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Pascal Chang Leng is the owner of his own clinic opened in 2012. Not only is he the first and only qualified naturopath in Seychelles but his business, Vitality, is the only naturopathic centre in the country. A qualified practitioner, Dr Pascal Chang Leng provides health care treatment to clients searching for natural remedies to their ailments and those that conventional medicine finds hard to treat.

As   a   naturopath,  Dr   Chang Leng  strictly  operates under naturopathic  guidelines and philosophies: educate the people,  us- ing nature and its energy system as a healing  power, treat  the whole person  rather than  just  the  disease,  find the cause of the disease, no invasive drugs  and  prevention is  better than   cure. The clinic prescribes treatments and tailors   therapies  to  each  individual patient according to  their  diagnosis, taking   into   account  their   physical, social, emotional and spiritual needs, thus treating the patient holistically.  TODAY went to Vitality, at La Ciotat  building  in  Mont  Fleuri,  to  find out more about the young naturopath and entrepreneur.

Having been interested in spiritual- ity from an early age, Pascal also read and developed  interest for traditional Eastern medical  systems.    This  fur- ther  encouraged him  to research on various  natural things  in  Seychelles. On completing his A’Levels at Inter- national School Seychelles, his grow- ing  interest in  natural medicine led him  to a job at the  Natural Heritage Unit  where  his  work  involved  con- ducting research into local traditional medicine and European herbalism. It is  there  that  he stumbled across  na- turopathy. ‘Since I was 14 I have been interested  in  holistic   living,  herbal  medicine,  exercise   and   living  well.

I  started to  do  yoga  also  and  after reading about  naturopathy, I knew it would be something I should pursue,” he said.

A better health is a better quality of life’  said  Dr  Chang  Leng,  affirm-  ing that  “a naturopath is an advocate  for healthy  living and  a specialist  in preventative   medicine”.    But   find- ing the  right  course  to study  was no easy feat. He searched for courses  in the  UK and  South  Africa  but  found that  they were virtually  non-existent. Then  he looked to America  and Aus- tralia,  weighing  the  pros  and  cons of each institution and course to eventu-  ally select and apply for a Bachelor  in Health Science in Naturopathy at En- deavour  College of Natural Health in Melbourne, where  he studied for five years.  The  course  involved  studying  core medical  sciences  – the workings  of the body: anatomy, physiology and pathology; pharmacology; as well as nutritional medicine, flower essence, massage and herbal therapy and their  interaction with pharmacology.

In his second year at the university, Dr  Chang  Leng  disclosed  one  of his biggest   challenges  to  TODAY.  “My first  born  child  was  diagnosed with epilepsy, just after receiving the MMR vaccine which is also highly linked  to the cause  of autism. It was then  that  I discovered the huge and unconceiv- able side effects of using  vaccine” he averred.

However he brought his child to the

top neurologist to be told with despair that  it was an   incurable disease,  ad- mitting at the same time that  he was not a qualified  naturopath back then.  Starting research on  herbal  therapy, he discovered the health usage of can- nabis and that it can be used as a form of naturopath treatment to deal with a wide range of diseases encompassing; epilepsY and the multifarious side ef- fects  of chemotherapy. After  provid-  ing an herbal  mixture therapy to his daughter, the  young  doctor  assessed that his daughter had been cured from a supposedly incurable disease.  Today learned with Pascal that  cannabis can kill cancer and it is an advanced form of cancer therapy. Pascal described his experience  as  his  first  medical  case, although challenging, it was one that  punctuated his whole life.

According  to Dr  Chang  Leng,  the naturopathic course is more challeng- ing than  conventional medical  study. “At  this  point   in  time,  when  I  was studying, the  naturopath career  was under attack  by the  medical  and  sci- entific industry for not being credible  and scientific enough” he said.

