Since I began practicing as a registered dietitian in 1986, I have had a strong belief that health can be impacted greatly by diet and lifestyle. Truly, this is the sole reason I’m still working at it! I worked in outpatient nutrition clinics, and at a HMO where I saw how regular nutrition counseling could impact health – particularly high cholesterol, blood pressure, and diabetes, as well as disordered eating issues. So imagine my delight when I was invited to speak at the 2013 Lifestyle Medicine conference: Treat the Cause Movement. I was honored to be asked to speak among some of the “greats” when it comes to lifestyle medicine. These are physicians and health care professionals who are ready to see some real change in health care – a system that supports both traditional medicine, and preventive medicine in its best form – Lifestyle Medicine!
The 2013 conference will take place in Washington DC on October 27-30. I’ll have the pleasure to sit on an expert panel on Sunday moderated by James M. Rippe, MD, with Michael D. Parkinson, MD, MPH, FACPM , Arthur Frank, MD , myself, Wayne Dysinger, MD, MPH, and Steven N. Blair, PED.
I’ll speak on Monday morning about “Nutrition Controversies” as part of a symposium that also covers exercise and why it’s so hard for people to lose weight. The conference will cover many important topics from diabetes management to brain health. Behavioral aspects of lifestyle change will be presented as well as the latest information about aging and heart disease. In addition, discussions will occur regarding the best way to deliver health care, both responsibly, effectively and economically (one of the reasons I switched tracks and moved to more nutrition writing, over counseling, is the difficultly with nutrition reimbursement and patient access to registered dietitians).
The conference is slated to be inspiring.
I’m sure I’ll have some interesting facts to share when I return! Stay tuned.
