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Alternative Cancer Care, GI Health, Integrative Medicine, Men's Health, Naturopathic Medicine, SIBO

Gastroenterology Specialty at Hill Park

We hope this finds you well and enjoying the final days of summer. We’re reaching out with some exciting news that Dr. Eric Yarnell, ND is now seeing patients for gastroenterology concerns!

As the author of the definitive textbook of naturopathic Gastroenterology, The Natural Approach to Gastroenterology, he is one of the preeminent practitioners and teachers of gastroenterology in the naturopathic profession. As a professor to medical students and doctors for over 20 years, he is much sought after for his expertise from the medical community.

Dr. Yarnell’s specialization includes Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO), IBS, gallbladder/liver, intestinal parasites and microbiome imbalance with additional focus in identifying the underlying concerns of chronic diarrhea/constipation, gas/bloating, and abdominal pain. He is uniquely specialized in difficult cases of inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis) and undiagnosed digestive problems.

Dr. Yarnell is a noted authority specializing in men’s health, gastroenterology, and herbal medicine. He is known for his extraordinary, compassionate, and personalized care for his patients. As a highly awarded and beloved doctor, mentor, researcher, and professor of Naturopathic Medicine and Botanical Medicine, it’s truly an honor and privilege to have him serve our community.

Dr. Yarnell is currently accepting new patients and will be doing in-person patient care this September.

Alternative Cancer Care, GI Health, Integrative Medicine, Men's Health, Naturopathic Medicine, SIBO

Eric Yarnell, ND at Hill Park Integrative Medical Center

Eric Yarnell, ND, RH(AHG) (Bastyr University, 1996) is a researcher and professor at Bastyr University and has been in practice for 25 years, focusing on and mentoring student doctors in men’s health, urology, gastroenterology, and nephrology, with a heavy emphasis on herbal medicines. Dr. Yarnell works to find the underlying causes of conditions and to use whatever tools are needed (preferably natural ones, saving conventional approaches only for those few cases where they are truly necessary) to support healing. 

Dr. Yarnell is chief creative officer of Wild Brilliance Press, president of Heron Botanicals, and CEO of Red Root Pharmaceuticals. He is a co-founder of the Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine in Vancouver, BC. He previously served as chair of the department of botanical medicine at the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine. 

He has over 150 published medical articles and is the author of many of the definitive textbooks used to teach naturopathic doctors including Natural Approach to Urology 2nd ed, Natural Approach to Prostate Conditions 2nd ed, Natural Approach to Gastroenterology 2nd ed, and the forthcoming Naturopathic Nephrology.

He is a highly desired keynote speaker at educational seminars and has been the recipient of four distinguished lifetime awards in the Naturopathic Profession in recognition for his outstanding contributions to the field of natural medicine, research, botanical medicine, and education.

American Association of Naturopathic Physicians Vis Award (2014)
Naturopathic Medical Student Association Faculty of the Year (2018 and 2020)
Gastroenterology Association of Naturopathic Physicians Borborygmus Award (2020)

“Nothing is more satisfying than really listening to someone’s whole story, and helping them discover and fix the underlying cause of their problem.”

Naturopathic Medicine

Functional Medicine vs. Naturopathic Medicine: Which Alternative Medicine Doctor to Choose?

When making an appointment at Hill Park Integrative Medical Center, one of the first choices you will make is the choice of which doctor to schedule an appointment with. While all the doctors practicing at Hill Park are alternative medicine doctors, meaning they do not subscribe to the traditional medical model of illness management; the docs here instead stress the return to vitality and the goal to thrive as naturally as possible. However, there are subtle differences between the two types of alternative medicine doctors you find at Hill Park: Functional vs Naturopathic.