After  graduating,  Pascal   spent   a year practicing from his home in Mel- bourne, but  felt that  the  market was already   saturated.  He  realized   that  there  was  a market for  naturopathy in  Seychelles.  When   he  left  for  his studies  there  were no holistic  health facilities   in   the   country.  Although a few have  opened  up  since,  no one

was offering  professional support or treatment from a qualified  person  as is common in the  UK, Australia and America.

There   was  a  higher   demand  for this  service  in Seychelles  and  he felt that   the  local  consumers would  be receptive  to naturopathy, particularly with the country’s tradition in herbal  medicine. He spoke to friends who re- inforced  this  commenting that  there  was demand for a natural alternative to conventional medicine.

Naturopathy is a system  of medi-  cine  that  uses  the  understanding of western medical science and the heal- ing power  of nature in herbal  medi-  cine, nutritional medicine, correcting diet  and  lifestyle  and  other   natural therapies.  Naturopathy does  not  en- sure a quick fix but it can assure  long term health recuperation.

Dr  Chang  Leng  opened   the  cen- tre  for people  who  are  interested in exploring  health products and  com- plimentary health treatments. ‘I of- fer  complimentary  therapy  in  that  my  treatment works  in  integration with  that  of a  general   practitioner,” says Pascal;  who hopes  to establish a working  relationship with public and private general practitioners in the fu- ture. In fact, Pascal said that  he is not discouraging people  to  use  conven-  tional  medicine, but  he has observed  that  patients are coming to him more or less because  they are tired  of side effects of conventional medicine.

‘Vitality  is  a  naturopathic  centre  which  is comprised of a health shop and  a  holistic   health clinic;  in  the health shop  we  are  offering  holistic health products and  in the  clinic we offer holistic  therapy which  includes  herbal  and nutritional medicine,’ Pas- cal added.  There is a lot of exclusivity with vitality. Therefore customers can expect to find chemical-free products in  the  health shop,  such  as  lotions, toothpaste,  herbal   supplements,  vi- tamins, teas and health foods. It pro- vides  different  price  ranges   to  suit different budgets, and Pascal is a firm believer in ethical business.

The   clinic  provides   one   on  one in-depth   consultation  and   natural prescription medicines. Patients can be treated for acute  illnesses  such  as coughs  and  colds, as well as chronic  cases like diabetes and  hypertension. Swedish  massages  are  also  available for   relaxation,  stress,   muscle   pain and   physical   tension.  He   also  has adequate knowledge in homeopathic principles but he is not practicing for the time being.

In  the  long  run,  Dr  Chang  Leng sees a lot of scope,  business-wise, to work with the public and private  sec- tors in areas such as retail, hospitality, education and  government and  has approached the  Ministry of  Health about  how  naturopathy  can  comple-  ment  and enhance the health service. Indeed, Dr Chang Leng would like his relationship to grow with  the  minis-

try of Health and  at this point  this is not  happening. There  are difficulties  for him to access medical  documents of patients.  As health scientists they work on scientific terms  and evidence base, which is in the clinical test of pa- tients.  If this is not made  available  to him, there can be no proper diagnosis. Dr. Pascal gets his publicity through

‘word of mouth’. In  other  words,  his popularity spreads across  when  pa- tients   talk  about   his  good  services, and effective, long-term naturopathic treatment.   When  STC entered into organic  produce, Dr Chang Leng was called in to offer his expertise  as a nu- tritional consultant for  STC’s  health corner  - evaluating the product to see whether if it is good for consumption and  to help  with  its promotional us- age as well. Pascal  believes that  with a positive  mindset, one receives high end health results.

The  young  naturopath is  moving forward   with   an  ultimate  drive  to make  people  know  more  about  him as a naturopath. ‘Medicine is moving towards a  more  integrated  practice between   conventional medicine and naturopathic  treatment. And  in  the future  he would like to invest in can- nabis  as a wide  use  form  of naturo- pathic  treatment, of course  with  the approval  of  the  Seychelles  Medical and Dental  Council (SMDC).

Dr. Chang Leng has a last word for his  clients:  herbal  treatment doesn’t harm.