CME courses for medical professionals

For health professionals

As director of the Better Bones Foundation and the Center for Better Bones, Dr. Susan Brown is pleased to offer a series of continuing education seminars for health professionals.

Key Better Bone initiatives for preventing osteoporosis and building bone strength

According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, an estimated ten million Americans have osteoporosis, and some 34 million more are at increased risk of developing the disease. In this presentation, Dr. Susan Brown, PhD details the essential components that promote natural bone health regeneration. Her clinically proven programs focus on building bone strength as well as building bone density and highlight all known nutritional and lifestyle factors that influence bone health.

Goals and objectives

To understand both the structural and metabolic functions of the skeleton.
To appreciate the major bone-protective and bone-depleting dietary and lifestyle factors.
To comprehend the importance of the 20 key bone-building nutrients.
To understand laboratory tests and clinical observations for evaluating bone nutrient status.
To appreciate the role that chronic low-grade metabolic acidosis plays in the development of osteoporosis.

Better Bones, Better Body: first-line comprehensive care for osteoporosis prevention, treatment, and reversal

In this presentation, Dr. Brown offers new insights into the nature and causes of osteoporosis, while highlighting the latest research findings on the nutritional and lifestyle factors that most influence bone health. She also outlines her comprehensive life-supporting program for bone health maintenance and regeneration, the Women’s Health Network Better Bones Package.

Goals and objectives

To provide clinicians with new insights into the multifactorial causes of osteoporosis.
To present evidence-based research data on the nutritional factors influencing bone health.
To review the most important lifestyle factors impacting bone health and fracture resistance.
To teach the practical Women’s Health Network Better Bones Package nutrition and lifestyle protocol for maximizing bone strength and improving overall health. This program can be used by itself for bone health improvement or used as a co-therapy with pharmacological osteoporosis agents.

Evidence-based insights into calcium and vitamin D therapy for osteoporosis

The last decade has witnessed an unprecedented expansion of our knowledge on nutrition and its role in bone health. In this session Dr. Susan Brown, medical anthropologist, clinical nutritionist, and director of the Better Bones Foundation will review the most current evidence-based findings on vitamin D and calcium as therapies and co-therapies for maintaining and regaining bone density and strength. This session will highlight the evidence on the fracture reduction and fall reduction capacity of these two key bone nutrients. Appropriate doses and forms of these nutrients will be detailed, as will the collateral benefits of optimum vitamin D and calcium therapy and co-therapy.

Goals and objectives

To convey an understanding of the most current evidence-based findings on vitamin D therapy for bone density, fracture, and fall reduction.
To increase the health care provider’s awareness of appropriate vitamin D testing and dosing, including vitamin D supplemental forms, the role of UV exposure, and precautions on the use of this fat-soluble nutrient.
To familiarize family practice care providers with the new findings on the vast array of physiological functions of vitamin D, including induction of cell differentiation, inhibition of cell growth, immunomodulation, and control of other hormonal systems.
To increase the clinician’s awareness of the recent evidence-based cross-cultural research on calcium and osteoporosis.
To provide clinical guidelines on the use of calcium, its forms and doses for osteoporosis therapy and co-therapy with pharmacological bone agents.
To explore and resolve the “international calcium paradox,” by which countries with the lowest calcium intakes are often those with the lowest incidence of osteoporotic fracture.

Maintaining bone health during weight reduction

Both obesity and osteoporosis are public health concerns of great importance in the US. Recent national statistics suggest that 64% of the adult population and 16% of all children in this country are overweight or obese. Osteoporosis and suboptimal bone density affect an estimated 44 million US residents according to the recent US Surgeon General’s bone health report. Both obesity and osteoporosis are associated with decreasing health levels and increasing mortality.

It has long been established that bone density is correlated with body weight, and that weight reduction is accompanied by a reduction in bone mass and bone strength. This presentation first reviews the impact of weight loss on bone density and fracture risk. Here we look at the impact on bone of various forms of weight loss, from fasting and anorexia to illness, self-directed voluntary weight loss, medical weight-loss programs, and bariatric surgery. Next we briefly review the known or suspected mechanisms behind the weight-loss/bone-loss link. The final section of this presentation outlines a series of strategic interventions which can be used to promote the maintenance of bone density and bone strength during weight loss.

Goals and objectives

To enable the learner to identify key bone nutrients and use laboratory testing as a basis for nutritional supplementation.

Geriatric fracture reduction

The majority of hip fractures and the most burdensome of all osteoporotic fractures occur within the elder segment of our population. In fact, the longer a person lives the more likely she/he is to experience one or more osteoporotic fractures. Reduction of geriatric fracture would provide for a higher quality of life and substantially reduce the healthcare costs of aging.

In this lecture, Dr. Brown first provides an overview of the current scientific literature documenting the special nutrient and lifestyle needs of the elderly. She then details how meeting these special needs can substantially reduce the incidence of fracture among the elderly.

For example, evidence-based findings document that the occurrence of vertebral fractures can be more than halved and the incidence of hip fractures can be decreased from 40% to 25% by simply administering appropriate nutritional supplementation. Additionally, muscle mass can be increased substantially, even among 90-year olds, with simple strength-building exercises. Further, simple lifestyle modifications and attention to the special nutrient needs of the elderly can significantly reduce the incidence of falling, and thus further reduce fractures and enhance well-being.

Goals and objectives

To expand awareness of special nutrient needs of the elderly and their relation to falls, fracture incidence, and fracture reduction.
To provide practical clinical guidelines for the testing of nutrients important for fracture reduction.
To provide practical clinical guidelines on the optimum dosing of key bone nutrients.
To provide an overview of the role of physical activity and strength training for fracture reduction.

Recent advances in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis

In this lecture Dr. Susan Brown first reviews recent advances in our understanding of the nature and causes of osteoporosis and bone fragility. Bone mineral density is distinguished from overall bone strength, and the metabolic functions of the skeletal system are highlighted. With this basis Dr. Brown then goes on to present a range of recent advances in the prevention, treatment, and reversal of osteoporosis. These evidence-based advances include the improvement of calcium homeostasis with selected nutrients; the recent research on vitamin D and fracture reduction; a new multinutrient approach to bone therapy; the nutrient-induced reversal of chronic, low-grade metabolic acidosis and its implications for bone and muscle loss; innovative comprehensive co-therapy programs incorporating nutrient, lifestyle, and pharmacological therapies for osteoporosis; and recent advances in our understanding of nonskeletal factors including falls and fall reduction.

Goals and objectives

To highlight recent advances in our understanding of the nature and causes of osteoporosis, detailing bone strength components and the factors influencing bone strength.
To provide an understanding of the role nutrient therapy can play in the enhancement of calcium absorption and the reduction of calcium urine loss.
To increase the clinician’s awareness of the recent evidence-based research on nutritional and pharmacological approaches to osteoporosis treatment and fracture reduction.
To develop the concept of comprehensive co-therapy bone strength programs which incorporate nutrition, lifestyle, exercise, and pharmacological agents as necessary.

Additional CME course offerings include:

Special nutrient and lifestyle needs of the elderly
The pediatric origins of osteoporosis

For information on these continuing education seminars, call the Better Bones Foundation at 1-315-432-1676.