard, NHS patients should have access to all of the treatments listed here.
And that takes us to money.
Big Pharma invests hundreds of millions of pounds in the creation of new medications, and those businesses gain additional millions by marketing those medications globally. Big Pharma also makes significant investments in medical research through academic medical centres.
For financial gain, it is commonly known that they target the people, organisations, and government divisions that purchase the medications they produce.
Encouraging the use of natural healthcare practitioners is not in the best interests of those involved in the development, marketing, purchasing, and dispensing of clinical medicine.
Because of this, despite its explosive expansion, this industry will still depend on people like you to make decisions that are in line with their own preferences for the how, where, and when they want their healthcare to be provided.
Why not get in touch with us for a private, informal discussion to learn more about the treatments and services we offer at The Natural Doctor?