Live from the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine Annual Conference 2023

Photo Cred: Manuela Durson/Shutterstock

By Avery St. Onge

The 2023 Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine (AIHM) Conference: Bridges to Whole Health was held October 6-8 at the Paradise Point Resort & Spa in San Diego, Calif.

Leaders in integrative medicine gathered to discuss pertinent healthcare concerns such as the physiological effects of trauma, depression and anxiety, gut health, and autoimmunity and how to address them with whole person, root cause medicine.

Integrative Practitioner reported live from the session rooms and the show floor, bringing you exclusive interviews, breaking news, and insights from some of the top speakers.

Read more for our live coverage of the event.

Moving Towards a Health-Centric Healthcare Model with Salutogenic Science

America has a $4.3 trillion healthcare system that doesn’t produce health, said David Rakel, MD, at the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine (AIHM) 2023 conference: Building Bridges to Whole Health in San Diego, Calif.

“And how did we get here?” Rakel continued. “Because instead of creating health, our healthcare system follows a “find-it fix-it” model focused on putting out fires rather than preventing them.”

In his presentation, Rakel, the professor and chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in Albuquerque, New Mexico, argued that the healthcare of the future should be based on salutogenic science, with value-based, pro-active, health-centric care.

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Redefining Cardiovascular Care: A Holistic Approach Beyond Traditional Risk Factors

To Mimi Guarneri, MD, FACC, ABOIM, the need for a new cardiology model is obvious. Research shows that 80 percent of premature deaths from cardiovascular disease could be prevented. Still, in our current health system, there are three deaths for every ten patients with cardiovascular disease.

“We know all this information, yet putting it into clinical practice to this day remains a challenge, and I eat the concept of universal health care,” said Guarneri, integrative cardiologist and President of the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine. “And there’s a reason we can’t get where we need to go. It’s because we don’t have universal health care.”

Speaking at the 2023 Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine Annual Conference in San Diego, Guarneri underscored the importance of a comprehensive approach to cardiovascular wellness, prioritizing prevention as much as treatment and considering genetics, lifestyle, environment, and mental health.

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How to Improve Mood and Cognition Through Gut Microbiome Health

Gut microbiome health is directly related to mental health and cognition, according to Amy Shah, MD, a double board-certified medical doctor and wellness expert specializing in allergy and immunology, hormones, and gut health in Glendale, Arizona. Emerging research suggests that altering the gut microbiome could be revolutionary for the treatment of complex mental health disorders.

“The possibilities are just endless,” said Shah at the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine Annual Conference in San Diego, Calif. “We’re not just talking about digestion and nutrients, which are super Important; we’re talking about changing your entire mental health, changing how you’re feeling at this particular moment, your cravings, your desires, the people you interact with.”

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Expanding Beyond Mental Health with Radical Wholeness, Psychedelics, and Interbeing

Health is not defined by our health systems, according to Jamie Harvie, PE, Executive Director of the Psychedelic Research and Training Institute based in Fort Collins, Colorado. Rather, he said, 90 percent of health is defined by where we live, work, and play.

Sharing his insights at the 2023 Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine Annual Conference, Harvie emphasized our deep-seated ties with the universe and every creature within it. He explained that our culture is built upon stories, some of which are centuries old, that place certain groups of humans above others and humans above the natural world. And to Harvie, these narratives need re-evaluation. “Our culture is just our story,” he remarked.

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Practical Use of Integrative Medicine for Fatigue and Stress from Trauma and Grief

While there’s a tremendous opportunity for integrative medicine to help patients struggling with fatigue and stress due to trauma and grief, it can also inflict harm, said Rashmi Muller, MD, at the 2023 Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine Annual Conference in San Diego, Calif.

“We cannot apply a wellness model to grief; we can’t just send them off with mindfulness tools, said Muller, an integrative endocrinologist affiliated with Veterans Administration Greater Los Angeles Healthcare Medical Center and UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center. “We need to show true compassion to sit with them in their pain and suffering.”

A whole health approach to stress and fatigue from trauma and grief focuses on the patient’s mission, aspiration, and purpose. What it doesn’t include, explained Muller, is a reliance on hormone testing and mindfulness tools like meditation and yoga, which is often seen within integrative medicine.

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Cultivating Equity in Integrative Medicine

On the final day of the 2023 Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine (AIHM) Annual Conference in San Diego, Calif., members of the AIHM Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Committee discussed what health equity looks like in an integrative medicine practice. In their presentation, the committee members stressed the importance of cultural appreciation, spiritual presence, cultural humility, and embodiment to move integrative medicine toward health equity.

“The BIPOC Committee has an understanding that all of the work that we do, we feel it in our bodies,” said Yvette Miller, MD, ABIHM, Executive Medical Officer for the Donor and Client Support Center (DCSC) in Charlotte, NC, and Co-Chair of BIPOC Committee. In this country, medical providers are encouraged to get out of their bodies and think their way through treating a patient, but, Miller said, “true medicine and healing comes from the heart and the body.”

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AIHM Announces 2023 Award Recipients

On Saturday evening, the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine (AIHM) announced its 2023 award recipients at its conference, Building Bridges to Whole Health, in San Diego, California. The awards recognize interprofessional collaborators who have worked to advance integrative medicine to benefit healthcare, humanity, and the planet. The honorees included the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA), the National Association to Advance Black Births (NAABB), and Brad Jacobs, MD, MPH, ABOIM.

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