Course Description:

The majority of patients who are interested in supportive cancer care are currently undergoing conventional treatment - chemotherapy, radiation therapy or preparing for surgery. Naturopathic medicine has a significant role in ensuring we are supporting patients’ quality of life during treatment to ensure optimal treatment outcome. Of particular importance is providing recommendations for immune support which has been shown to help reduce side effects, complications and missing or delaying treatment. Various chemotherapy agents may also cause specific nutrient depletion which may then have deleterious effects on immune responses. This session will focus on how we can assess and monitor a patients immune system during treatment and what therapies can be considered including nutritional supplementation, herbal medicine, mistletoe therapy and intravenous therapies. Clinical case studies from my practice will be discussed. 

Learning Objectives:

1. How to assess and monitor a patient currently undergoing chemotherapy, including laboratory testing
2.  Review most common chemotherapy agents that a practicing naturopathic doctor will encounter.
3. Discuss safety of naturopathic therapies that can be provided alongside chemotherapy.
4. Review effective naturopathic therapies to support patients immune system during chemotherapy. 

This session is approved for  1.0 Category A , 0.25 Pharmacology and 0.25 IVIT credits with the College of Naturopaths of Ontario (CONO).  After completing the material, you will automatically receive your CE certificate.