Agenda

Non-CME breakfast symposium sponsored by Bellevue Pharmacy

 

Optimal health and patient’s ability to resist disease are influenced by eating habits, general nutrition, prescription medication and the onset of disease states such as metabolic syndrome, diabetes and gut health.  Clinicians need to understand the correlation between nutrition and disease and have the ability to evaluate patients, recognize metabolic deficiencies, and develop comprehensive patient treatment plans, both to clinically prevent disease and treat patients with compromised metabolic states.

The changing American diet and its contribution to oxidative stress and chronic disease.  The role of diet in hormonal balance will also be addressed.

Volunteer Faculty, University of Central Florida College of Medicine, Orlando, FL

Physicians treating an aging population must recognize the importance of incorporating fitness and healthy eating programs into their practice both as preventative programs to optimize patient health and as therapeutic interventions to treat disorders of aging such as obesity and metabolic syndrome.  Basic knowledge of fitness and healthy eating are critical for all physicians and more so for age management physicians, who need essential knowledge to be able to evaluate patient fitness levels and incorporate levels of fitness into individualized patient treatment programs. 

Non-CME breakfast symposium sponsored by MedQuest Pharmacy

Male Sexual Health: Since the early 1800s sexuality in America has been very controversial. Doctors and nurses who were among the first advocates of birth control and family planning were thrown into jail while the majority of medical schools provided little or no training in contraception. It wasn’t until the mid-1900s with the first issue of Playboy and the FDA approval of “the Pill” that sexuality became a social movement. With the development of erectile enhancement drugs there have been radical changes in the way Americans view sexuality and the role men play in this paradigm shift. This male sexual health talk describes the shift in the way physicians have been trained to look at sexual function. How sexual function can be a barometer of overall health will also be reviewed. In addition, this talk will include the importance of testing and evaluating sexual function in men, how to develop treatment strategies to detect any underlying health abnormalities related to sexual dysfunction, and what to do about it.

Our knowledge of the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms affecting sexual function has expanded dramatically over the past decade. Evolving research has now given us a much better understanding of the physiologic and regulatory processes involved. Sexual function is controlled by a complex integration of the central and peripheral nervous systems, the vascular system, and endocrine system. The introduction of sildenafil (Viagra) in 1997 was just the beginning of a new era of therapies for sexual dysfunction. We now anticipate a further revolution of novel therapies for sexual dysfunction in men and women. We will soon benefit from the practical application of research advances in the areas of stem cell function, neurophysiology, gene therapy, and tissue regeneration. These advances will not only expand therapies for sexual dysfunction, but also have application toward many other areas of optimal age management.

By 2020, over 60% of the US population will be over age 60, and approximately 50% of these are men. With the help of cutting edge physicians, more and more men are realizing the important role that hormones play in their health, but the primary focus is still on testosterone monitoring and replacement. Just as women need adequate amounts of testosterone, the male body has a requirement for progesterone. Progesterone is imperative for optimal functioning of the cardiovascular system and the nervous system, and is of particular importance in prostate health. The male endocrine system is not made up of just insulin and testosterone alone, and proper balance of the entire complement of hormones including progesterone will keep cognitive, cardiovascular and urinary function working optimally regardless of physical age.

Open to all attendees and includes a complimentary lunch

Featuring John E. Adams, Cenegenics President and Chief Executive Officer

Non-CME symposium sponsored by Cenegenics Medical Institute

Vitamin E is arguably the most important antioxidant utilized by the body. It protects the body from harmful free-radical damage, and plays an important role in protecting cell membranes because it helps neutralize free radical molecules before they enter the cells. Vitamin E assists in protecting the lungs, liver, eyes, and arteries. It is a key factor in the normal function of the immune system. Studies have also suggested that it helps lowers cholesterol. However vitamin E is commonly the most misunderstood due to its characteristics, dosages and different forms and some of the conflicting recent studies published on dosages and effectiveness.

This presentation will include advanced interpretation of cardiovascular testing using oxygen consumption. Delineation of disease entities, including pulmonary and cardiovascular risk identification will be discussed, as will alternative methods of assessing maximal oxygen consumption without a metabolic cart, and other diagnostic evaluations that can be utilized in assessing aerobic and anaerobic thresholds. How to monitor progression and regression of disease states will also be discussed.

Finally, conventional medicine recognizes that the human body utilizes various forms of energy to regulate living processes, physiological interactions aimed for healing and regeneration. Optimum health, vitality and longevity depend on maintaining the structural and functional integrity of our internal energetic systems, according to Dr. James Oschman, a leading authority in energy medicine from Pittsburgh. Better understanding of our inner human dynamics teaches us that it is not only the tangible functional and structural integrity of inner human dynamics that we have to take care of, but also how the non-tangible 4 inner energy dynamics—body energy, mental energy, emotional energy and spiritual energy—interact which each other in daily life. The hypothesis is that in more than 99% of people there is a chaotic unbalance in these dynamics on a daily basis and can accelerate aging, diseases and age related disorders. Therefore, it is not enough to apply hormones, enzymes, nutritional substances, energy impulses from devices (body energy) and just add rationally some yoga and meditation classes. Today’s presentation will lay out new insights in these inner energy dynamics and provide initial tools on how to better balance these dynamics. 

During this talk we’ll explore the history of medicine’s awareness of chronic inflammation and understand causes of chronic inflammation, focusing on fatty acid balance and immune system signaling, as well as the body’s normal system for resolving inflammation. We’ll look at chronic inflammation’s impact on health including risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome and diabetes, cognitive function decline, and autoimmune disease. We’ll discuss derangements that keep our body from shutting off inflammation, as well as explore ways to reduce or resolve chronic inflammation, including diet and supplementation.

While we cannot slow overall aging we have in recent years made tremendous strides in recognizing, preventing, reducing and in some cases postponing heart disease by pinpointing risk factors, developing preventive programs to augment heart fitness and incorporating therapeutic inventions into patient treatment plans which bring us closer to the day cardiovascular disease can be prevented.  

Non-CME breakfast symposium sponsored by PhysioAge Medical Group

Approximately 40 – 70% of perimenopausal and menopausal women complain of sexual health issues. This is most commonly related as decreased libido, but may also be decreased orgasm or anorgasmia, pain concerns, and more. We will discuss what is considered healthy sexual function, and review the hormonal, physical, and psychological considerations as well as the differences between men and women. Necessary tools to alleviate and ease hormonal transitioning will be discussed, including appropriate diagnostic tools, physical examination, and an armamentarium of treatments to recreate hormonal balance on many levels including the sex steroid, adrenal and neurotransmitter support, as well as dietary and lifestyle modification.

Various metabolic, hormonal and sex-related changes can take place in menopausal, middle-aged women. These may bring about complaints about mood, libido, body composition, risks for metabolic syndrome and difficulty losing weight. Doctors can safely help these patients with an integrative approach which includes proper diet, exercise, supplements, and direct androgen replacement if need be. I will cover the evidence for using such an integrative approach in handling these symptoms. Case examples will be provided, as well as practical advice on individualized options and follow-up.

Many times we prescribe testosterone or estradiol and find the blood levels have dropped when we re-check the levels 60 days later. As many as 25% of all patients are thought to have antibodies to thyroid hormones. Evidence will be presented showing initial hormone levels and the drop in those levels when supplements were prescribed. We concluded that the drop might be caused by a hormone mediated hypersensitivity reaction to the prescribed hormone. Following this supposition each of these patients was treated with a sublingual dilution of the hormone to see if any antibody reaction existed and if it could be blocked or neutralized. We saw significant rises in measured blood levels at the end of 30 days while keeping the hormone dosage unchanged. The patients all reported improvement in their symptoms. Type 1 IgE hormone allergy or progesterone mediated hypersensitivity was first covered in my article dealing with asthma, premenstrual asthma and premenstrual migraine (Hormone Allergy, Am J Reprod Immunol 55:307-313, 2006).

