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Says rural Southington would help provide a spa-like feel
doctor of naturopathy seeks to build in-patient facility
SOUTHINGTON
Danielle MacDuff, a doctor of naturopathy, is in the process of acquiring 60 acres in Southington Township in northern Trumbull County on which to establish an inpatient “natural healing place.”
The target date for receiving its first patient is June 2015, said MacDuff, who practices naturopathic medicine at DC Chiropratic in Howland and Musser Chiropractic & Wellness Center in Boardman.
Naturopathy, or naturopathic medicine, is a form of alternative medicine that uses “natural” treatments such as homeopathy, herbalism and acupressure along with diet and lifestyle counseling.
Dr. MacDuff, 42, who grew up in Miami, moved to Trumbull County 12 years ago and lives in downtown Warren. She has three adult children: Sebastian of Austintown, Clarissa of Niles and Brenna of Warren; and two grandchildren.
She gained an interest in naturopathic medicine based on personal health experiences.
Seven years ago, Dr. MacDuff said she went into adrenal shutdown, which left her with severe migraine headaches, extreme fatigue and severe depression.
She went to a holistic doctor for treatment, including changes in diet and some herbal remedies, and within three months, the migraines and other symptoms disappeared.
At 7, she developed a chronic bladder infection that continued into her 20s and left her constantly on antibiotics.
She went to her medical doctor who told her “it is one of those things some people are prone to have, and you will have to put up with it the rest of your life.”
Unwilling to accept that diagnosis, Dr. MacDuff said she eliminated gluten and most sugary foods, especially carbonated drinks, from her diet.
However, “I became a 2-liter a day Dr Pepper girl, and also added a cranberry supplement to my regimen, and within three months I was completely free of bladder infections, as I am to this day,” she said.
She said she came up with the regimen through research and trial and error.
Her interest in natural medicine piqued, Dr. MacDuff began to self-educate by reading books and researching on the Internet.
She said she got back into herbology (the study of using plants for their medicinal qualities) and is now a master herbalist, receiving her herbology degree from the
Global College of Natural Medicine in Santa Cruz, Calif.
She also received a bachelor of science degree in holistic health from GCNM and completed her doctorate of naturopathy through Trinity School of Natural Health in Warsaw, Ind.
Traditional medicine has many wonderful, life-saving medications and procedures, especially for trauma injuries, Dr. MacDuff said.
However, she said there will be no pharmaceuticals or surgeries at her health care center in Southington.
She said the basis of naturopathy is allowing or enabling the body to heal itself.
For instance, she said when an adult has a fever of 103 or 104, the usual action is to take medicine or be submerged in cool water to lower their temperature.
The problem with that, MacDuff said, is that when the temperature reaches 103 or 104 is when the body’s immune system begins to do its job.
“When we depress a fever, the body doesn’t have the tools it needs to fight the bacteria, and we remain sick longer,” she said.
Natural medicine, which she said has been around for thousands of years, is very efficient in dealing with metabolic and chronic degenerative issues such as diabetes and Crohn’s disease.
Among the tools Dr. MacDuff said she uses are reflexology, a type of massage; therapeutic touch; acupressure and ortho- molecular nutrition, which she said is a method of “ensuring that the body gets the correct nutrients in the correct proportion and form and at the correct time.”
She said she chose a rural, quiet area such as Southington for her facility in order to better create a relaxing, spa-like feel for her clients that is not too far from a hospital if there is a medical emergency. The proposed site already has usable space.
“My grandmother told me it is our duty to leave this place better than we found it. This facility is my way of leaving this place better than I found it,” she said.