Hello, my name is Dr. Tonia Mitchell and I’m a Naturopathic Physician.  I’m excited to join the team here at healthtopics.ca.  I will be writing articles, on an approximate weekly basis, on different health topics.  I would like to take some time to introduce Naturopathic Medicine, to those who may not be familiar, while I also hope to clear up some common misconceptions.

Naturopathic Medicine is a distinct form of primary health care that can treat and prevent acute and chronic illnesses.  It seeks to find the root cause of a person’s illness, remove the obstacles to health and allow the body to bring itself back into balance so it can heal naturally.   Let’s look at an example of a headache.  Instead of prescribing a painkiller to decrease the sensation of the headache (the symptom) the Naturopathic Physician attempts to figure out why that headache is there in the first place.  Once the root cause is addressed, the headache will disappear.  A descriptive analogy commonly used is the one of the oil light displayed in your car.  There are several things you can do so that the oil light is not on anymore:

• You can rip out the light;
• You can put a piece of tape over the light;
• You can stop the car, perform an oil check and potentially change the oil.

Only the last option treats the root cause of why the light was on in the first place.

Naturopathic Doctors treat the whole person on an individual basis.  Again, looking at the headache, if three people with headaches come in to my office, I will approach each patient differently depending on what they are experiencing and the reason for the headache.  One patient might need support for his blood vessels, the second patient might need support for stress while the third might have food allergies or a toxic metal load.  Naturopathic Doctors treat people, not diseases.

Doctors of Naturopathic Medicine teach the principals of healthy living and prevention to their patients so that they can get well and stay well.  They educate their patients on proper nutrition, hydration, stress management and other aspects to promote healthy living.

Above, I have discussed what Naturopathic Medicine is and what Naturopathic Doctors do.  You may ask; How do they do it?  One of the most exciting things about being a Naturopathic Doctor is the number of ways we are trained to help people.  We are trained in the following:

1. Nutrition;
2. Herbal medicine;
3. Asian medicine (including acupuncture);
4. Counseling;
5. Homeopathy;
6. Orthopedics;
7. Chiropractics;
8. Massage and hydrotherapy.

Every Naturopathic Doctor practices slightly differently while some receive further training in different energetic, intravenous or cosmetic therapies.  Consider a Naturopathic Doctor a general practitioner of the alternative medical world.

Your question may be: Who should see a Naturopathic Doctor?  The answer is: Anyone.  You can consult a Naturopathic Doctor for all of the same reasons that you would consult your family doctor, including but not limited to:

• skin problems;
• infections;
• reproductive problems;
• gastrointestinal problems;
• emotional concerns;
• musculoskeletal injuries;
• hormonal imbalances;
• cardiovascular problems;
• weight loss and detoxification.

Naturopathic Medicine is a safe, effective and natural approach to you and your family’s health.  Naturopathic doctors can and will empower you to live a healthy lifestyle while treating and preventing disease.  Find more information on the services I offer at Arbour Wellness Centre at Nanaimo Naturopathic Doctor.

There are times when every overweight person feels alone. In reality they are not. There are over one billion overweight adults found throughout this world. Three hundred million are considered obese. Each day it is hard to cope with the excess weight because of the health risks involved. As an overweight person, you have to worry about things such as high blood pressure, increased depression, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. If you have tried countless diets and exercise regimes to no avail, then it may be time to consider Lap Band surgery.

The Lap Band system has a great success rate and offers fewer complications than previous weight loss surgery options. Previously, the preferred method was that of Biliopancreatic Diversion or the laparoscopic Roux en Y surgery. The Lap Band surgery is a much easier and there are generally less complications and hospitalizations than with the other two options.

If you have tried several of the traditional top 10 diets without success and you are considering the Lap Band procedure, then there are a few things you have to keep in mind. The first is that it will mean a dietary change for life. There are a number of do’s and don’ts with this type of surgery. You have to constantly be mindful of what type of food you are placing in your body. Instead of three meals a day, you will most likely be eating small, three ounce meals, ten to twelve times daily.

The second thing to consider is that there are Lap Band complications. This will most likely occur in the first few weeks as patients try to learn and adapt to their low diet. Overfilling the stomach is the number one complication for most patients. They simply do not take into account that the stomach pouch is one-third the size it used to be. So there will not be any gorging at Thanksgiving and Christmas meals.

The third thing to consider, post surgery, is that you still have to exercise. This is not some miracle cure that will happen overnight. You will still need to exercise in order to keep your heart and the rest of your bodily systems healthy. The surgery may work as a weight loss cure but you will still need to follow a diet and exercise regime.

The final factor is that you may need to have plastic surgery after weight loss. You will be losing up to fifty percent of your body fat so this will lead you to have excess skin. Exercise will help somewhat with the skin but most patients still have to turn to plastic surgery. Lap Band surgery is going to change your life. It will mean exercising more and eating the right foods in order to lose the weight and keep it off once you reach your optimal goal. But you can find the success that you so desperately want if you follow the guidelines from your physician and nutritionist.