FX Medicine Podcast Central

On today’s FX Medicine Podcast Andrew talks to Nutritionist, Claudette Casey Freeman who recently won the BioCeuticals Integrative Medicine Award (BIMA) for "Student of the Year”. Claudette, along with juggling the many demands of new-motherhood, is also a regular contributor to many health magazines and also runs the "Nutritional Medicine Practitioners Network", a private Facebook community designed for practitioners of Nutritional Medicine to connect, network and share knowledge.

Our medical system is broken and patients are looking, indeed demanding, more integrative care from a diverse array of health professionals. In today’s podcasts, Dr Penny Caldicott, President of the Australasian Integrative Medicine Association (AIMA) shares the evolution of her thriving clinic which embraces a team of health practitioners from all walks of life and integrates seamlessly with the orthodox healthcare system. She also showcases the upcoming AIMA conference to be held in Melbourne, July 2015. The topic of the conference is "Taking the Pulse of Integrative Medicine”. The AIMA conference aims to educate Integrative Medicine practitioners in safe, effective natural therapies, whilst maintaining a pinnacle standard of medical care.

Elizabeth Cowley is a well-established Naturopath, Herbalist and Nutritionist who practices in a multi-modality clinic in Sydney's busy North Shore. Elizabeth is also committed to sharing her clinical knowledge with Naturopathic students at the famous Nature Care College, both by lecturing and supervising the clinic to ensure safe, effective delivery of naturopathic principles to patients. Elizabeth has a very broad scope of practice but today we focus on the many faces of pain and how to effectively manage various presentations with herbs, nutrients, diet, and lifestyle interventions.

Dr Janet Schloss is a well-known and highly respected Naturopath and Nutritionist who has recently completed her PhD thesis on nutritional supplementation in Chemotherapy Induced Peripheral Neuropathy (CIPN). Indeed, so powerful were her discoveries during her research that she is now regularly asked to speak internationally to disseminate these clinical implications to improve patient care in hospitals. Today she shares her knowledge in this area as well as her expertise in treating chronic pain conditions with nutrition, herbs, and lifestyle interventions. Janet's multi-disciplinary approach creates new avenues of care for those suffering debilitating pain conditions and her humanity shines through as her driving force to improve the wellbeing of those under her care.

Our regular discussion with the esteemed Dr Mark Donohoe, will revisit the 2015 BioCeuticals Symposium and it's themes of Oxidation, Inflammation and Immune Dysfunction.Dr Donohoe also touches on the challenges facing modern medicine in the changing terrain of patients who don't fit into a "well-described diagnostic box". This will be the first in a series of podcasts taking practitioners through the clinical implications and practical implementation gleaned from the speakers at the 2015 BioCeuticals Symposium.

Dr Lise Alschuler is a Naturopathic physician from the U.S. who has spent the last half of her 21 years in practice specialising in integrative cancer support. In this interview, Lise talks to Andrew as a prelude to her forthcoming Integrative Oncology Seminar series across Australia in July 2015. Lise leads us through some of the differences in training and application of Naturopathy in the U.S. versus Australia. She discusses her own journey as a clinician, including her personal experiences with cancer and how they have shaped her practice and approach. Lise explores the latest dietary and lifestyle interventions open to cancer patients including the universal use of curcumin and medicinal fungi as well as broaching the antioxidant-fear-controversy often debated in cancer treatment. Listen in to find out what four major treatments make Lise’s “short list” for cancer care.

According to Dr Mark Houston, a world leading integrative cardiologist, the present medical system is broken and will go bankrupt. Unless we change the model and adopt a new paradigm that utilises a functional approach of prevention, we will inevitably face a very serious health crisis. In this interview, Dr Houston explains the concept of ‘infinite insults and finite responses’, which was the overarching theme of the 2015 BioCeuticals Research Symposium. He goes on to explain how inflammation, oxidative stress and immune dysfunction are the key drivers of chronic disease and any successful treatment must address the underlying causes driving these responses.

