Editing Naturopathy (section)

=== Safety of natural treatments ===
Naturopaths often recommend exposure to naturally occurring substances, such as [[sunshine]], [[herbs]] and certain foods, as well as activities they describe as natural, such as [[exercise]], [[meditation]] and [[relaxation (psychology)|relaxation]]. Naturopaths claim that these natural treatments help restore the body's innate ability to heal itself without the adverse effects of conventional medicine. However, "natural" methods and chemicals are not necessarily safer or more effective than "artificial" or "synthetic" ones, and any treatment capable of eliciting an effect may also have deleterious [[side effect]]s.<ref name="ACS-2009" /><ref name="Barrett-Naturopathy" /><ref name="SkepDic_natural">{{cite web |url= http://skepdic.com/natural.html |title= Natural |access-date= 2013-09-08 |vauthors= Carroll R |work= The Skeptic's Dictionary |date= November 26, 2012 |archive-date= May 14, 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110514011749/http://skepdic.com/natural.html |url-status= live }}</ref><ref name="NCAHF_herb">{{cite web |url= http://www.ncahf.org/pp/herbal.html |title= NCAHF Position Paper on Over the Counter Herbal Remedies (1995) |access-date= 2009-04-17 |year= 1995 |publisher= National Council Against Health Fraud |archive-date= July 7, 2011 |archive-url= http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20110707163329/http://www.ncahf.org/pp/herbal.html |url-status= live }}</ref>

Certain naturopathic treatments offered by naturopaths, such as [[homeopathy]], [[rolfing]], and [[iridology]], are widely considered [[pseudoscience]] or [[quackery]].<ref name="NSBattitudes">{{cite web |title= Chapter 7 Science and Technology: Public Attitudes and Public Understanding, Section: Belief in Alternative Medicine |url= https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind02/c7/c7s5.htm#c7s5l2a |work= Science and Engineering Indicators - 2002 |date= January 15, 2002 |author= National Science Board |publisher= Division of Science Resources Statistics, [[National Science Foundation]] |location= Arlington, VA |access-date= 2018-04-06 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160616181809/http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind02/c7/c7s5.htm#c7s5l2a |archive-date= 2016-06-16 |url-status= dead |author-link= National Science Board }}</ref><ref name="WahlbergQuack">{{cite journal | vauthors = Wahlberg A | title = A quackery with a difference-new medical pluralism and the problem of 'dangerous practitioners' in the United Kingdom | journal = Social Science & Medicine | volume = 65 | issue = 11 | pages = 2307–2316 | date = December 2007 | pmid = 17719708 | doi = 10.1016/j.socscimed.2007.07.024 | url = https://curis.ku.dk/ws/files/49590510/Wahlberg.2007.Aquackerywithadifference.pdf | access-date = December 10, 2019 | archive-date = January 14, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210114003657/https://curis.ku.dk/ws/files/49590510/Wahlberg.2007.Aquackerywithadifference.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= Iridology is Nonsense |url= http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/iridology.html |vauthors= Barrett S |date= March 28, 2008 |work= QuackWatch |access-date= 2013-09-08 |archive-date= April 6, 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110406120005/http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/iridology.html |url-status= live }}</ref> [[Stephen Barrett]] of [[QuackWatch]] and the [[National Council Against Health Fraud]] has stated that naturopathy is "simplistic and that its practices are riddled with quackery".<ref name="Barrett-Naturopathy" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Homeopathy|url=https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/homeopathy/|date=2017-10-18|website=nhs.uk|language=en|access-date=2020-05-21|archive-date=May 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200513190309/https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/homeopathy/|url-status=live}}</ref> "Non-scientific health care practitioners, including naturopaths, use unscientific methods and deception on a public who, lacking in-depth health care knowledge, must rely upon the assurance of providers. Quackery not only harms people, it undermines the ability to conduct scientific research and should be opposed by scientists", says [[William T. Jarvis]].<ref name="Jarvis WT">{{cite journal | vauthors = Jarvis WT | title = Quackery: a national scandal | journal = Clinical Chemistry | volume = 38 | issue = 8B Pt 2 | pages = 1574–1586 | date = August 1992 | pmid = 1643742 }}</ref> In the 2018 Australian case against Marlyin Bodnar, who advised a mother to treat her infant son's eczema with a raw food diet which nearly led to the child's starvation death, Judge Peter Berman said, "Well intentioned but seriously misguided advice is, as the facts of this case demonstrate, capable of causing great harm and even death to vulnerable children."<ref>{{cite web| vauthors = Sutton C |title=Naturopath jailed in starving baby case|url=http://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/courts-law/naturopath-faces-sentencing-in-starving-baby-case/news-story/bc594346e08341bfee402f19471b830d|website=news.com.au|access-date=24 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180424055207/http://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/courts-law/naturopath-faces-sentencing-in-starving-baby-case/news-story/bc594346e08341bfee402f19471b830d|archive-date=24 April 2018|language=en|date=5 April 2018}}</ref> Furthermore, Britt Hermes criticizes the "pervasive culture of [[Victim blaming|patient blaming]]" among naturopathic practitioners, where "when something doesn't work for the patient and the patient is not experiencing all of the positive effects and zero side-effects that are promised with the therapy, it's never because the therapy doesn't work, it's because the patient didn't do something right."<ref name="ESP50" />