Moodle at CCNM

Instructor: Dr. Matthew Nagra, NDOriginal Date: February 02, 2023As interest in plant-based nutrition continues to grow, it is inevitable that naturopathic doctors will asked for nutrition advice by patients who are currently consuming or are planning to transition to a plant-based diet. To help prepare NDs, Dr. Nagra will discuss the benefits of plant-based diets, how to construct a healthy diet, how to avoid the potential pitfalls, and he will provide clarity to some of the most hotly debated topics within the realm of plant-based nutrition, including its impact on bone health, stroke risk, and more.Learning Objectives: To explain the potential benefits and pitfalls of plant-based diets, as well as how to overcome those pitfalls.To assess the nutritional adequacy of various plant-based diets and how to modify those diets to ensure nutritional adequacy.To explain why there is conflicting research with regard to plant-based diets and stroke risk, bone health, and mental health.

This course will review different types of vascular dementias that include Alzheimer’s disease and how diagnosis is made using clinical and lab data. It will include clinician-friendly assessments and exercises using different tools to measure global cognition that including the Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and St. Louis Mental Status (SLUMS). Learning Objectives:Different types of vascular dementiasHow an Alzheimer’s Diagnosis is madeThe current conventional therapies for ADTo understand new imaging technologies How current interventions that are being evaluated in clinical trialOutcomes of major intervention studies

Autoimmune diseases are the third leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the industrialized world, surpassed only by cancer and heart disease. According to Fred Miller, director of the Environmental Autoimmunity Group at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, autoimmune diseases are now recognized as among the leading causes of death for young and middle-aged women in the United States. What more, prevalence rates for some of these illnesses are rising for what Miller says must largely be environmental reasons.

This presentation will explain how metabolic syndrome, prediabetes and frank diabetes become key underlying causes for SIBO and other GI disorders. The influences of lipopolysaccharides from overgrown flora, autonomic neuropathy, hepatic insulin resistance, effects of hyperglycemia and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis on upper GI transit. SS-L will use example cases to show his approach to diabetes treatment and management.  Pharmaceuticals to be discussed include: Metformin, berberine, allicin, oregano, ginger and neem will be discussed with regards to diabetes, insulin resistance and SIBO.

This presentation covers natural options that clinicians have for providing post-surgery care to their patients. Focus is given to herbal treatments that can reduce inflammation and pain associated with recovery from surgery.

1 in 7 mothers experience postpartum depression. Between 5-10% of women will develop postpartum thyroiditis in the first year postpartum. Mothers are deeply struggling with health issues while also trying to care for their young babies. As a mother myself, I experienced the struggle which is why I have developed my Postpartum Wellness Protocol. As naturopathic doctors we are in a unique position to help women feel balanced and healthy on their motherhood journey. In this presentation you will learn effective ways to support postpartum women in your practice including lab work and breastfeeding-safe herbs and supplements.

Organ reserve was first was described in the 80s by Dr. James Fries after seeing the significant variability in function in geriatric populations. Defined as innate and environmentally induced modes of favorable adaption that lead to extended cellular defense as well as physical and cognitive function, this construct is not just about genes. Environmental exposures such as diet and medicinal plants appear to play a significant role in extending functional capacity. Unfortunately, the paradigm of organ reserve is poorly understood in clinical therapeutics four decades later. We discuss this insightful and clinically relevant model and the implications of the trophorestorative plants that may preserve our reserve and induce the ability of organs to successfully return to their original physiological state following repeated episodes of biochemical, physical and emotional stress.

While much of the medical community is learning about the cannabinoids, the Cannabis industry itself has been enamored by the terpenes, specifically the mono and sesquiterpenes, with good reason. Many of the terpenes are known to be psychotropic, alter pharmacokinetics and potentially enhance the pharmacodynamic of the cannabinoids. The current understanding of chemovars, is arguably about terpene profiles rather than cannabinoid profiles, and these profiles offer a better understanding of indica vs. sativa differences than supposed speciation.

The gluten-free diet is a frequent staple in a practitioner’s list of modalities to use for a myriad of conditions. “Try a gluten-free diet” or “go gluten-free” has become a common phrase heard even between friends and neighbors, nutritionists and bloggers. However, a gluten-free diet (GFD) is a medical prescription for celiac disease. When prescribing a GFD prior to thoroughly testing for celiac disease, a practitioner is unwittingly denying that patient a chance at revealing the root cause of symptoms and a life-long/permanent systems-damaging inflammatory autoimmune process with grave associated repercussions. We wouldn’t ask a non-type 1 diabetic to “try insulin” – it’s inappropriate. As conscientious practitioners, the medical community needs to be diagnosing celiac disease appropriately, or thoroughly ruling it out, prior to prescribing a GFD. Dr. Shaver presents the top reasons why prescribing a GFD is unethical in the absence of first performing thorough testing for celiac disease, from high risks of developing other unidentified autoimmune diseases to repercussions amid an entire family tree, to increase risks for cancers in celiacs who continue undiagnosed

Herbalists, naturopaths and traditional healers have all understood the power of bitters to support digestion, ease bloating and gas. Now, new models and research point to the possibility that bitters have a much wider role in health and disease. Could chronic thyroid disease, heart disease, metabolic disease, and diabetes be a bitter deficiency? Is our aversion to bitter foods and herbs hurting our health? This talk covers the emerging theories and describes a new world of activity for the most ancient of tastes.