Natural medicine has an excellent safety record. This is not surprising since practitioners emphasize gentle treatments with few side effects. Moreover, NDs are very knowledgeable about potential interactions between herbs, vitamins and other supplements with medications – to the point that they can often suggest treatments that will augment whatever conventional treatment might be in place.
The other thing to recognize is that NDs are team players. They are trained to identify conditions that lie outside their scope of practice and to refer to other health practitioners in those instances.
While these facts do not guarantee safety, they should reassure you that, when combined with your good common sense, natural medicine can be a safe adjunct to your overall treatment plan.
