The Society of Progressive Medical Education (SOPMed) held it’s annual conference in San Diego, California. There was an incredible array of speakers covering a multitude of topics, including dental health, detoxification, cardiac health, a vision for the future of health care, improving animal health with ozone and fecal transplants, breast cancer prevention, healing the blood brain barrier, deuterium depleted water and curing chronic disease.

Stuart Nunnally, DDS

The Teeth and Nothing but the Teeth So Help Me God

Since the days of Westin Price, DDS, in the early 1900s, the link between dental toxicities and systemic health have been scientifically correlated. Yet, both traditionally trained and integratively trained physicians often overlook dentistry as a key factor during the diagnostic workup. This lecture focused on four simple questions that every practitioner should ask during a patient’s initial exam with regard to the relationship between the patient’s dentistry and systemic health status. The four simple questions are:

1. Have you ever had root canal treatment?
2. Have you ever had a tooth extracted?
3. Have you ever had dark looking fillings in your teeth?
4. Do you see a holistically minded dentist?

These questions alone will often revel whether a patient’s dental issues are contributing to demise in the patient’s health. All too often the practitioner will find there is a strong correlation between a patient’s oral health and systemic health, and occasionally the practitioner will be led to the conclusion that it is “the teeth and nothing but the teeth, so help me God.”

Chris Shade, PhD

Beyond Detox: Integrating Autophagy into Detoxification Protocols for Clearing and Rebuilding Damaged Cells and Increasing Mitochondrial Density

Blending traditional drainage pathways with Nrf2 and AMPK upregulation is now becoming accepted as an efficient functional path for detoxification. However, the next level of detoxification will incorporate mTOR regulation in order to engage autophagy and mitophagy to not only clear toxins, but also clear damaged organelles. This path has the capability to increase mitochondrial density and powerfully reset damaged signaling paths. Effectively engaging these mechanisms requires incorporating dietary control along with supplementation. In a good state of health the liver detoxes the blood and eliminates via the bile. When this pathway is disturbed by leaky gut, stress, endotoxin contamination, the toxins can be channeled back into the blood stream, reverse directionality, causing rashes, itching, or brain fog. Bitters and charcoal are examples of supplements which help reset the liver cycle and regenerate the tissue.

Robert Dennis, PhD

From Brain to Pelvis: Innovating with PEMF for focal treatment of TBI, incontinence and other diseases

With more than 50 years of research, decades of successful clinical use, FDA approval of some PEMF-based products, the demonstrated ability of PEMF to [regulated words deleted] a diverse range of otherwise very challenging or untreatable medical conditions, and more than a thousand scientific papers, PEMF remains marginalized by mainstream medicine. Moving forward Dr. Dennis discussed recent developments in our understanding of the use and long-term impact of PEMF for several challenging and otherwise underserved applications. It is a great adjunct therapy to be used alongside chiropractic, nutritional counselling, acupuncture, laser therapy, stem cell therapy, LED light therapy, naturopathy, or ozone therapy.

Stephen Sinatra, MD

Metabolic Cardiology: The New Emerging Frontier

The importance of supporting energy production in heart cells and the preservation of the mitochondria in these cells is the focus of a new frontier in cardiovascular prevention, treatment and management. Since most physicians are not trained to look at heart disease in terms of cellular biochemistry, the challenge in any metabolic cardiology discussion is taking the conversation from the “bench to the bedside.” An understanding of the vital role that ATP plays in the heart is critical for any physician or clinician considering therapeutic options that support ATP production and turnover in jeopardized cardiac muscle cells.

Metabolic therapies that help cardiomyocytes meet their absolute need for ATP fulfill a major clinical challenge of preserving pulsatile cardiac function while maintaining cell and tissue viability. D-Ribose, L-carnitine, and coenzyme Q10 work in synergy to help the ischemic or hypoxic heart preserve its energy charge. This lecture introduced how ATP, diastolic heart function and metabolic supports help maintain cardiac energy by preserving ATP substrates which will not only improve quality of life but in many cases longevity, as well. Indeed Metabolic Cardiology offers new hope for anyone with moderate to advanced cardiovascular disease.

