An informative session, Professor Kylie O’Brien displayed her expertise in nutritional health, integrative medicine and Chinese medicine with a thorough and thought-provoking presentation. The core concepts of health and how we manage illness were brought under new light with thanks to Kylie’s knowledge of Chinese medicinal practises and her ongoing work in the sector.
We were also privileged to host John Easterling who provided a briefing on the work he is doing in the US on the medicinal properties of cannabis and an array of other integrative medicines and methods of wellbeing.
Providing food for thought and practical measures we can all take to look after ourselves in lockdown, this session was a stimulating way to end the series.
Some useful links mentioned in the presentation:
Some key takeaways from the session:
- Australians are already practising integrative medicine with almost 70% of Australians using some form of complementary medicine.
- What are the key pillars of Health?
- Nutrition and diet, sleep, physical activity and environmental factors.
- An estimated 30-35% of cancer related deaths are linked with diet.
- The importance of physical activity cannot be understated in reducing the risks of developing cancer.
- Physical activity also a great form of social therapy – a huge part that we are missing with COVID-19 lockdown.
- Important to frame health as a spectrum and multidimensional. Push for a broader and deeper understanding of what health means in our healthcare sector.
- Chinese medicine describes humans in terms of an integrated whole – where there is illness – there is a loss of balance.
- Studies have shown the benefits of various vitamins and nutrients on severe illnesses., ie. milk thistle reducing the toxicity of chemotherapy.
- Study done into Vitamin D and treating COVID-19 in Spain shows promising signs.
- Integration and Chinese medicine can enhance clinical outcomes in COVID-19 cases.
- Shanghai medical association expert consensus on Comprehensive treatment of coronavirus disease.
- Key therapeutic methods of enhancing the qi (CM) is the equivalent of enhancing immune function (Western medicine).
- Cannabis sativa has over 750 different secondary metabolites responsible for its health benefits.
- Hemp seed has numerous health benefits – can be found in a number of Swisse products.
- The medicinal cannabis and hemp industry is a huge growth industry in Australia.
- There is appetite with Chinese TCM companies that want to get involved with Federal/Victorian government, but the barriers remain high. This could change over time.
Thank you for joining us on this journey into health and cross-border medical collaboration. Be sure to check out the Australia China Health Accelerator and Swisse Wellness to stay updated on the sector.