106 Advanced Nutritional Medicine – Nutritional Medicine in Cancer, Gastrointestinal Diseases and Nutrition and Functional Assessment and Programs

106 Nutritional Medicine in Cancer, Gastrointestinal Diseases and Nutrition and Functional Assessment and Programs

This is the sixth of six courses in the ROHP-Qualifying Program for DC’s (Registered Orthomolecular Health Practitioner)

This course consists of three subjects (each has its own exam):

1. Adjunctive Nutritional Management of Cancer and Cancer Prevention
2. Gastrointestinal Diseases
3. Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine Assessment and Programs

1. Adjunctive Nutritional Management of Cancer and Cancer Prevention

This course highlights the peer-reviewed scientific studies, which illustrate the effect to which diet and targeted nutritional supplements impact important biological targets in the prevention and adjunctive nutritional management of cancer. Attendees will learn the mechanism of action through which certain dietary constituents and targeted supplements can favorably affect signal transduction pathways, activation or suppression of various cell membrane growth factor receptors, cytokine receptors, death receptors, apoptosis mechanisms, immune function, transcription factor synthesis and other biological targets of importance. This program provides practitioners with sound scientific support upon which to provide patients with clinically-relevant and practical nutrition and supplementation advice on cancer prevention, as well as a comprehensive approach to the adjunctive nutritional support of cancer, to help prevent recurrence and metastasis. Practitioners will also understand how certain nutritional interventions can enhance the efficacy of certain chemotherapy drugs, and/or reduce the side effects of conventional cancer therapies. Attention to important drug-nutrient interactions regarding classes of chemotherapy drugs is also provided.

Learning Objectives:

1. The student will develop an in-depth understanding of key signal transduction pathways involved in cancer development at a molecular chemistry level.
2. The student will develop an in-depth understanding of the key human clinical trials that have shown efficacy in cancer prevention and the adjunctive management of specific cancers.
3. The student will develop and an in-depth understanding of how commonly used chemotherapy drugs work in the body as well as evidence-based integrative cancer therapies used successfully around the world.
4. The student will have the skills to design an evidence-based, personalized dietary and supplementation program for cancer patients that has the potential to enhance clinical outcomes and work synergistically with any concurrent medical cancer treatments.

2. Gastrointestinal Diseases

This course explains the evidence-based nutrition and natural medicine interventions shown to help improve outcomes for patients with Crohn’s disease, Ulcerative Colitis, Celiac disease and gluten sensitivities. It also explores common food allergies, food sensitivities, including types of testing available to diagnose these problems. The course also explains the management of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Diverticulosis, simple constipation and reviews key health problems that produce abdominal signs of symptoms with respect to differential diagnosis.

Learning Objectives:

1. The student will develop an in-depth understanding of the pathophysiology involved regarding the key intestinal tract conditions mentioned above.
2. The student will develop an in-depth understanding of the evidence-based studies showing the important role played by complementary medicine, in regards to various dietary and supplementation strategies (and sometimes exercise and relaxation therapies), on patient outcomes, regarding the above-noted health conditions.
3. The student will have the skills to develop an evidence-based, dietary and lifestyle program for patients presenting with these health conditions that can provide important complementary management regarding improved clinical outcomes and quality of life indices.

3. Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine Assessment and Programs

Health practitioners recognize that nutrition, exercise and targeted nutritional supplements play an important role in optimizing health status, and are often used in conjunction with medical treatment in the management of many health conditions. This course outlines a comprehensive, systematic and clinically-relevant nutrition and lifestyle assessment, which enables practitioners to make personalized, evidence-based dietary, exercise and supplementation recommendations to their clients. Attendees learn how to quickly and efficiently gather all clinically-relevant data that are essential to a proper nutrition, lifestyle/healthy aging evaluation, which include the individual’s age, gender, dietary patterns, signs and symptoms of nutrient deficiencies, lifestyle factors that deplete specific nutrients, present or recurring health conditions, family history of degenerative health conditions, as well as other important lab findings and other health indicators. The assessment also takes in to account all contra-indications to dietary and supplement recommendations, as well as drug-nutrient interactions, to guard against inappropriate or dangerous nutrition, exercise or supplementation recommendations being made. An understanding of the medical management of common conditions is also included to help practitioners understand medical decision-making processes.In addition, this course also reviews again the baseline blood, urine, and other investigations that the patient should have performed by their family doctor, as a means to achieve

In addition, this course also reviews again the baseline blood, urine, and other investigations that the patient should have performed by their family doctor, as a means to achieve a complete understanding of the patient’s health status. In summary, this program provides practitioners with the clinical tools to quickly, accurately and responsibly identify the most appropriate supplementation and lifestyle modifications that are most appropriate for each client.

Basic Screening

• Introduction (the importance of nutrition and lifestyle assessment in health management)
• The Anthropometric Evaluation
• The Dietary Assessment
• GI-disease and Medication Screening
• Nutritional Deficiencies and Depletion (including drugs and lifestyle)
• Exercise Screening and Programming

Commonly Encountered Health Conditions:

• Cardiovascular (cholesterol etc)
• Various Cancers
• Gastrointestinal
• Skin
• Systemic and Metabolic Disorders (e.g. osteoporosis, diabetes, thyroid etc)
• Men’s Health Issues
• Women’s Health Issues
• Family History and Disease Risk

Final Review:

• Drug-Nutrient Interactions and Other Contra-indications and Concerns
• Interpretation of Common Blood Work and Early Detection Procedures

Designing Patient Programs

• Customized Dietary plan
• Customized Exercise program
• Customized Supplementation regiment

Learning Objectives:

1. The student will have the skills to perform a comprehensive, evidence-based nutrition and functional assessment of the patient.
2. The student will have an in-depth understanding of common medical treatments patients are using to manage key health conditions and risk factors, and be able to guard against key drug-nutrient interactions in their patient programming.
3. The student will have the skills to design a personalized, evidence-based, comprehensive dietary plan, exercise program and supplementation regiment (and other natural lifestyle interventions where applicable) to enhance the patient’s health status, reverse key health risk factors and/or improve the management of existing health conditions.