Summary of the American College for Advancement in Medicine November 2004 Conference on Emerging Concepts in Immunology

The autumn 2004 session of the American College for Advancement in Medicine's 162nd International Educational Conference on Complementary, Alternative and Integrative Medicine (CAIM) took place November 17–21, 2004 at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina in San Diego, California, USA. This event served as testament to the overwhelming professional interest in CAIM therapies and the science supporting evidence-based CAIM therapies. Embraced by Southern California's warm sunny skies and temperate gentle breezes, over 500 physicians, health practitioners and medical professionals convened at ACAM's ‘A Blast to the Future—Emerging Concepts in Immunology’ conference, in order to learn about the latest science behind a wide variety of exciting new CAIM therapies. The American College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM) is a not-for-profit medical society dedicated to educating physicians and other health care professionals on the latest findings and emerging procedures in preventive/nutritional medicine. As the voice of CAIM, ACAM strives to increase awareness and recognition of CAIM therapies and play an active role in shaping the future of the CAIM movement. Celebrating more than a quarter century of service, ACAM represents nearly 1000 physicians in 30 countries. ACAM is the largest and oldest organization of its kind in the world dedicated to providing its members with educational excellence in integrative medicine. ACAM's leading edge educational programming facilitates the incorporation of clinically relevant biomedical therapies by fast tracking scientific advancements in nutritional medicine, nutraceuticals and ethno-pharmacology into the practice of cutting-edge CAIM. ACAM was the first major medical organization to educate its members about such now well accepted concepts as insulin resistance/metabolic syndrome, the detrimental effects of homocysteine, the protective effects of antioxidants, the clinical uses of essential fatty acids, cancer chemoprotection therapies with diet and herbs, testing for cardiosensitive C-reactive protein, the benefits of natural thyroid replacement and nutritional medicine as applied to psychiatry. Scientific presentations at ACAM's autumn 2004 convocation addressed a multitude of topics relevant to physicians and scientists interested in using CAIM therapies for the evaluation and treatment for a wide variety of diseases. Presentations on advances in laboratory medicine included the laboratory assessment of complex diseases and the assessment of immune integrity through evaluation of T- and B-cell subsets and natural killer (NK) cell activity. CAIM treatments of cancer were addressed through evaluating the efficacy of herbs and immune-modulating peptide analogues in the treatment of cancer. Colleen Hayes, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry and Medical Microbiology in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Chairperson for the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program in the Cell Biology Study Section, presented a fascinating lecture on vitamin D's relationship to the endocrine system and autoimmune diseases. She provided data from an animal model of autoimmune encephalomyelitis and the pro-apoptotic influence of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 on inflammatory cells leading to their selective destruction. Edwin Cooper, PhD, Distinguished Professor, Department of Neuroimmunology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA was presented with the Norman E. Clark Award for Innovation in Medicine for his contributions to advancing the field of CAIM and for his groundbreaking work as the Founding Editor in Chief of eCAM. Neal Speight, MD, ACAM's conference co-chairman, gave Dr Cooper this award. Dr Cooper also gave a keynote lecture on Emerging Concepts in Immunology, where he reviewed the history of immunology and its interface with various CAIM therapies. A complete list of conference presentations can be found at the end of this article. In addition to the many exciting presentation at the scientific conference, ACAM added a number of new and updated pre-conference workshops to their quality line up of educational programs. A highly popular 2-day mesotherapy workshop, Chaired by ACAM's President Dr Allan Magaziner, highlighted ACAM's pre-conference workshops. Mesotherapy was developed originally in France by Dr Michel Pistor and is currently being administered by over 15 000 doctors in France. Mesotherapy involves the injection of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, homeopathics and other biologicals, and can help with body sculpting, weight loss, cellulite reduction, wrinkle reduction and facial rejuvenation. ACAM is the first medical organization to teach a combination of classical mesotherapy, bio-mesotherapy and lipodissolve at one conference. Other new and updated workshops included ‘Integrating Nutrition into Medical Practice’ a 1-day workshop on integrating the fundamentals of nutrition into complementary and alternative medicine clinical practice, and ‘Translating CAIM into Practice: A Management/Legal Workshop’. ACAM's President, Dr Allan Magaziner commented,’I'm proud to say that our Fall 2004 ACAM convention in San Diego was one of our best ever. There was a feeling of renewed excitement and energy that was experienced by hundreds of attendees and exhibitors. Participants were thrilled with the professionalism, depth of cutting-edge knowledge and stellar presentations that were shared by our scientific and clinical speakers.’ ACAM is a professional medical organization for physicians interested in learning about evidence-based CAIM therapies. ACAM's goals are to improve skills, knowledge and diagnostic procedures as they relate to complementary and alternative medicine; to support research; and to develop awareness of alternative methods of medical treatment. ACAM's next scientific conference ‘Menopause, Andropause: Power in Transition’ will be held at Disney's Coronado Spring Resort in Orlando, Florida, May 18–22, 2005. Workshop topics include Esthetic Mesotherapy, Heavy Metals and Chelation Therapy and an in-depth Nutrition Certification Seminar. For further information, please call ACAM at 800-532-3688 (in the USA) or 949-583-7666 (outside the USA) or register on line at http://www.acam.org