New York City is one of my favorite places, so when I was informed by Henry Erlich that this conference was being held in the Big Apple, there was no hesitation in buying a plane ticket.
The conference was this past weekend, May 13th-14th. I was only able to attend the primary day. However there was plenty of information to be absorbed. My main reason for going was to hear the prestigious and awe-inspiring Dr. Xiu-Min Li spill her knowledge on allergic disease, ASHMI, and her take on Red Skin Syndrome. She will be one of the doctors I humbly get to interview for the documentary this summer, and I am stoked! Such an amazing woman whose research I know will change the way we treat eczema in the next decade. I see a Nobel Prize in her future.
Dr. Li has a phenomenal opportunity while working at Mount Sinai, bringing together both Western and Eastern medicine in a clinical setting. No Western doctor will be able to deny her results and her rigorous efforts to show how wonderful Traditional Chinese Medicine can be (and is!) for our growing allergy and eczema problems.
Besides Dr. Li, there were a plethora of doctors participating, some even flying all the way from China. We had headphones and a translator present in order to understand everyone speaking.
At the bottom, I will be posting a video of Dr. Li’s talk and all that I was able to film. Sadly, I was told we couldn’t video anything so I wasn’t prepared. It was only very late the night before that I was told I was misinformed. I did my best filming with my heavy camera and old phone while trying to listen. It’s a bit shaky, so I apologize. It had been down pouring that day, which soaked my shoes, so most of the conference I was bare foot, attempting to sit on my feet in hopes of warming them up in that already frigid auditorium room.
But here are a few highlights from the conference:
1st Speaker: Susan Weissman
Her son, Eden, had horrific allergies, asthma, and skin problems. She found Western medicine was not helping their son improve. She is an avid promoter of Dr. Li’s work and is happy to say her son is finally able to enjoy life because of her protocol. She is the author of Feeding Eden, a memoir about raising Eden with all of his serious health problems. I think the most profound thing she mentioned was her question to Western medicine doctors: “How do we treat the entity of allergic disease?” Medicine seems to be extremely narrow-minded instead of looking at the body (or a condition) as a whole.
2nd Speaker: Dr. Xiu-Min Li
She gave a brief oration before her longer one at the end of the conference. The merit of her work is astounding and she emphasized how necessary it was to be able to show how TCM brings results that Western doctors can believe in and not have them be able to dispute them as “false” or “not supported.” All of her work has to be proven through science.
4th Speaker: Shi-Ming Jin, MS
*Apologies since I skip over a few speakers* I loved how she spoke about how the integrative world is striving to be more innovative and adaptive to Western world medicine in hopes of showing how TCM is helpful and important in giving patients relief.
8th Speaker: Jing Li, PhD, FDA Botanical Review Team
Basically, there are FDA guidelines/guidance for using botanicals (herbs) in medicine. They are tested in clinical trials just the same as Western medicine, so they are treated equally. It can not be written off. A demonstration of quality control was given, and how they wish to minimize any chemical, biological and pharmacological variations to obtain consistent drug substances.
10th Speaker: Ke Xing Sun
He gave a speech about how using TCM is about keeping harmony in health with our whole body working together as a unit. We are individual people with individual needs, something Western medicine does not always provide. We should be more patient-centered with medicine. He also advocated health in daily life, reiterating how prevention is key.
