About this Presentation

The last few years have seen a significant growth in the interest of the mucosal immune system and its relationship to the commensal bacteria, viruses and other organisms. In part, driven largely by the human microbiome project, and also because the incidence of functional gastrointestinal problems is increasing in the population; with often indifferent results from conventional pharmaceutical focussed strategies.

For many years the concept of the GI tract as a primary organ of health was dismissed by conventional researchers and clinicians as being folklorist. Proposals such as dysbiosis and leaky gut were dismissed as fanciful or inaccurate explanations. The manipulation of the microbiome and in turn communicating meaningful immune messages to the myriad receptors present in the GI tract was seen as the primary role of drugs, not food, food concentrates or probiotics.

Today, whilst by no means mainstream, practitioners find their long held beliefs being reinforced and expanded through prestigious journals such as Science and Nature. Clinicians find their primary care journals are taking seriously the role of symbiosis and that food accordingly may actually be one of the most significant first and on-going treatment strategies. Behaviourally induced and maintained, chronic diseases are increasingly understood to be related not simply to quantity of food but also quality of food and food combinations.

This one day event is designed to explore some of the evolving events in microbiology, mucosal immunity and functional medicine. The presenters are well known for their many years of work in research, analysis, practice and lecturing. They will present substantive evidence of these evolving trends and how they impact on clinical decisions, describing where evidence is preliminary, novel, or of greater substantiation. The day will have a strong clinical bias and provide a welcome opportunity for questions and answers.

The presenters will:

  • Stimulate new ideas
  • Reinforce current best practice methods
  • Challenge entrenched beliefs with evolving comprehension
  • Offer new and substantive clinical ideas
  • Support the functional medicine approach to patient care
  • Diminish the temptation to be protocol driven in treatment plans
  • Provoke discussion and review
  • Provide networking opportunities
  • Make you feel positive about the opportunities for helping more people recover their health safely.

Learning Objectives

  1. Describe the current state-of-the-art standards of practice in clinical microbiology.
  2. Recognise the signs and symptoms associated with GI disorders.
  3. Debate the need for stool testing in order to validate a GI disorder differential diagnosis.
  4. Summarise the effects of pathogenic and beneficial bacteria.
  5. Interpret laboratory results to construct safe and effective treatment plans.
  6. Incorporate supporting treatments to reduce or eliminate pathogenic bacteria, yeast and parasites.

About the Presenters

Antony Haynes BA Hons Dip ION mBANT RNT has been in private practice for over 28 years and is one of the most experienced Registered Nutritional Therapists in the country. He is one of the first practitioners to implement the principles of Functional Medicine in the UK, since 1992.  Antony has been teaching for 28 years and regularly presents webinars to Nutritional Therapists and practitioners on a variety of different health topics.

Michael Ash. DO, ND, BSc, RNT has been in practice for some 35 years. He graduated from ION in the 1980s and also sat as a governor, chair and until recently as a fellow.
Building one of the largest integrative medicine clinics in the southwest of England (he sold this in 2007), he embraced the concepts of functional medicine and employed them in his clinical development from 1991.   Since 1992 he has researched the role of the mucosal immune system, especially in relation to the gastrointestinal tract and applied the emerging comprehension of relationships between the bacterial constituents and the immune system to his clinical needs. This clinical experience and intellectual rigor produced impressive clinical outcomes and as such he has presented in the role of ‘wet tissues’ and nutritional immunology in human health in 5 continents to thousands of clinicians over the last 15 years and has published numerous papers in peer reviewed journals.

Dr David Quig PhD received his Masters degree in Human Nutrition from Virginia Tech and his PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry from the University of Illinois. Dr Quig gives presentations at International and national biomedical conferences and has served as a reviewer for prominent biomedical journals.

CPD

5.5 hours of self-directed learning

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