Participants learned the following:

• How the new triad of bioenergetic energy in cardiac health, Coenzyme Q10, L-carnitine and D-ribose, can help prevent and overcome heart disease, and the important contribution these energy-supplying nutrients make in people’s lives.
• The history of Coenzyme Q10 as a vital nutrient in the heart.
• The complex role of energy and the heart.
• How targeted nutraceuticals can help people survive heart disease and “buy time” for intrinsic stem cell support.
• How mitochondrial defense is a cardinal factor in cardiac dysfunction and age management.

Zach Bush, MD

We Are the Future of Health Care

A comprehensive model for national healthcare has been eluding the brightest minds in every category of industry stake holders: insurance, hospital, legislative, academic, VCs, etc. Our three trillion-dollar annual disease crisis is sinking all sectors of our unsustainable system. Now 46% of our children have a chronic disease diagnosis, and our farmers are predicting only 60 viable harvests left in our country, the time is now.

An amazing opportunity now sits before the integrative medicine community. Dr. Bush proposed a new model for networking independent clinics of all specialties, MD, ND, DO, DDS, DC, Ancestral, energetic, and beyond. The network will be powered by a unifying health optimization curriculum and tracking for patient outcomes and is backed by a self-insurance system with an optional tax-free, non-fiat economy. Each clinic becomes its own node of clinical excellence for Integrative Medicine, the network identifying disease specific therapeutic successes that can be taught and scaled to all participating clinics. The first national training and think tank center will launch January 2020 in West Palm Beach, FL. This lecture will be the first public unveiling, and participation will build the foundation for a viable future for our species. This is not going to be subtle.

Margo Roman, DVM

Combining Microbiome Restorative Therapy and Ozone to Successfully Treat Chronic and Acute Diseases

MBRT is the use of donor fecal for transplant into the gut of animals. Ozone can enhance the success of Micro Biome Restorative Therapy MBRT. Healthy fecal transplants can help animals, like humans, with certain medical conditions and chronic diseases that have developed from or exacerbated by damage to the microbiome. Damage resulting from exposure to antibiotics and other drugs, environmental chemicals, and poor diet can weakened immune system. Medical conditions and diseases include parvo, giardia, Lyme, irritable bowel, pancreatic insufficiency, Cancer, kidney and liver failure, and allergies. Ozone therapy can also assist in the removal of the biofilm in the gut, important for restoration and better outcomes. For over 40 years, Dr. Roman has practiced integrative and functional veterinarian medicine, healing animals with a variety of successful treatments and therapies. She has completed more than 7,000 MBRT and over 40,000 ozone treatments in animals and is a regarded veterinary leader in her field. Her clinic is the first to establish a Fecal Bank for cats and dogs. Dr. Roman discussed the work of her clinic in improving animal health and medical issues including behavior from aggressive to friendly. She included some new techniques in ozone therapy and UVBI used in animals.

Christine Horner, MD

Innovative, Natural Approaches to Breast Cancer Prevention

During this lecture and workshop, Dr. Horner expounded on how breast cancer prevention has changed during the last 10 years and gave practical information on what clinicians can do to make sure that they are providing the best information and treatment protocols to their patients.

She discussed many research-proven natural approaches – what to do and what not to do – that can dramatically protect against breast cancer and help women who have this disease improve their chances of surviving it. Participants learned over 30 new and improved life-saving dietary, supplements and lifestyle choices proven to be highly effective against the development and progression of breast cancer. This included eating organic food, taking turmeric, drinking green tea, getting adequate sleep, reducing stress, monitoring hormones, organic tofu consumption before puberty, drinking caffeine, taking supplements (selenium, omega 3, D3, Ginkgo biloba, and AHCC mushrooms).

Tom O’Bryan, DC

B4: Closing the Gates to Brain Deterioration

The mechanism fueling practically all degenerative disease is inflammation. At the cellular level, there is always a fire. The question is:

Is it gasoline or kerosene?

Is it a kidney cell or a brain cell?

When looking at the triggers of brain dysfunction, and what is it that is “fueling the fire” in the brain, as far as science has been able to determine, the vast majority of inflammation is caused by an immune response to invaders (antigens) from the blood and lymphatics getting into the brain. Those invaders get through the gates into the brain through a Breach of the Blood Brain Barrier (B4).

Most people have heard of “Leaky Gut.” This presentation addressed the latest research on the “Leaky Brain” and B4. Where does it come from? And what do to do to fix it? This information is of critical value with brain fog, Depression, Anxiety, Learning Difficulties, Attention Deficit, Autism, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, seizures, and many more. The science is ripe with information about B4 and its role as the “Gateway’ in the development of brain dysfunction.

Testing can be done by Vibrant Wellness Labs. People should be tested for Wheat Zoomer to determine wheat or gluten sensitivity. This test will also help identify leaky gut. In addition, the test called NeuroZoomer will identify brain inflammation. In reality, symptoms in the brain are similar to the “canary in the coal mines.” If there are brain symptoms there most likely is a breach in the Blood Brain Barrier. He has written a book called You Can Fix Your Brain to help describe all of the toxins and practices that can cause this breach. He identifies what a person can do to counteract these issues. The sad reality is that if a person has “leaky brain,” they most likely also have “leaky gut” and “leaky lung” and all of these issues need to be addressed to regain health.

Robert Slovak and Victor Sagalovsky

Deuterium Depleted Water

Deuterium Depleted Water could be the most profound biohacking discovery of our time. In DDS, an extra neutron is added to the nucleus naturally making a heavier water, being twice as heavy as pure water. DDW exists naturally in nature and appears in most waters at a density of 150 parts per million. Making DDW water involves imitating and amplifying the hydrological cycle. Fractional distillation rectification can accomplish this but involves massive investment, energy and time. DDW is commercially produced in only three countries, Romania, Hungary and Russia. They estimated that the total current world production of DDW can supply fewer than 50,000 people unfortunately. Deuterium was discovered in 1931. In the 1960s Russian researchers reported the first correlation of increased health and lifespan with light water. In the 1990s they discovered that deuterium was found to damage mitochondria and DNA but did not know how. We now know that deuterium damages the mitochondria by reducing ATP production and thus decreasing the bio-energetic capacity of the cell. This reduced energy promotes an accumulation of DNA errors as we age. DNA errors in transcription leads to apoptosis (cell death), mutation, and rise in neoplastic diseases.

Kristin Comella, PhD

Biohacking with Stem Cells: The Power to Heal is Inside You

Biohacking is a new field in which you can utilize modern technology to advance your health at the cellular level. The most amazing machine that has ever been made is the human body which has the potential to work for over a century without fail. We can improve the systems in the body with daily simple “hacks” and technological advances. Biohacking can include light therapy, magnetic therapy, combinations of food (at the molecular level), sleep remedies, stem cells and more. Tapping into your regenerative potential and healing naturally may obsolete many current techniques of surgery and pharmaceuticals. Regenerative processes can be enhanced in a variety of ways in the body ranging from simple diet/fasting techniques to biohacking therapies to out-patient surgical procedures. Biohacking is a revolutionary approach to both well-being and treating many degenerative conditions. Dr. Comella shared the advantages of maintaining and restoring normal tissue function by changing the course of aging. The future of health is here – the power to heal is inside you!

Jason West, ND

Hidden Secrets to Curing Chronic Disease

Participants learned the following:

• How to create medical miracles in their patient population
• It’s not just Dr. West saying it, he has hundreds of video testimonials of patients that have arthritis, Lyme, FMS, neurologic and auto‐immune cases that have been “cured.”
• How to create the patient experience so that they stay, pay and refer
• How to create a medical sales team within your clinic

Overview – the use of ultraviolet, oxidative, and regenerative medicine creates medical “miracles.” Dr. West shared 100 tips from a century of clinical practice. Course Content included the following points:

• Designing a practice that gives better patient outcomes
• Setting the table for an incredible patient experience (how to pre‐qualify patients)
• The most important patient visit
• Testing and evaluation on new patient visit for arthritis and chronic disease
• A quick review of functional blood chemistry
• Testing and labs
• Procedures in the office (regenerative injection therapy, ultraviolet therapy, autohemotherapy)
• Nutritional plans for health and recurring revenue
• How to achieve a staff full of medical salesperson
• Learn how to create successful associate relationships for ancillary health providers
• BONUS – learn how Dr. West has gotten insurance and business owners to pay 100% of the costs associated with his care.

The Society of Progressive Medical Education SOPMed 2019 Conference was a great success. For more information about SOPMed, what they do for outreach, and future events go to the SOPMed website.