11th Speaker: Arya Neilson, PhD
*She was a stellar speaker* She deals with acupuncture and the benefits it can give to certain patients, even those with eczema. One of the most interesting things was how this type of treatment post-surgery can help with opiod sparing since we, in the US, take up the vast percentage of opiod use around the globe. Opiod abuse it sky high and having this available is quite a remarkable treatment. Acupuncture is now even included by Western doctors in some therapies! When it comes to allergies and eczema, there was a study done to show how dust mite IgE levels were down regulated after using acupuncture, and how itching was reduced in eczema patients. However, acupuncture is more of a rescue therapy for patients and herbs should come first in eczema treatment. (She is featured on the video)
12th Speaker: Scott Sicherer, MD
He spoke eloquently about his field in allergy/immunology in babies and what could be causing such an exponential climb in allergies these past few decades. No one is for certain, but he feels having exposure to the skin could be a factor. For some reason, there has been found to be peanut dust inside of homes, which is where skin contact could become an issue. If babies have eczema, they are at a higher risk for allergies. He would use oral immunotherapy to try and desensitize the allergy, hoping to eradicate or raise the threshold. Scott touched upon using biologics (omalizumab) for some cases for 20-22 weeks (it’s an anti-IgE), but he says it doesn’t mean it’s going to be any more effective (just perhaps speeds the process).
14th Speaker: Rachel Miller, MD
Rachel continued to speak on allergies and issues in infants and children, focusing a bit on pregnant woman. She showcased how if a pregnant woman is under stress, her child is more likely to have wheezing. She also explained how methylation and DNA does play a role in some of these areas and how Dr. Xui-Min Li’s protocol, ASHMI, has shown good results in pregnant mothers.
16th Speaker: Anna Nowak-Wegryzn, MD
She gave a very in-depth speech about allergies and infant treatment. When she mentioned starting oral tolerance as early as 1 year old, a question popped into my mind. If we can detect and start to treat allergies at that age, why is it that Western doctors are so quick to lather steroids on a baby, but claim they can not test for allergies until about 3 years old? That’s something that I feel should be addressed. When it comes to peanut allergies, she said she personally thinks using boiled peanuts instead of baked are safer to use for desensitization without losing efficacy.
** Funny side note** Dr. Xiu-Min Li came up and asked a question during Q&A. She asked it in Chinese, and the speaker answered back in Chinese. Everyone asked what was said so Dr. Li offered to translate. She started to do the translation, but didn’t realize she was still speaking in Chinese, so someone stopped her. She didn’t realize she wasn’t speaking English. We all had a laugh.
18th Speaker: Julie Wang, MD
She spoke about a drug trial (See pics below)
20th Speaker: Dr. Kamal Srivastava, PhD
One of his best and to the point notes was that IgE is central to the pathology of allergic disease. Another subject he touched on was FAHF-2, which is another herbal formula much like Dr. Li’s ASHMI. Berberine, an herb, is the most potent at reducing IgE levels, and can even help lower glucose. However, it is very badly absorbed taken orally, so they are trying to make it more effective (perhaps, adding to a molecule).
22nd Speaker: Dr. Ying Song, MD
23rd Speaker: Anne Maitland, MD, PhD
She studies Mast Cell Activation Disorders. Anne used the Great Wall of China as an analogy, how it’s not always effective for keeping the bad out. Mast cells can release different things, like histamine or tryptase, and just like a police call, you want to send the correct team out to help for the correct situation. She also touches on how when we figured out how to decrease certain bacterial-based diseases (like Measles), hypersensitivity disorders increased (like allergies). Naps, apparently, are something we need more of to help with stress (which I totally agree!).
24th Speaker: Julia Wisniewski, MD
She spoke about our skin barrier and how we shouldn’t use alkaline soap on baby skin. The best thing she mentioned however was that at the latest AAD meeting, she saw a slide that said steroids do, in fact, have the ability to cause allergic reactions in patients. Near the end, she spoke about Vit D and how it’s definitely important for our bodies.
The last two speakers were Tiffany Camp Watson, the mother who gave her testament about using Dr. Li’s protocol, and then Dr. Xiu-Min Li herself! They are both on the YouTube video speaking. Most of the video is of Dr. Li speaking. After 6:30 mins, it is all Dr. Li and her presentation.
I hope this was informative and I can’t wait to have all my equipment in to shoot these upcoming interviews! 2.5 weeks to go!
Torrin Bennett
Preventable: Protecting Our Largest Organ 