MICHAEL W. SMITH, M.D.

Herbal Medications in Psychiatry
Monday, February 26

Herbal medications have been used for the treatment of illness for thousands of years.  Herbal medication has been identified at Neanderthal archeological sites as well as homo sapien sites in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Mesoamerica, and China.  The first “Physicians Desk Reference” was compiled by a Chinese emperor more than 5,000 years ago, and contained instructions on how to select, prepare, and administer thousands of herbal remedies, for a number of ailments including mental illness.  In addition to the treatment of mental illness, two of these herbs (rauwolfia and ololiuqui) also played a significant part in the development of the dopamine and serotonin theories of schizophrenia.  Many cultures continue to rely upon these medications for their health needs.  More recently, Americans have rediscovered and are using these alternative treatments, including herbal medications as either a sole or concurrent treatment in increasing numbers.  This trend is of special concern for several reasons,  including the lack of testing and monitoring of the toxic potential of these agents, especially in combination with other medications, as well as a general lack of knowledge about their effectiveness in the treatment of certain disorders.  As providers of mental health care, it is essential that we understand the beneficial and toxic qualities of these preparations.  In this lecture we will discuss the epidemiology, therapeutic and toxic properties of these herbal medications, with a special focus on Gingko, Kava, St. Johns Wort, and Valerian.

Dr. Michael Smith is Associate Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA, and psychiatrist at Harbor UCLA Medical Center.  His current research is in cultural psychiatry at the Research Center on the Psychobiology of Ethnicity in Torrance, California.   

Location: Pickford Auditorium, Bauer Center, Claremont McKenna
Time: Public lecture 5:00 - 6:00 PM
Dinner-discussion: 6:30 - 7:30 PM (limited to registered faculty members)  

References:

Abstract available Medline

ADRIAN FURNHAM, D.Phil., D.Sc., D.Litt.

Why do People Choose CAM?
Monday, March 19

This presentation will consider various medical, psychological and sociological explanations for why people seek out and pay for a variety of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) treatments despite the lack of evidence that they are effective.  It will consider the biomedical, complementary, progressive and postmodern perspective on CAM. It will start by considering how modern orthodox medicine has and has not adapted to consumer changes and demands. It will then consider how patients, doctors and medical students see various specialities in CAM.  Finally the results of various cross-sectional studies will be reported which examines how the beliefs, behaviours, expectations and values of CAM patients differ from those (equivalent samples) who consult their general practitioner.  Implications for both research and practice are considered.

Dr. Furnham is Professor of Psychology in the University College London.  He has been cited as one of the most productive European psychologist in the 1990's and second most productive psychologist in the world, 1985-1995.  Author of 30 books including Complementary Medicine, Culture Shock, The Economic Mind, The Protestant Work Ethic, Psychology of Money, Personality at Work among others.  Professor Furnham authored 400 peer-reviewed scientific papers in international scientific journals, and contributed various popular pieces in newspapers. He is an outstanding academician, consultant on organizational behaviour, writer and broadcaster.

Location: Edwards Auditorium, Galileo Hall, Harvey Mudd College
Time: Public lecture 5:00 - 6:00 PM
Dinner-discussion: 6:30 - 7:30 PM (limited to registered faculty members)

References:

THOMAS J. KIRESUK, Ph.D.

Overview of Alternative Medicine Research
 in the Treatment of Addictions
Monday, March 26

The goal of this presentation is to provide basic information for a) researchers and practitioners unfamiliar with CAM for the treatment of substance abuse, b) clinicians so they may answer questions of patients who are using or interested in using CAM therapies, and c) clinicians considering treatment alternatives for patients who have special needs and for whom traditional therapies have been ineffective or unacceptable. To this end, a review will be made of several of the most frequently utilized or promising therapies such as acupuncture, biofeedback, and nutrition. For each modality, a brief description will be followed by a summary of the current state of science. Some of the primary debates and questions facing both researchers and practitioners will be presented.

Dr. Kiresuk is Professor of Health Psychology at the University of Minnesota Medical School; Director of the Center for Addiction and Alternative Medicine Research; Chief Clinical Psychologist of the Hennepin County Medical Center; Director of the Program Evaluation Resource Center, Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation. He has had experience in a wide variety of human service program and treatment evaluation including medical, mental health, and substance abuse, penitentiary medicine, services to victims of personal violence, and federally funded University/Industry Centers. He is probably best known for his work in the development of individualized treatment outcome measurement. Dr. Kiresuk has been Principal Investigator and Evaluator on twenty-one national grants and contracts, and twenty-three state and county evaluation research projects.

ROBERT H. SCHNEIDER, M.D.

Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease with Maharishi Vedic Medicine: Review of Controlled Clinical Research
Monday, April 2

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the number one cause of death and disability in the US despite recent advances in modern medical and surgical interventions. Current data indicate that CVD is largely attributable to modifiable factors, such as diet, exercise, hypertension, smoking, and psychosocial stress.  Because of the inadequacies of conventional medical approaches, there is growing public and professional interest in traditional systems of natural medicine for the prevention and treatment of CVD.

