Set against a backdrop of the Santa Fe Mountains and the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, the 12th annual Restorative Medicine Conference provided four days of presentations offering 30.25 total CME hours. The conference was organized by the Association for the Advancement of Restorative Medicine (AARM), a leading multidisciplinary nonprofit professional medical education group.
Julie Martin, ND, FABNO, of the Clinic of Natural Medicine in Eugene, Oregon, was among the 250 attendees. She was impressed with the speakers and the practical information she received. “AARM embraces the core of naturopathic medicine’s critical inquiry and empathetic listening heart,” said Martin. “The conference reflected the impact that naturopathic medicine has had on the current philosophy and practice of medicine—from ‘heal the gut’ to ‘treat the whole person.’”
The philosophy of AARM is that restorative medicine can improve organ function, as well as endocrine feedback and balance on a fundamental long-lasting level. This year’s conference content was diverse and featured talks on thyroid function, gut immunology, inflammation, women’s health, and attention deficit disorder. On Thursday, researcher Heather Zwickey, PhD, provided a lengthy discussion on immunology, which created a foundation for the rest of the conference.
Aviva Romm, MD, offered a 3-hour talk on women’s health with a special focus on the role of stress. “A lot of patients feel like their body is a lemon that has failed them, and they just want to return it back to the factory,” said Romm. Romm described the many functional medicine tests she uses and provided several case studies to illustrate her approach.
Steven Sandberg-Lewis, ND, DHANP, discussed the importance of looking at small intestine bacterial overgrowth when treating gastrointestinal disorders and also spoke about using natural approaches to treating gastroesophageal reflux disease.
Tieraona Low Dog, MD, closed out the conference with a 3-hour discussion about inflammation. “Inflammation is really a primary driver of much of the chronic disease we are seeing today,” said Low Dog. Low Dog spent some time describing the link between the gut microbiome and inflammation and talked about how diet, lifestyle, and dietary supplementation can help reverse chronic inflammation. Low Dog said she reminds her patients that “the body desires wellness.”
AARM Executive Director, Michael Freidman, ND, was pleased with the conference and explained that a great deal of thought goes into the location for each conference. “We already have people signed up for our 2015 conference, which will be held at the Semiahmoo Resort in Blaine, Washington,” said Freidman.
For more information about AARM or next year’s conference, visit restorativemedicine.org.