According to Dr David Haase, a keynote speaker at the 2015 BioCeuticals Research Symposium, the human body is a network of networks of networks. As a functional neurologist, Dr Haase is mindful of this fact when treating patients with neurodegenerative disease. He goes on to explain the difficulty faced when trying to influence someones health by addressing a single target of influence. Rather, a multidirectional, iterative approach, incorporating dietary changes and judicious supplementation is typically required, which can influence a whole host of biomolecules that interface with the body. In this podcast interview, David Haase explores the predisposing factors of neurodegenerative diseases and the functional clinical strategies he adopts when addressing these underlying causes of neurodegeneration in his patients.

Dr Joe Pizzorno is one of the world's leading authorities on natural and integrative medicine. He was a key note speaker at the 3rd BioCeuticals Research Symposium in April 2015 and spoke extensively on the critical topic of toxicity. When Dr Pizzorno began his research into toxic exposure and human toxic load he could not have imagined the extent of the problem. In this bonus feature interview conducted at this years symposium, Dr Pizzorno discusses the current human toxic load, the damage it can cause, symptoms of exposure and the range of treatments available.

According to Dr Jason Kaplan, a holistic cardiologist from Sydney, the cholesterol story is changing. When it comes to prevention of cardiovascular disease, cholesterol and LDL is only part of the picture. The reality is that the majority of people who are treated for heart attacks have normal cholesterol levels. In this podcast interview Dr Kaplan explains the need to take into account the whole patient. He identifies the key drivers of cardiovascular disease as being inflammation, lifestyle factors and poor dietary choices and discusses the approach he adopts to make the necessary changes in his patients to make a real difference.

Professor Nils Hoem is the chief scientist at Aker BioMarine, an integrated biotechnology company uniquely positioned to provide high quality, sustainable sources of krill oil. He was a guest speaker at the 3rd BioCeuticals Research Symposium on April 17-19 this year. In this bonus podcast interview, Andrew Whitfield-Cook and Professor Hoem discuss the current exciting research on krill oil and their unique phospholipid components. The major differences between krill and fish oils are explored in depth as Professor Hoem expertly explains the physiological role of phospholipids, triglycerides, EPA, DHA, as well as their relative bioavailabilities and clinical benefits.

Cardiovascular disease is still the major killer, along with cancer, in our society. It is responsible for 11% of deaths in Australia. As a preventable disease there is an opportunity to make a big difference for about 2 to 3 million Australians. In this podcast Dr Mark Donohoe and Andrew Whitfield-Cook discuss what clinicians need to know and do to reduce cardiovascular disease risk. Topics covered include: the truth about statins, the real role of cholesterol in the body, dietary and lifestyle factors that make genuine change and when drug therapy is required.

In November 2014 BioCeuticals embarked on it's inaugural mentorship program. Four students were selected to participate in an eight week program with the purpose of learning the process of product development from a company wide perspective. They spent time with each department and were each required to create a product concept, complete with a marketing and education plan. In this bonus podcast feature Andrew Whitfield-Cook interviews Shannon Chafkin and Rachel Bullen, two of the interns from this program, on their experiences.

Depression and anxiety disorders are exploding in prevalence. It is believed that at least 3 million Australians, at any given time, suffer from these conditions. And, while we do have standard medication for many psychiatric and psychological conditions, research shows that anywhere between 60-90% of people prescribed antidepressants fail to get a benefit that is superior to placebo. What these statistics suggest is that we are not addressing the underlying causes. The fact is that depression and anxiety disorders are multifactorial conditions that require a wholistic approach to treatment. In this episode of FX Medicine Andrew Whitfield-Cook interviews Belinda Reynolds on the numerous contributing factors that underpin mood disorders and explores the role of nutrition and lifestyle as an essential component to clinical therapy.

Listen in to hear FX Medicine host Andrew Whitfield-Cook interview delegates from the 2015 BioCeuticals Research Symposium. Hear first hand from attendees their highlights, clinical pearls and light bulb moments. BioCeuticals' 3rd Research Symposium was held on April 17-19 at the Hilton, Sydney. Keynote speakers were: Mike Ash ND, Dr David Haase, Dr Mark Houston and Dr Joe Pizzorno.