Southwest Conference on Botanical Medicine 2023

Livestream Events on Zoom, March 24 – 26

All live events are recorded for later on-demand viewing for those who can’t attend online at the scheduled time.

Note: The information provided in this conference is a research resource for health professionals and is not intended to replace diagnosis and treatment by a qualified health care practitioner.

Pre-Conference Intensive with Eric Yarnell, ND, RH (AHG)

Title: Reclaiming Self: Herbs to Correct Autoimmunity
Date: Friday, 3/24/23
Time: 1:00 – 5:15 PM Arizona and Pacific Time on Zoom
Cost: $95
Open only to registered conference participants.
Continuing Education: 4 hours credit

• NDs: Approved for 2 pharmacy hours + 2 general hours (CNDA and SUHS and OBNM)
• Acupuncturists: 4 PDA (NCCAOM)
  • NEW! Intensive is now approved for AOM-BIO PDA
• Nurses: 3 Contact Hours (AHNA)

In this intensive, Eric Yarnell, ND, RH (AHG) discusses the role of herbs in helping counteract and reverse autoimmunity, the underlying cause behind many chronic and acute conditions. The focus is on the immunomodulating herbs, distinguishing them from the immunostimulant herbs, and clarifying the profound and potent (though gentle and slow) effects immunomodulators can have. The differences between these herbs and various immunosuppressive and biologic drugs for autoimmune diseases are considered, along with the problems with these drugs, including herb-drug interactions (positive and negative). Case examples from patients with complex autoimmune diseases are used to illustrate the practical implementation of the strategies presented.

Paul Bergner, Medical Herbalist
History and Clinical Uses of Eupatorium perfoliatum and Asclepias tuberosa
In the 1790s, some younger doctors of the Regular School of medicine (bloodletters) began advocating for the use of these two herbs in febrile illness and pneumonia as alternatives specifically for bloodletting.  Not the Thomsonians, the regular allopaths. Subsequently across the 1800, all schools of medicine used them as primary medicines.  Both were official in the US Pharamcopoeia throughout the 1800s. The British herbalists used them, and one Brit who is stated to have treated 10,000 patients using these herbs with others during the 1918 flu pandemic said he did not lose a patient. These two were also among the top herbs to treat influenza among the Eclectics in the US during the 1918 pandemic. Bring it up to today, and these two herbs are extremely valuable in COVID, and I have seen or have case reports on one or the other being a “game-changer” when introduced to an indivdual with long lingering symptoms. This would review the science on each herb, the history of use in medicine, and practical means of applying, with dose and form, and case studies from my own experience. This is appealing to me for how it intertwines medical history with practical therapeutics.

Paul Bergner, Medical Herbalist
Herbal Treasures from the National Formulary (NF) of 1906
The NF was the official listing of formulas for allopathic physicians and pharmacists at the turn of the 20th century. The NF of 1906 contains the most herbal formulas of all the various editions of the NF, and is available free online. The formulary demonstrates not only clinical pearl-type specific formulas for various systems and conditions, but also demonstrates methods of formulation at a high level of professional practice. Most herbalists and doctors today do not realize that the allopaths at the turn of the 20th century had some of the most extensive, complex, and sophisticated herbal formulas at hand.

Chanchal Cabrera, FNIMH, RH (AHG)
Three Cytotoxic Herbs – A Materia Medica Review of Artemisia absinthium, Thuja occidentalis and Taxus brevifolia in Clinical Practice
Note: These three herbs should only be used by medical professionals with knowledge of their use and toxicity. These botanicals have both value and utility when combined with conventional chemotherapy and sometimes even up-regulating it,  for example artemisinin and conventional chemo for brain cancer. We will discuss strategic thinking with herbs in cancer care and prioritizing treatment. Included in the discussion:

• Pharmacology and how the herbs work, active pathways and clinical uses
• Pharmacokinetics and how the herbs get absorbed, distributed and eliminated
• Herb drug interactions, safety, dosing, contra-indications

Deborah Frances, ND
Suppression vs Healing: Appropriate Applications of Herbal and Nutritional Therapies for Common Skin Conditions
Skin conditions are often a manifestation of the body’s attempt to correct an internal imbalance. For this reason, it is vital not to treat the skin to suppress the body’s attempt at healing. Some skin conditions and some patients are more easily suppressed than others. Being able to evaluate which types of eruptions and patients are more prone to suppression can guide us to the most healing applications of herbal therapies. As with anything else, just treating the skin is not enough. We must look at the whole person.

Calendula, Ulmus, Scrophularia, Nicotiana, Rosa, Symphytum, Larrea, dragon’s blood and various alteratives are among the many herbs discussed to treat common skin afflictions, including actinic keratosis, ringworm, eczema, psoriasis, outbreaks of herpes simplex and zoster, wounds, burns and decubiti (bedsores). Cases will be included.

Lillea Hartwell, ND, RH (AHG)
A Modern Yerberia in the Desert Southwest
This lecture compares and contrast research completed by the speaker when growing herbs frequently used in Mexican Traditional Medicine (MTM). Includes information on how controlled environment agriculture systems could be the future of growing herbs and how to build those systems: aquaponics, nutrient film techniques and aeroponic systems.  We describe these techniques, how they can easily be built, how they can benefit those of us growing during difficult external temperatures (like 38C summer in Phoenix), and the different substrates that seem to work best. Growing techniques and medicinal uses of specific herbs in the basil and mint family are included.

