Saturday, July 17th, 2010

 

YAKIMA, Wash. — Sitting in her large, bright office, Dr. Heidi Robel prescribes what she believes to be the essential difference between her medical practice and others.

“Education, education, education.”

And she doesn’t mean her own.

As a licensed naturopathic physician, Robel believes a patient’s care relies on what each client wants, needs and is willing to learn.

“We teach people to make educated choices about their health,” she said. “We’re just like other family doctors; we just have more tools in our kit to use.”

Naturopathic medicine is based on the belief that the human body has an innate healing ability, and naturopathic doctors teach their patients to use diet, exercise, lifestyle changes and natural therapies to enhance their bodies’ ability to ward off disease.

The demand for alternative medicine is on the rise in Washington, where currently more than 700 naturopathic physicians are in practice, more than any other state in the country.


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In Yakima, interest has especially increased in the past five years.

“The fastest growing interest is in pediatrics,” said Robel, who grew up in Yakima and decided to return here after medical school with her husband to start her family practice. Along with Dr. Kara Lolley, Robel opened the doors to Natural Family Health and Wellness for the Yakima Valley almost three years ago.

“I’ve seen more parents interested in alternatives for their kids,” said Robel, herself a mother of a 10-month-old son.

Robel sees more than 40 children at her clinic, where parents are seeking approaches other than prescription medication and antibiotics for conditions such as asthma, allergies, ADHD and autism.

Naturopathic medicine is a system of health care described by the Washington Association of Naturopathic Physicians as an art, science, philosophy and practice of diagnosis, treatment and prevention of illness.

What a naturopath will provide versus a medical doctor is a lengthier office visit and recommendations other than prescription medications, including vitamins, minerals and other supplements into the diet, herbal medicine, counseling and education on lifestyle changes, homeopathy, hydrotherapy, exercise therapy, and mind-body therapies such as yoga and meditation.

Practitioners of naturopathy prefer to use treatment approaches that they consider to be the most natural and least invasive, instead of using pharmaceutical drugs and more invasive procedures.

After hearing from physicians that her three miscarriages were normal, Gillian Taylor of Yakima decided to try naturopathy.

“I knew there had to be something better,” said Taylor, a mother of three.

Through the use of a naturopathic doctor’s recommendation on dietary changes and herbal remedies, she says she was able to get her hormones back on track.

“I got better without any prescriptions,” said Taylor, an archeologist with the Yakama Indian Nation’s Cultural Research Department.

Now, all three of her children receive treatment at Natural Family Health and Wellness. Taylor said her insurance doesn’t cover well-child checkups, which out-of-pocket are more affordable at the naturopathic practice.

“They’re cheaper and you get better service,” said Taylor, who liked that her daughters’ immunization shots were spaced out over a two-week period, instead of being provided at one time like many regular family practices.

Taylor’s 9-year-old son recently had an upset stomach that lasted more than a month. She decided to take him to Dr. Lolley after their regular family physician said blood work came back fine.

Through the use of herbal remedies and diet, her son is back to his normal self.

Taylor likes the confidence she has gained through her education about diet, nutrition and lifestyle that her naturopathic doctors provide.

“We’ve been so much healthier as a family,” she said.

Medical doctors and doctors of osteopathic medicine also use alternative medicines, but only

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3 Responses to “Naturopathic Medicine | Naturopathic Medicine Is On The Rise In The Yakima Valley”

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