LiveWorld Transcripts

HealthShop presents

Carl Hangee-Bauer, N.D.
Naturopathic Medicine

March 23, 2000

HealthShop.com presents Carl Hangee-Bauer, N.D. who discusses health issues concerning alternative medicine, naturopathy, acupuncture, herbs, therapy, and treatment.

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Healthshop: Welcome to healthshop.com's live chat series. Our guest today is Dr. Carl Hangee Bauer, N.D., licensed acupuncturist and founder of SOMA Acupuncture & Natural Health Clinic in San Francisco. Dr. Carl is here to answer your questions about alternative, natural and complementary medicine, and discuss the goals of naturopathic medicine in supporting the body's ability to heal itself and treating the causes of health problems rather than just the symptoms. nick: Dr. Carl

Dr. Carl: Hello everyone! Glad to be here! Send me your questions!

ASKhealthshop: guest-phil says: Dr Carl what do you think is the largest obstacle to getting more Americans to use naturopathic medicine?

Dr. Carl: The largest obstacle is probably the fact that few Americans know about naturopathic medicine, as it's only licensed in eleven states. It's best known in the northwest and the northeast.

ASKhealthshop: guest-Deb says: How do I find an alternative practioiner in my general vicinity?

Dr. Carl: First, it depends on what kind of practioner you're looking for. Let's say, for example, that you're looking for a naturopath. If you're in a state which licenses naturopaths, you can look in the yellow pages, you can check with a national association of naturopathic physicians. for example www.naturopathic.org . or contact a state association. These are usually listed in the phone book or on the internet. I would also add to ask friends who may have sought the same kind of services, and see who they've found.

ASKhealthshop: guest-hi says: Do you recommend any good remedies for depression? Does St. Johns Wort work?

Dr. Carl: Sure! St. Johns has been shown to work in depression though I would not use it if I were taking antidepressant medications, and I've found acupuncture to be very helpful for depression. In naturopathic medicine, we try to view depression in context, in a holistic way. And we often find that by improving general health, meaning a good diet, adequate activity levels, enough rest, things like that, that depression improves as a person's health improves.

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