Preliminary studies conducted by our NIH NCCAM-supported Center for Natural Medicine and Prevention and others indicate that traditional Vedic medicine approaches can reduce CVD risk factors, surrogate markers, and associated morbidity and mortality in high risk individuals. Controlled clinical studies have found that the meditation approach of Vedic medicine (Transcendental Meditation) is associated with reduced hypertension, smoking, oxidized lipids, psychosocial stress, exercise-induced myocardial ischemia, carotid atherosclerosis, and CVD and all-cause mortality. Other Vedic medicine therapies, including traditional herbal preparations now widely used in the West have shown in vitro, in vivo, and clinical evidence for reduced lipid oxidation, platelet aggregation and atherosclerotic plaque formation.

Professor Robert H. Schneider, M.D., is a physician, scientist, educator, and internationally renowned leader in the field of natural medicine.  Dr. Schneider is board-certified in public health and general preventive medicine and is a specialist in clinical hypertension. He is Dean of the College of Maharishi Vedic Medicine at Maharishi University of Management and Director of the Center for Natural Medicine and Prevention.

He has authored or co-authored 100 scientific papers on the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular and other chronic diseases. Over the past ten years, Dr. Schneider has been the Principal Investigator of grants from the National Institutes of Health and private foundations totaling $18 million to conduct research and demonstration projects on the Transcendental Meditation program and Maharishi Vedic Medicine for the treatment and prevention of hypertension, cardiovascular disease and aging.  This includes the most recent award of $8 million by the NIH-National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine to establish the first research center specializing in natural preventive medicine for minorities in the U.S.

Location: Pickford Auditorium, Bauer Center, Claremont McKenna
Time: Public lecture 5:00 - 6:00 PM
Dinner-discussion: 6:30 - 7:30 PM (limited to registered faculty members)

MARIO INCAYAWAR, M.D., M.Sc.

Psychiatric Case Identification Skills of Quichua Healers
Monday, April 9

This study conducted among the Quichuas of Otavalo (highlands of Northern Ecuador) explores the concept of llaqui and investigates the Western psychiatric and medical diagnoses of 50 patients suffering from this Quichua illness category.  Ten healers participated in the study during 18 months, in the identification and recruitment of patients with llaqui.  The clinical evaluation (physical and psychiatric), including the administration of Zung's depression scale indicates that patients labeled with llaqui are suffering from mental disorders and physical diseases.  Eighty-two percent of patients made the DSM III-R criteria for depressive disorders; 44% for somatoform disorders; and 40% for anxiety disorders.  Some 80% of them were also suffering from infectious and parasitic diseases.  Nobody suffering from llaqui was perfectly normal in Western medical or psychiatric terms.  It is suggested that Quichua healers have excellent skills for identifying psychiatric cases in the community.  The healers’ diagnostic abilities could be useful in epidemiological and public health programs as well as the provision of clinical services in poor countries, like Ecuador.

Dr. Mario Incayawar is a Quichua physician, educator, and researcher interested in Amerindian mental health, pain and ethnicity, and cultural adaptation of medical services.  He is the Henry R. Luce Professor in Brain, Mind, and Medicine: Cross-Cultural Perspectives at Pitzer, Claremont McKenna and Harvey Mudd Colleges and Director of Runajambi (Institute for the Study of Quichua Culture and Health).  He completed his medical school in Quito, Ecuador and graduate training in Montreal, Canada.  He has authored 50 papers in medical education.  In the past several years, he completed research on “llaqui” (depression) and pain experiences among Quichua communities in the Andes.  Currently, he is engaged in a research project entitled “Screening Clinically Promising Healing Practices among Native Americans of California,” a study supported by a Faculty Fellowship from the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation.

FAYEZ K. GHISHAN, M.D.

Alternative Pediatric Nutrition in Health and Disease
Monday, April 16

Nutrition is one of the most fundamental areas of importance to allow the healthy growth and development of children.  This lecture will: (1) define principles of nutrition throughout the infancy, toddler and adolescent years; (2) discuss the nutrition and its role in the prevention of disease as it relates to functional foods and (3) discuss the nutritional management of disease states in pediatric patients.  Finally, the area of alternative nutrition management of pediatric disorders including management of failure to thrive, malabsorption syndrome, and inflammatory bowel disease will be discussed.

Dr. Ghishan is Professor of Pediatrics and Physiology and  Head of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Arizona.  He is Director of the Steele Memorial Children’s Research Center.  Recently, he founded the Pediatric Center for Complementary/Alternative Medicine with a grant from the National Institutes of Health. The center is investigating the role of alternative approaches to three very common pediatric problems, including recurrent abdominal pain, otitis media, and cerebral palsy. Dr Ghisahn has authored  164 refereed papers on physiology and pediatrics.

Location: Avery Auditorium, Pitzer College
Time: Public lecture 5:00 - 6:00 PM
Dinner-discussion: 6:30 - 7:30 PM (limited to registered faculty members)

References: