I am just recently back from the Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM) convention in Carlsbad, California. The subject of this year's symposium was "Confronting Cancer as a Chronic Disease: Primary Care Taking a 360-degree View."
In all, 21 countries were represented and attendance was sold out at 600 people.
I have been a member of the Institute for Functional Medicine since its inception. It was created by my longtime friend and colleague Dr. Jeffrey Bland.
The 4 day conference had a full schedule with lectures starting at 7 AM and closing around 6:30 PM every night.
Even though I have attended so many other IFM conventions, this is probably the best one I have ever attended. All aspects of integrative oncology were discussed. Lectures on the role of antioxidants in cancer prevention and treatment were part of the conference. Other topics were nutritional and botanical support during cancer therapy, individualizing nutrition protocols to complement Cancer care, and using biomarkers for primary prevention in secondary recurrence of common cancers.
The conference was organized by my friends Mary Hardy, M.D. and Dwight McKee, M.D, Ph.D. Dwight and I attended medical school together and were friends throughout school.
Dr Soram with Mary Hardy, M.D.
Dr Soram with Dwight McKee, M.D. Ph.D
Two of the most prominent speakers were Dr. Dean Ornish, and Dr Keith Block. Dr Ornish gave a lecture entitled "The Power of Sustainable Changes in Diet and Lifestyle". Dr. Ornish has carried over his amazing findings on diet and lifestyle for the benefit of heart disease and is now using it to benefit cancer patients. You can pick up his new book by clicking HERE.
Dr. Ornish was also the recipient of the Linus Pauling Person of the Year award, given for his work showing the benefit of diet and lifestyle for chronic disease. I was delighted to learn during his lecture that he was a student of Swami Muktananda, who was very good friends with my teacher Yogi Bhajan, and I was able to share a few words with Dr. Ornish about our teachers, and have a photograph taken with him and at the end of his speech.
Dr Soram with Dean Ornish, M.D.
Dr. Keith Block gave an information packed lecture entitled "Long-Term Biologic Strategies for Ssecondary Prevention of Cancer". Dr Block has written a great book explaining his approach to integrative oncology. You can pick it up HERE.
Some of the lectures were very medically detailed. However, many were understandable by lay people and I wish some of my cancer patients had been able to attend some of these wonderful lectures and learn. In any case I am bringing back to my practice all the exciting new information about using integrative medicine for cancer patients. For those of you who would like to get a sample of these lectures, I am delighted to say that Jeffrey Bland's opening talk entitled "Looking Anew at Cancer" is available online for free by clicking this link.
I have already shared some of the new information from this convention in my blog and I look forward to sharing much more over the weeks ahead with all my readers.
About Dr. Soram Khalsa
As an MD, Dr Soram specializes in Integrative Medicine combining diet, nutrition, acupuncture, herbs and nutrition. Visit Dr Soram’s Healthy Living Store where you’ll find high-quality nutritional supplements:
