Maartje Marianne Dagmar
Basic information Orthopathy is a branch of medicine relating to ‘natural hygiene’. It comes from the Greek words ortho & pathos, which means ‘right suffering’. It actually considers that self-healing is the only cure for disease, not that suffering is a good thing. No other drugs will be used to cure a disease, the body will recover itself. Orthopathy says fasting is a good thing to heal, and besides that other lifestyle measures as dietary can be good to prevent yourself from getting a disease and they viewed sanitation as necessary. Though there is no proof that self-healing & fasting are the best ways to treat infectious diseases, cardiovascular disease and cancer. The suggestion that medical fasting can improve health and eliminate a variety of diseases is controversial. Orthopathy is against most mainstream medical treatment as they don’t accept the germ theory, the useless and excessive use of drugs and needless and useless surgery. But with the exception of surgery in certain situations, such as for broken bones and to remove a deadly secondary cause.
Dr. Isaac Jennings was the first one who thought of an alternative medicine as natural hygiene, though it wasn’t the theory of orthopathy we know now. This was in 1822. Lots of other doctors and other people thought about his ideas and finally, in 1880 a theory of medicine was developed, called ‘Hygiene medicine’. In 1939, Herbert Shelton wrote the modern theory of orthopathy. Nowadays there is the International Natural Hygiene Society, founded in 2003. Some of Herbert Shelton’s ideas are still used nowadays.
People who use orthopathy to stay healthy as opposed to depending on medicines and cures, will often have a particular diet that sustains their way of life. They often eat very healthy foods, get plenty of exercise, relaxation and sleep, and have a good mental health. They believe that this will prevent them from getting sick and will help their bodies to recover independently when they do get ill. When they do get ill they will fast, as it’s believed that this will help your body to recover.
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The orthopaths recommend a diet low in fat and high in fiber. Consuption of ‘incompatible’ foods in one meal is said to lead to ill health, and consumption of ‘compatible’ foods is said to maintain it; Sheltton defined food combining and seven groups of food, sorted by function as: supplying energy (carbohydrates, fats and proteins) needed to build the body(proteins, salts and water) and regulating the bodily processes (minerals, vitamins and water). Things you shouldn’t eat are e.g. tobacco, alcohol, coffee, tea and chocolate, sugar, honey, syrup and white & flour and herbs and spices, because they’re considered toxic. Lately, I saw a documentary on TV about Tom. His mom only allows him to eat vegetables, fruit and nuts. He doesn’t eat meat, fish, sugar and bread. His mom thinks eating bad food causes cancer for example. Tom is very small, and doesn’t go to school. Jeugdzorg wants Tom to go to a foster home. Now, the ideas about food of Toms’ mother aren’t exactly the same as orthopathic ideas, but there are a lot of similarities. We’ve got some statements and we’d like you to stand up when you agree, and sit down when you disagree.
When you are hungry eat foods that are attractive, delicious and nutritious in their natural state, in quantities that meet your needs and in a manner that ensures proper digestion. So in fact it’s not allowed to eat too much of one kind of food, and besides that it’s not recommended to eat food which is not in it’s natural state. Orthopaths eat as much as possible fruit and vegetables, the biggest part of their meals are uncooked and simple. E.g. lots of milk isn’t very healthy as well, so a balance has to be found.
The orthopaths had 16 physiological laws of life to guide them in their understanding of the human organism. We will not discuss all sixteen of them, but only the most important ones. Life’s great law: Every living cell of the organised body is endowed with an instinct of self-preservation, sustained by an inherent force in the organism called "vital force" or "life force." The success of each living organism -- whether it be simple or complex -- is directly proportional to the amount of its life force and inversely proportional to the degree of its activity. So, we all have a force which takes care of the body and this force can repair the body when necessary. The law of order, which is the second law, is very important, it tells that a living organism is completely self-constructing, self-maintaining, self-directing, self- repairing, self-defending, and self-healing, which is the basis of orthopathy. If it can care for itself completely it doesn’t need our help. The other laws tell us that the body can use its own power and it will divide this power to the different places in your body. If you are ill the body will put more power in eliminating the disease and less power in the use of muscles. What this actually says is that we don’t need medicines because the body will not put more power in it than necessary. Also one rule says that at first the medicines and herbs might help and stimulate the body processes, but later the body willfight the medicines because they are not nutritional materials for the body. At first they might help and stimulate the body processes And the body has enough reserves for the time it is necessary and these reserves and the energy will be refilled by rest and sleep. Law 14, the law of quality selection, says that the body will select the superior nutrients and disposes weak cells to make place for the nutrients in stronger tissue. So if you supply your body with superior nutrients your body will get stronger and stronger. While when you supply your body with inferior nutriments, your body can’t get stronger and will make more weak cells and your body will get weaker.
The conclusion the orthopaths draw from these rules is that the body has its own force and the body can repair itself and will know how much force is needed. So it doesn’t need any help from outside, like medicines.
MEASLES
Symptoms: Measles begins with a "cold in the head," accompanied with slight fever and malaise. These last from three to six days during which time the patient feels wretched. Soon there follow headache, nausea, sometimes vomiting, and chilly feelings. The coryza is intense with cough and redness of the eyes and eye lids. The temperature rises and the skin, especially on the face, feels hot and tingling. The tongue is furred. The mucous lining of the mouth and throat is an intense red. Little blue dots may be seen on the inside of the cheeks. The eruption develops on about the fourth day, starting, usually, on the forehead, then the face, then over the body generally. The eruption begins as little red spots, which increase greatly in number and are gradually arranged in groups, sometimes in crescentric groups. The fever begins to fall on the fifth or sixth day, and a fine, bran-like desquamation (scaling) of the skin begins, which lasts from a few days to several weeks.
Patients with measles should be kept quiet and in bed, according to orthopaths. The room should be light and airy and there should be enough fresh air in the room, fresh air is essential to get enough oxygen in the air for the body. To make sure that the patient doesn’t catch a cold, the patient should be kept warm and not allowed to chill. If it is winter time, a hot water bottle, should be placed at the feet. No food should be allowed until 24 hours after acute symptoms are gone. You can drink water, but not because that would flush the toxins away, because orthopathics don’t eat and drink toxic things. Plain warm water, or warm water with lemon juice, or fresh pineapple juice will do for this purpose.
Convalescence: This is a critical period if the patient has been cared for medically. There is nothing to fear if the patient has been cared for as above directed. Feeding should begin with orange juice, or grapefruit juice, or fresh pineapple juice, or fresh apple juice. This should be given as much as desired, for the whole of the first day. The second day, breakfast may be oranges or grapefruit or peaches in season. Lunch should be pears or grapes or apples in season. Dinner may be a raw vegetable salad and one cooked non-starchy vegetable. The third day may begin the normal diet, but in reduced amounts. By the end of the first week the patient should be eating normally. The patient should remain in bed for at least twenty-four hours after all acute symptoms have subsided. Physical activity should be mild at first. Healthful living thereafter will maintain the improved health that has resulted from this house cleaning.