Are we more microbe than human?

In the last five years, more has been discovered about the human microbiome, and its impact on health, than was ever known before. From obesity to immunotherapy response, the bacteria in our gut appear to play a fundamental role in our overall health.

The Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy and Genuine Health have collaborated to create Town Hall Medicine, a new digital health education platform sharing the latest, evidence-based research on emerging health topics. The first Town Hall Medicine summit, available to subscribers from now until December 31, 2019, focuses on the microbiome (the microbial communities that live in and on the human body) and its important impacts on our health.

Through a series of videos, subscribers to the summit will have access to 21 world-renowned researchers from respected institutions such as University of Toronto, Harvard, UCLA, and the University of Western Australia. Subscribers will discover the latest in health findings on the microbiome, and attain the knowledge required to live a healthier life.

“In recent years our understanding of the human microbiome has deepened through the work of many respected researchers from across the spectrum of health and medicine, and we are beginning to appreciate that the microbiome impacts everything including mental health, allergies, intestinal health, drug response and more,” says Dr. Heather Boon, dean of the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy. “What makes this project unique is that we are making innovative scientific knowledge ‘user-friendly’ so that people can make good decisions to support their own health.”

The Town Hall Medicine Microbiome Summit provides information that is accurate, credible, proven, and trusted, through more than 35 video interviews that address the following themes:

• The Paradigm Shift: Exploring how we are on the verge of a massive breakthrough in the way that health is understood. Subscribers will learn the basics of the microbiome, why a diverse microbiome is key to overall health, and how nature has its own microbiome.

• Established Thinking: The way that medicine is practiced and food is produced still follows established thinking that is slow to change. Subscribers will learn about how we are currently in the midst of a “hygiene hangover,” and what this means for our overall health. They will also learn about the history of probiotics directly from the researcher who fought so hard to coin this term.
• Impacts of Sanitization: Sanitization has obliterated many infectious diseases. But at what cost to our health? Chronic disorders – like depression, autism, allergies, asthma and autoimmune disease – are on the rise. Subscribers will discover how some chronic diseases and disorders could actually originate in the gut, and how the microbiome could be a better predictor of type 1 diabetes than genetics.

• New Path to Health: What can we expect the future of medicine to bring? Subscribers will learn how stress and aging can impact your microbiome and how the state of your microbiome can influence how well a medical treatment works.

• Love Your Microbiome: This theme covers how to use fermentation to boost the nutrition and digestibility of your food at home, the science and history behind the anti-inflammatory diets that support digestion and nurture bacteria like the FODMAP Diet. Subscribers will also learn about some of the technology being used to better understand the microbiome and the complex interactions between microbes and the human body.

“This project is exciting because we are connecting individuals directly to the researchers to learn about their work. The summit is about creating good, solid information that will help people understand what they can do to improve their health.” Stewart Brown, Founder and President, Genuine Health. 

How to access the Microbiome Summit by Town Hall Medicine:

In order to access the Microbiome Summit content, visitors to The Town Hall Medicine site may purchase the summit for $169 Canadian.  Paid subscribers will then have access to all of The Microbiome Summit content, including all videos, audio streaming for listening on the go, and transcripts.