Jack Lambert, PhD, MD
Long COVID: Symptoms, Etiology and Management Plans from the EU
From his perspective as a researcher in chronic conditions such as HIV/AIDS and chronic Lyme disease, Jack Lambert, MD, PhD begins the presentation with his observations and research into the development of long COVID symptoms from the start of the pandemic in March of 2020, and the similarities in symptoms to other long-term conditions such as Lyme disease and chronic fatigue syndrome. Based on his experience in those conditions, he has developed a management plan which includes modifications of diet, lifestyle, and,in some cases, low-dose pharmaceuticals. He also regularly refers patients interested in alternatives to a local herbal clinic. Botanicals for this condition are covered in more detail in the conference’s panel discussion on long COVID. 

Brianna Piché, ND, RH, (AHG)
Pediatric ADHD: Botanical Nootropics and Mood Support in Childhood and Adolescence
We describe the signs, symptoms and diagnosis of ADHD in children and adolescents, review conventional and pharmaceutical treatment recommendations, and discuss botanical nootropics, adaptogens and nervines to support attention, concentration and co-occurring mental health conditions.

Kenneth Proefrock, NMD
Improving Neuroplasticity and Mental Adaptability with Botanical Medicine and Physical Activity
Mental health can be improved throughout life by adopting a botanical medicine foundation with specific physical exercises, including breathwork. Humans are the most adaptable creatures on planet Earth and much of modern life is unfavorable to a healthy lifestyle and a well-working mind over the long-term. Our bodies and our minds are designed to respond to an ever-changing world that swings between the extremes of safeness and un-safeness, and the resulting constant calibration of the neuronal architecture of one’s self to the unfolding physical sensations of life. This is how we derive a sense of meaning from those experiences.

The essence of the biochemical phenomenon we regard as neuroplasticity is an ongoing and dynamic process of a constant assembling and disassembling of microtubular neural structures, which become consolidated through sensory input into our neural architecture. The other neuronal connections are culled and their raw materials used for the next growth spurt. Central to this idea is how effectively our neurological system is able to shift its architectural components to better accommodate the experiences of life. We are selective in how we interpret our reality; our mind and our senses conspire to make us decide what is real and what is unreal, what to remember and what to forget, they co-ordinate our feelings of pleasant or unpleasant, beauty or ugliness, appealing or not appealing. Botanical medicine provides a means to re-calibrate one’s experiences with agents like Kava (Piper methysticum), Valeriana spp, Leonurus cardiaca, and Leonotis leonurus, which have a defined effect on most people, but it is not uniform across all individuals. As we discuss these subtleties, we have the opportunity to understand ourselves, our neighbors and our world more deeply.

Kenneth Proefrock, NMD
Hear Ye! Hear Ye! A Natural History of the Ear and Its Pathology: From Otitis to Meniere’s and Hearing Loss
A discussion about the interesting evolutionary and developmental progression of the ear and other hearing mechanisms. We discuss botanical medicine and nutritional interventions for numerous pathological ear conditions, from acute conditions like otitis media and externa in children to chronic tinnitus, hearing loss and vertigo. Local, topical interventions and systemic, treatments based on a better understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the organ are included along with a description of the side effects and usages of pharmaceuticals in these conditions.

Jillian Stansbury, ND
Gastrodia elata: Traditional Chinese Medicine for Managing Migraines, Stroke and More
Gastrodiae Rhizoma, also called chì jiàn in Traditional Chinese Medicine, has been used for centuries to manage effective inhibition of diverse conditions including convulsion, oxidative stress, mental disorders, amnesia, cardio-cerebral-vascular diseases, and inflammation, among others. It has been widely studied and several mechanisms of activity were found, including the modulation and regulation of monoamine oxidase activity, monoamine concentration and turnover, antioxidatant activity, GABAergic system induction, BDNF induction, neuroprotection and anti-inflammatory activity [ref: PMID: 24716103]. This presentation describes the mechanisms of action and the therapeutic uses of Gastrodia, including migraine and stroke.

Jen Stovall, BSN, RN
Soothing the Hungry Ghost: Supporting our Clients When they are Ready to Quit Using Opioids
Due to widespread opioid use in our culture, herbalists are sure to encounter clients seeking our support to help them quit using. Unfortunately, our cultural narrative around drug use does not allow for a tolerance of, much less identification with, addiction and so herbalists who want to help find there is a lack of practical information about how to provide support. In this class, Jen shares protocols she’s used in her practice to support clients who want to quit using opioids. Using principles of harm reduction as a framework to provide support, we examine conventional concepts of addiction from various angles as we explore alternative ways to support those experiencing addiction.

Eric Yarnell, ND, RH (AHG)
Herbal Dependence on the Gut Flora
Animals have evolved with gut floras, and over many millions of years, these intestinal microbes have come to be crucial in the metabolism and activity of a wide range of herbal constituents. Numerous well-documented examples of this necessary interplay are presented, including Panax ginseng, Arctium lappa, Arctostaphylos spp, Linum usitatissimum, Digitalis spp, and many others. The detrimental impacts of antibiotics and some other drugs on these critical metabolic processes along with practical implications of these issues.

Eric Yarnell, ND, RH (AHG)
Update on Herbs for Men’s Health
A clinical review of the most effective herbal strategies for preventing and treating common conditions in men’s health, including benign prostatic hyperplasia, chronic pelvic pain/chronic prostatitis, low-grade/localized prostate cancer, varicocele, Peyronie’s disease, and erectile dysfunction. Recommendations on which herbs to use for which people and at what doses are given, as well as how they interact (mostly beneficially) with common drugs for these conditions. Case examples from Dr. Yarnell’s years in practice are included.