30 July 2008

Dear Members and Friends of ACNEM,

We hope this e-news finds you well. In this issue:

Warm regards,
Stephen, Michelle and Kathryn

New Mental Health STP and STPs for 2009
We are planning to hold a "Mental Health" STP in November (Gold Coast), most likely focusing on the nutritional/environmental basis for depression, anxiety and sleep disorders. Are there other areas of mental health you would you like to see addressed in the STP? Are there any great speakers on the subject you would like us to invite?

Looking ahead to next year, what STP topics and speakers would you like to see on the 2009 ACNEM calendar? To give you some ideas, recent STPs have included:

  • The Gut
  • Allergy and Autoimmune
  • Chelation
  • Application of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine
  • Children's Behaviour
  • Natural Hormone Management
  • Injectible Nutrients
  • Pain Management
  • Allergy
  • ADD/ADHD/ASD

Please send an email to mail@acnem.org with your suggestions. We'd love to hear from you. back to top

RACP Draft Guidelines for ADHD

The RACP recently released Draft "Guidelines on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)" and a call for submissions in response to the draft by 28 July. AIMA has submitted a response which ACNEM supports, however ACNEM will submit a further response by our extended deadline of 11 August.

You can read the draft guidelines here. The CAM section (Chapter 11) starts on page 153. It deals with:

  • Diet (elimination/restriction diets and essential fatty acid supplementation)
  • Chiropractic
  • Behavioural optometry
  • Biofeedback
  • Homeopathy
  • Cerebellar therapies
  • Exercise and meditation
  • Sensory integration interventions

Essentially, the problem seems to be that while the literature review in the guidelines is quite thorough, the one-line “recommendations” which will be quoted out of context in the media and elsewhere, are limited to only the approaches to ADHD that seemed to the researcher to be “proven”, which results in nutritional approaches to ADHD being summarised with a statement like, “Elimination and restriction diets may be of limited or no benefit in treating ADHD,” despite that the studies cited by the researcher also suggest that sodium benzoate and artificial food colourings increase hyperactivity.

There also appears to be inconsistency in the researcher’s recommendations based on the quality of the research evidence. For example, three small case-series studies, one each into yoga, meditation or Tai Chi resulted in the researcher recommending that, “Yoga and Tai Chi may be of some benefit in treating ADHD”.

Please send your comments on the guidelines to mail@acnem.org if you would like to contribute to the ACNEM response. Please ensure you provide references and the page number of the guidelines you are responding to. Otherwise, you may also like to request an extension from the RACP and submit your own response.

Thanks to the ACNEM member who also brought this to our attention. back to top

Upcoming Courses (see RACGP QA&CPD Points below)
With excellent numbers registered to attend the August courses in Sydney, it's time to think ahead to November and a great excuse to catch some sun on the Gold Coast. The Primary Course and each STP earn 40 Category 1 RACGP QA&CPD points.

August - Novotel Darling Harbour, Sydney

November - Holiday Inn, Surfers Paradise

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RACGP QA&CPD Points
Good news. Attending the Primary Course or one of the STPs now earns 40 Category 1 QA&CPD points. ACNEM is a fully accredited provider for the Triennium 2008-2010.

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14th International Holistic Health Conference
The popular annual AIMA Holistic Health Conference is being held at the Swiss-Grand Resort & Spa, overlooking Australia's most famous stretch of sand and surf at Bondi Beach, 19-21 September 2008.

Speakers include Senator Jan McLucas, Prof Wolfgang Koestler, Prof Ian Brighthope, Assoc Prof David Colquhoun and Prof John Murtagh.

The call for abstracts closes 31 July. Early bird conference pricing closes 15 August. Download the full program and registration form.

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NSW Public Health Amendment Regulation 2008
The NSW Department of Health has finalised a code of conduct for unregistered health professionals. The code contains a requirement that you:

  • Display a copy of the code
  • Display information on how to make a complaint

More information can be found on the NSW Health website here.

Thanks to the NHAA for this information. back to top

Clarification re Item Numbers
In the last e-news we highlighted the concerns of an ACNEM member about using VR content-based item numbers D44 and C36 for long consultations, suggesting the use of non-VR, non-content based item numbers 57 and 54 instead. Two other members kindly wrote in with clarifications on this issue:

  • "A VR doctor is not allowed to use non-VR items. You must either fulfil the requirements for items 36 and 44, or use item 23 and accept the loss of income or patient rebate."
  • "Non-VR, non-content based item numbers 57 and 54 item numbers can only be claimed by Non-VR doctors. The criteria for item numbers 36 and 44 for VR doctors can be viewed here."
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Bedside Reading

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Thank you to our Sponsors
ACNEM relies on the support of exhibitors at our training events. Some of these organisations have supported ACNEM for many years, through thick and thin, with the same passion for nutritional and environmental medicine our members and friends share. Special thanks go to the following organisations for their renewed support in the form of annual sponsorship of ACNEM:

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ACNEM has a non-endorsement policy and a level playing field for sponsoring organisations. Our guidelines for exhibitors and sponsors incorporate the RACGP sponsorship guidelines, with clear separation of educational and promotional content.

Journal Survey
In the most recent issue of the ACNEM Journal we included a member survey asking for your views about the Journal. If you haven't sent back your survey, please do that as soon as possible or just send an email to mail@acnem.org with your thoughts.

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Your e-news
We hope that you will help make this e-newsletter a valuable and anticipated arrival in your inbox. Please send us content you would like to share with other members and friends of ACNEM, such as links to news items, the latest research, politics, even comic relief.

Previous e-news issues

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Australasian College of Nutritional & Environmental Medicine Inc
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