Functional doctors have graduated from an accredited medical school for Medical Doctors (MDs) and have chosen to pursue post graduate training in functional medicine. Dr. Johnson is a functional medicine doctor. Naturopathic doctors have graduated from an accredited naturopathic medical school for Naturopathic Doctors (NDs) and have had an overlapping education, but also are trained in multiple treatment modalities such as homeopathy, herbal medicine, and possibly even acupuncture from alternative medicine clinic in Sonoma County. Both often are well versed in primary care and specialties like SIBO, bioidentical hormone replacement, and adrenal dysfunction.

Overall, I believe that functional and naturopathic doctors share more similarities than differences. They both are patient centered rather than disease centered. They focus on treating a patient as a whole person and believe a patient is more than just a sum of their parts.  They deviate away from viewing a patient as a collection of body systems that needs to be managed by multiple specialties such as gastroenterology, neurology, etc. Both types of alternative medicine doctors look for underlying causes and individualize treatment based on their findings. Both types of doctors use cutting edge specialty lab testing to dive deeper into your condition. They focus treatment on lifestyle medicine and nutrition and reserve medications for cases that are particularly advanced or complex. They both utilize science-based medicine to achieve goals of vitality, not merely the absence of disease. Neither follows a rote standard of care, but adjusts treatment to the needs and wants of the individual. They take often-ignored factors into account, such as environment, genetics, your existing lifestyle and diet, and emotional state of health in their treatment plans. Often, patients walk away with a few supplements and many suggestions for diet, exercise, and mind/body practices such as meditation!

The differences between functional doctors and naturopathic doctors are subtle and tend to be slight. While both use lifestyle and nutrition medicine extensively, naturopathic doctors also tend to heavily use other natural modalities such as herbal medicine and homeopathy. Functional MDs are very science based, as are NDs, but NDs also appreciate time honored traditional medicine practices such as hydrotherapy that might not have as many double blind placebo controlled studies behind them. The other main difference is insurance coverage. While Hill Park does not accept insurance for visits, oftentimes labs can be covered by your insurance. In most cases, this is no different between an MD and an ND. However, in the case of Medicare, only labs ordered by an MD might be covered.

Overall, if you are looking for a doctor that focuses on vitality and optimal health, sees you as a whole person, and takes your whole environment into account, you can’t go wrong at Hill Park, an alternative medicine clinic in Sonoma County. If you prefer a certain treatment style, check with our staff to see which doctor might be right for you. All the doctors here are well-versed in lifestyle and nutrition, care about you as a person, and want you to live optimally.

Healthy Goals

How IV Vitamin Therapy Can Help to Improve Your Health

How IV Vitamin Therapy Can Help to Improve Your Health

If you knew about a single vitamin that not only helps give you more energy, but helps you sleep more soundly; that increases cognition, but also calms your mind, would you take it? Especially knowing this vitamin is very safe and almost impossible to have too much of? This vitamin can do all of the above, along with helps heal nerves, elevates your mood, supports liver health, and more. Which vitamin is this?

Vitamin B12, or methylcobalamin, is found naturally in meat, eggs, and dairy, but also, in sea vegetables, chlorella, spirulina, and brewer’s yeast. It can only be absorbed orally if there is sufficient stomach acid, so if you are on any medications like Prilosec or Prevacid, you might not be absorbing it well. Other medications can also deplete B12 like metformin, statins, and diuretics. Even other conditions like celiac disease or GI inflammation can inhibit the absorption.

B12 can help with DNA production, red blood cell health and production, nerve pain, energy, and even herpes viruses like cold sores and shingles. It is used by almost every cell of the body and helps with energy production, pain, and healing. When people are deficient in B12, which can be a result of pernicious anemia or chronic stress, they often experience nerve and muscle pain, brain fog, difficulty sleeping, depression, immune dysfunction, and skin issues. Naturopathic doctors have been using this vitamin for a very long time to increase healing time, elevate mood, and increase energy.

Hill Park Integrative Medical Center recommends B12 in its methylcobalamin or hydroxocobalamin form and as an injection. This is to ensure the best absorption of B12, as injections allow you to absorb 100% of the dose since, it goes directly into the bloodstream.

We provide quick, painless injections on a walk-in basis. Most people come in once a week for four weeks in a row and report feeling a profound difference in their energy, mental clarity, and overall wellbeing. Hill Park is also offering walk-in B12 Happy Hours featuring a short consultation with one of our functional medicine doctors to help you choose which nutrient injection is best for you! They are Monday 3-6pm, Wednesday 4-6 pm, and the first Saturday of every month (Super Saturday!) from 10am-1pm.

B12 is also found in many of our IV and customized nutrient formulations, so give us a call or walk on in to give it a try!

IV Vitamin Therapy, Natural Allergy Treatment, Natural Immune Health

Allergy Relief – Staving Off the Sneezes

With the changing of the seasons and the rain finally coming to a close, the flowers come out with a vengeance. With the beauty that they lend the world, comes massive amounts of pollen. Allergy season often coincides with Spring and Fall, but, depending on your allergies, you can suffer year long. Brain fog, itchy eyes, sneezing, and feeling fatigued are not pleasant things you’d like to deal with on a daily basis. But, when you take the over the counter medications, the extra layer of brain fog and fatigue make it downright unbearable. So, you feel left between a rock and a hard place. There are many natural solutions such as IV vitamin therapy that can help to ease the pain of allergies, both lifestyle modifications and supplements that don’t give the brain fog or medication hangover, but still provide potent relief.

1. Air Purifier

Getting an air purifier in your home can help to decrease the allergens residing there. By making your house a clean zone, you can vastly decrease the amount of allergens you are subjected to. This gives your system a rest, especially at night, so your body can heal and rest itself from the onslaught of allergens outside. This also helps to filter out the harmful particles like mold, which can cause a low level of inflammation, especially in the respiratory tracts.

2. Use Natural Cleaners

We all clean when we start to feel the allergies coming on. Common household cleaners can often emit vapors that inflame and harm the skin and respiratory tract. Always wear gloves and use natural cleaners to decrease the chances of further inflaming your respiratory tract.

3. Vitamin C

Our cells react to allergens by releasing histamine. It’s the histamine that causes many of our allergy symptoms, like sneezing, itchy eyes, and skin rashes. Vitamin C helps to stabilize the cells to decrease their ability to release histamine. By taking appropriate amounts, this stabilizes the cell’s membranes and keeps histamine IN the cell, rather than outside it.

4. Vitamin B5/ Pantothenic Acid

Vitamin B5 is a super safe addition to your allergy regimen. B5 can help to control nasal congestion and dry up secretions. B5 can also reduce eosinophils, which are the main white blood cells (immune cells) responsible for allergies. This also helps to quickly decrease histamine levels in the body, which can help to alleviate symptoms.

5. Stinging Nettles

This herb is a great addition to your allergy arsenal. It helps to decrease the frequency and severity of allergy symptoms, such as runny nose and sneezing. If taken with enough time before allergy season, it can even help to prevent an allergic response. Its best to dose this herb frequently and early in the season to allow it to take full effect.

6. Gingko Biloba

This herb is normally associated with mood and cognitive function, but it also can play a small role in helping allergy symptoms. It can chemically mediate the inflammatory and allergy response due to some of its constituents. It’s got plenty of antioxidant properties that help to decrease inflammation and improve cognition. Lastly, it can help with asthma, as it decreases the bronchoconstriction!

7. NAC

This compound combats allergies in multiple ways. It is the precursor to glutathione, which is a major antioxidant, liver protector, and immune supportive nutrient. While strengthening the immune system, it also helps to thin mucus and phlegm, allowing you to breathe easier. Just drink plenty of water, as it can easily leave you feeling extra dry.

There are many other ways to alleviate allergies – avoiding food sensitivities and trans fats, practicing good hygiene in the home and on yourself, and avoiding exposure to extra chemicals and scents during times of sensitivity. If you are looking for an IV vitamin therapy in Sonoma County then, make an appointment and we can discuss the best methods for you to combat allergies!

 

Phrase: IV vitamin therapy Sonoma County