NEWS

CHAPEL HILL -- The use of complementary, alternative and integrative medicine continues to increase, making it even more critical that health professionals know specifics of these therapies’ safety and effectiveness.

"The Fourth UNC Conference on Integrating Complementary and Alternative Medicine into Clinical Practice: Expanding Choices in Healing and Health Care," to be held Friday (March 14) and Saturday (March 15), will address this issue. This annual conference of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine’s Program on Integrative Medicine will be held at UNC’s William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education.

Renowned Harvard researcher Dr. David Eisenberg will deliver the keynote address. Other featured speakers include Joe Graedon and Dr. Terry Graedon from the nationally syndicated radio program "The People’s Pharmacy," homeopathic physician Dr. George Guess and Dr. Patricia Kane, an expert on essential fatty acids.

This year’s conference expands on previous meetings, organizers said. Previously, the focus was mostly on herbal and nutritional treatments, which are widely used and provide a strong foundation for exploring bodywork and massage; mind-body interventions such as meditation, hypnosis and biofeedback; and other systems of healing such as Ayurvedic medicine, organizers said.

"Integrative medicine combines the best practices of conventional, complementary and alternative medicine, and involves collaboration between health practitioners from all disciplines," said Dr. Susan Gaylord, program director. "These therapies view the patient as an integral part of the healing team, not a passive recipient of services."

The conference is presented by the Program on Integrative Medicine, in the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation, and is jointly sponsored by the schools of medicine, nursing and pharmacy, as well as the Institute of Nutrition at UNC.

Presentations will focus on clinical updates, successful models for creating integrative health care and roundtable luncheon discussions on specific topics of interest in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, nutrition and public health policy.

Registrants will choose lunchtime roundtable discussions led by conference faculty and other practitioners on topics including research, cancer treatment and prevention, nutrition and low-carbohydrate diets, and health policy and legislation.

Friday evening will feature a "Meet the Presenters" reception, sponsored by Whole Foods.

Eisenberg is director of the Osher Institute and the Division for Research and Education in Complementary and Integrative Medical Therapies, both at Harvard Medical School. He has conducted landmark studies in patient use of complementary and alternative medicine, published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"His research served as a wake-up call to physicians, health professionals and medical schools throughout the country, and has resulted in the dramatic increase in research, education, and integration of complementary and alternative medical therapies," said Dr. Doug Mann, director of clinical services for the Program on Integrative Medicine and director of the UNC Headache Clinic.

The UNC Program on Integrative Medicine works to integrate effective alternative and complementary therapeutic approaches into health-care practice by promoting research, education, clinical activities and community collaboration within the School of Medicine, campuswide and statewide.

The program is one of the first five recipients of a National Institutes of Health grant to integrate complementary and alternative medicine education for students, health professionals and community practitioners.

For more information on the conference, click on www.med.unc.edu/cme/crslist.htm. Walk-in registrants are welcome.

For more information about the UNC Program on Integrative Medicine, click on http://pim.med.unc.edu/ or call (919) 966-8586.

- 30 -

School of Medicine contact: Rebekah Butler, (919) 843-3437 or rbutler@unch.unc.edu