URGENT SKEPTIC ALERT: Two conferences to attend to

I only just came across the announcements for two conferences that made me almost speachless:

No 1 Homeopathy in Cancer Care – Aug. 29, 2024

Hosted by the newly formed Special Interest Group (SIG) on Research in Homeopathy in Cancer Care, this webinar aims to shed light on the role of homeopathy in cancer care, focusing on both its research status and practical applications in supportive treatment.

Supportive and palliative care are pivotal components of cancer treatment, offering avenues to enhance quality of life and potentially extend survival rates. Homeopathy emerges as a prominent integrative modality embraced by patients worldwide, notably in Europe, India, and Latin America. Despite varying perspectives on its efficacy, homeopathy’s emphasis on empathic listening and its unique approach to symptom management garner significant attention.

In the United States, homeopathy’s popularity surged during the 1990s, with over 5 million people reported to have used it by 2015. While some attribute its effects to a placebo response, clinical studies suggest tangible benefits in cancer care, particularly in alleviating symptoms like fatigue, anxiety, and hot flashes. Homeopathy is one of the leading integrative oncology modalities in Europe. Observations from France reveal that homeopathy supplements conventional treatments in about 30% of cancer patients, yielding notable improvements in symptomatology. Homeopathy was the most commonly used integrative therapy in cancer care in Belgium and in the top five in six other countries Turkey, Czech Republic, Sweden, Italy, Spain, and Greece. (Molassiotis 2005)

The speakers are:

Dr. Moshe Frenkel is a clinical associate professor at the University of Texas and founder of the Integrative Medicine Clinic, at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston Texas where he served as a full faculty until he returned to Israel in 2010. Up to 2014 Dr Frenkel was chairing the clinical practice committee of The Society of Integrative Oncology and was acting as the chair of The Israeli Society of Complementary Medicine (A section of The Israel Medical Association) until 2016.  Currently, Dr Frenkel is the medical director of the Integrative Oncology Service in RAMBAM Medical Center Oncology Department, a comprehensive oncology center and the largest in Northern Israel, as well as leading a feasibility study in homeopathy in cancer care.

Elio Rossi, MD will provide a brief overview of his practice and discuss symptom management, particularly focusing on radio dermatitis and leading homeopathic remedies that he utilizes. Director of the homeopathy outpatient clinic at the Campo di Marte public hospital in Lucca Italy, was established in 1998 and to date more than 7,500 patients have been consecutively examined. Of these 1100 are cancer patients who required an ‘integrated’ homeopathic treatment to reduce the adverse effects of anti-cancer therapies and improve their quality of life.  Works as a homeopathic doctor and expert in integrative medicine, collaborating with a local oncologist. Collaborated as Co-Chair, in the organization of many national and international congresses on Integrative Oncology (2017, 2019), specific sessions within other congresses organized in Italy (ECIM 2012 Florence, WCIMH 2023 Rome) and regional workshops, which have been attended by hundreds of CIM experts and oncologists.

Jean Lionel Bagot, MD will share insights from his practice, focusing on homeopathic remedies for fatigue and potential remedies for skin afflictions. A specialist in integrative cancer supportive care treatments in private practice as well as coordinating doctor of the Outpatients Department for Integrative Care in Groupe Hospitalier Saint Vincent Strasbourg, France; President of the International Homeopathic Society of Supportive Care in Oncology (SHISSO); Scientific officer of the French Society for Integrative Oncology (SFOI); Associated Member of the University College of Integrative and Complementary Medicine (CUMIC); Lecturer in the Medicine and Pharmacy Faculty in Strasbourg University.

Elizabeth Thompson, MD will have the opportunity to briefly describe her previous NHS practice and discuss symptom management, specifically addressing hot flushes and leading homeopathic remedies. Homeopathic Physician in NHS, NCIM Founder, CEO & Integrative Medicine Doctor, National Centre for Integrative Medicine (NCIM) www.ncim.org.uk, Chair, Integrative and Personalized Medicine Congress, London, June 2022. Past President ECIM 2021 and Board Member European Society Integrative Medicine, Council Member British Society of Integrative Oncology, Council Member College of Medicine.

No 2: “Pushing the Boundaries” Yes to Life Annual Conference 2024, 28th September

Integrative Medicine is a living, rapidly expanding science, with new understandings and potential being unveiled on a daily basis. This year’s conferences – one online in the Summer, and one in-person in the Autumn – share the title ‘Pushing the Boundaries’, as we have decided to devote them both to looking at the latest developments in Integrative Medicine, across the board. So that includes new techniques, new scientific understandings, and new applications for existing therapies, and you’ll be hearing fresh insights from some of your most trusted clinicians and scientists, and led into unfamiliar territory by pioneering speakers who may be as yet unfamiliar. The conferences are being co-created by Patricia Peat from Cancer Options and the Peat Institute and Yes to Life, with the aim of sending our audiences home with a wealth of resources on which to be able to draw for their own needs. Both events will be priced for accessibility, and the in-person Autumn Conference will include an extensive Exhibition that will offer yet more knowledge and resources to delegates.

The speakers are: