The Physicians Committee Hosts Global Medical Conference to Show Doctors How to Treat Chronic Disease with a Plant-Based Prescription

WASHINGTON—The fourth-annual International Conference on Nutrition in Medicine, accredited by the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, provides more than 700 health care providers, from 25 countries, with the knowledge and skills to effectively prescribe a dietary intervention in the clinical setting.

The two-day CME conference, which takes place at the Grand Hyatt, occurs at a time when heart disease remains the largest killer worldwide and when spending for chronic disease will nearly triple to $6 trillion by 2050 if solutions remain stagnant. Dietary risk factors surpass gun violence, infectious disease, and other lifestyle risk factors, including smoking, alcohol, and drug use—combined—as the leading cause of death in the United States.

“As physicians, our job is to save lives,” says conference host Neal Barnard, M.D., F.A.C.C. “When it comes to diet-related disease, we know where to start: Plant-based prescriptions.”

Gerald Shulman, M.D., Ph.D., Kit Petersen, M.D., and Kevin Hall, Ph.D., will discuss the link between dietary patterns and the risk for obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease, while Stephen O’Keefe, M.D., M.Sc., Meghan Jardine, M.S., M.B.A., R.D., L.D. C.D.E., and Christina Warinner, Ph.D., provide further insight about dietary choices to support the microbiome.

Other topics include carcinogens in our food supply, diet and cognitive decline, and new models for integrating nutrition into primary medical care.

“Nutrition is the new medicine,” adds Dr. Barnard. “A plant-based diet builds immunity against today's deadliest diseases. Plant-based prescriptions should be a part of every medical practice.”

Watch the conference live, between 1:15 and 3:45 p.m. E.T. on Friday, July 29, at https://live.hosted.events/ICNM.

Follow the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at #ICNM16 and #PlantBasedRx.

To attend the International Conference on Nutrition in Medicine or to interview a panelist, please contact  JMcVey [at] pcrm.org (Jeanne Stuart McVey), Media Relations Manager, 202-527-7316, 202-686-2210, ext. 316.

###

About the International Conference on Nutrition in Medicine:

The fourth-annual International Conference on Nutrition in Medicine in Medicine (ICNM), hosted by the Physicians Committee and accredited by the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, takes place July 29 to 30, 2016, at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C.