Although most physicians are fully aware of replacing hormones in cases of sub-normal hormone levels, most physicians have not been trained to optimized hormone levels no matter what the baseline hormone level is. Many physicians who are new to AMMG frequently inquire why a patient is treated with various hormones when the lab tests indicate "normal" baseline hormone levels: "Why does this patient need hormones when there is no medical reason for it?" The answer is simply that normal may not be optimal. A multitude of studies support optimization of all hormones regardless of the baseline level. In addition, many physicians utilize hormones to improve well-being and relieve symptoms, irrespective of normal levels of hormones. Hormone replacement in spite of low baseline levels of hormones can relieve symptoms, improve well-being, decrease mortality, and decrease morbidity and mortality when hormones are prescribed to attain levels in the upper range of normal. It is imperative both that physicians understand the need and benefit for optimization as well as have command of the literature that supports it.  This lecture will review important medical studies demonstrating the need for optimization of hormones as well as provide credence and support as to why we do what we do in regards to hormones that provide long term health benefits. Remember, normal is not optimal.

In a given year, approximately 20.9 million American adults (about 9.5% of the U.S. population age 18 or older) suffer from a mood disorder that is characterized by major depression, dysthymia, and bipolar disorder. However, since depressive disorders often occur with anxiety and substance abuse, the incidence of mood disorders increases to approximately 40 million American adults affected. Until recently, the primary combatant for managing these disorders has been treatment with SSRIs and other pharmaceuticals, with usage of antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs rising from 7% to 30% from 2008 to 2009 alone. This lecture will delve into the assessment of key neurotransmitters associated with prevalent mood disorders, identify positive and negative response to pharmacologic treatment, and provide a review of clinical outcome demonstrating a therapeutic approach that can allow many patients to either get off the drugs they have been taking, or at least moderate the dose and decrease side-effects the drugs may be having on them.

This is a scientific case study of a patient who is 17 years post diagnosis with Stage III breast cancer and no current evidence of disease. I plan to analyze the program of complementary and alternative methods used by the patient, who refused conventional  therapy, and to show her progress. A general review of CAM (complementary and alternative methods) in the treatment of breast cancer will be presented. Points of her program that I feel have been effective in halting her disease will be emphasized. I also plan to expand this to discuss my experience with others using CAM for general health, cancer prevention, and aging.

This is cutting edge. I will present information that substantiates the link between inflammation and breast cancer. I will show how thermograms can detect inflammation and how using topical, local, anti-inflammatory substances like turmeric and other natural substances will safely eliminate breast inflammation.

What medical conditions can be treated with adult stem cells that show verifiable evidence based results or promise for future treatment.

This lecture is a brief overview of the refinements in technique that have enabled the use of adipose tissue as reliable tissue graft material. Since adipose tissue is the most abundant and easily accessible source of mesenchymal stem cells, it has applications in plastic surgery both as a structural graft and regenerative agent. We will review some applications of adipose derived stem cells in the field of plastic surgery.

Thousands of patients have received autologous, adult stem cells. These treatments have been provided by physicians for a myriad of indications from osteoarthritis to critical limb ischemia. To date, the safety profile for these treatments is exemplary. These are, however, medical treatments and as such carry risk. This discussion, given by David Audley, the Executive Director of the International Cellular Medicine Society, will detail the approach and methodology of the ICMS as an international standards organization in the management of risk through oversight and transparency and adjudication processes in dealing with severe adverse events and other complications. 

A long line of stem cells hold the omnipotent potential for repair of all organs. Within each tissue there exist mesenchymal cells that allow for regeneration to occur at the organ level. The future of organ repair, reduction and reversal of disease, the potential for decreasing the chronic illnesses of aging will be discussed in this visionary exploration of the next 50 years into the future of medicine. As the advances in growing stem cell lines in vitro are fast becoming a reality, organ transplantation will become to the 21st century what leeches were to the 20th century. Future of medicine may reside in the growth of stem cells in vitro and the growth of organs in tissue cultures. The vision of how aging will be affected over the next 50 years will be discussed.  

For the supercentenarian cohort born from 1885 to 1900, newly calculated mortality rates demonstrate that these rates continue to follow the Gompertz Model. This is contrary to the expectation of certain demographers that there would be a "plateau" in mortality rates beyond a certain age, providing that individuals managed to live long enough. Thus, while average life expectancy continues to advance in this century, rectangularization of longevity continues to be the rule. So, "The Calment Limit" is a fundamental barrier to extending the maximum human lifespan beyond 122, until a future time as we are potentially able to intervene in the aging process itself.