Integrative Healthcare Symposium announces trending topics for upcoming event

At the 15th annual Integrative Healthcare Symposium, taking place February 21-23, 2019 at the New York Hilton Midtown, multi-disciplinary practitioners from across the U.S. and beyond will convene to hear the latest findings from all perspectives of the healthcare universe and learn how they can apply them to their various practices, according to a December 17 press release.

This year, the hottest topics include functional nutrition, the autoimmune epidemic, environmental toxicity, brain health, and more.

Symposium attendees can expect to hear a lot this year about the healing power of food. The full-day pre-conference program on Wednesday, February 20, will focus exclusively on nutrition, specifically its role in stress, inflammation, and overall resiliency. On Thursday, Mark Hyman, MD, will give a talk titled “Why we are confused: the failures of nutritional science,” and later that day Registered Dietician Ashley Koff, RD, will present some strategies to the audience in her session “How to better assess your patient’s nutritional needs.” The theme continues into Friday and Saturday with more than 10 educational sessions involving dietary protocols, including a keynote address by Valter Longo, PhD, on how fasting-mimicking diets can promote regeneration and combat age-related disease.

Another trending topic within the conference program, and healthcare in general, is autoimmunity. On Friday, a panel consisting of David Brady, ND, DC, CCN, DACBN, IFMCP; Yehuda Shoenfeld, MD, FRCP, MaACR; Aristo Vojdani, PhD, MSc, CLS; Nancy O'Hara, MD, MPH, FAAP; and David Perlmutter, MD, FACN, ABIHM, will unpack the various hypotheses around why this epidemic exists, the unique vulnerabilities inherent in females and children, and what solutions might be effective – ranging from a general shift away from simply treating symptoms to proactive tactics like predictive screenings and antibody tests.

A third trend in the conference involves the environment we all live in today, and how widespread toxins are impacting public health from a micro to a macro scale. Walter Crinnion, ND, will divide the topic of environmental toxins into two sessions. On Thursday afternoon, his first presentation will focus on four of the most damaging compounds, air pollution, bisphenols, phthalates, and perfluorocarbons. Part two of Crinnion’s presentation, taking place on Saturday morning, will explore avoidance methods and survival strategies in managing these four pollutants. On Friday, Isadora Guggenheim, ND, will discuss environmentally-triggered chronic disease patterns, including how to characterize them, test for them, and ultimately treat them.

Brain health sessions will be presented by speakers sharing different research, angles, and insights on how to keep the body’s most vital organ healthy. In more than six sessions, experts will dive into how food, lifestyle, environment, medication, and cannabinoids can impact neurological function. Highlights include a session by Robert Silverman, DC, DACBN, DCBCN, MS, CCN, CNS, CSCS, CIISN, CKTP, CES, HKC, FAKTR, on microbiota and the gut-brain axis in health and disease, David Perlmutter, MD, FACN, ABIHM on how lifestyle choices can chart a brain’s destiny, and Peter Osborne, DC, DACBN, PSCD, about how gluten and grains trigger “brainflammation”.

In addition to a comprehensive conference program, practitioners will have the opportunity to attend a pre-conference on nutrition, morning and evening symposia, lunch and learn presentations, poster sessions, movement and mindfulness breaks, and explore a three-story exhibit hall featuring more than 200 companies and special events, including the Meet the Speakers Reception & Book Signing on Thursday, February 21, from 5-7 p.m.

Registration for the conference is now open. Exhibit Hall passes are included with the conference passes or can be purchased separately. Full details are available at ihsymposium.com/register.