Mental Illness on the Rise in Canada: Leading Medical Professionals to Educate on Complementary and Alternative

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, May 13 (MARKET WIRE) --
Mental health issues are on the rise in Canada, according to
psychiatrist Dr. Jean Boodhoo, Chairman of the upcoming ICAM conference
in Toronto, May 23 - 25, 2008. Dr. Boodhoo attributes raising financial
and marital pressures, increasing drug and alcohol abuse, and steady
suicide rates, as factors for why one in four Canadians suffer from a
mental illness. Further contributing is the steady increase in cognitive
disorders such as Alzheimer's, among an ageing population. Despite the
prevalence of mental illness with healthcare burden of $8 billion a year,
there remains a large disconnect between these illnesses and current
alternative interventions.

This disconnect was a big impetus behind the creation of Canada's premier
international conference on Integrative, Complementary and Alternative
Medicine (ICAM) and Mental Health. The conference assembles over 20 of
the some of the world's top medical professionals in allopathic,
integrative, complementary and alternative medicine with a special focus
on mental health.

"Most traditional treatments for mental health disorders involve
prescribing psychotropic drugs," explains Dr. Boodhoo. "While these drugs
can be very effective in treating many psychiatric disorders, they
unfortunately don't work for everyone, and they are also prone to side
effects. As medical practitioners, we're looking at allopathic and
alternative treatments to enable wellness for the whole person. ICAM
gives conference-goers a wider scope of the interventions available for
overcoming mental health problems."

The conference is targeted towards family physicians, health care
practitioners and individuals with a keen interest in alternative
medicine or mental health solutions. The objective is that they will be
made aware of current alternative interventions for mental health
patients, future trends in the field and to raise awareness of concerns
of legal and ethical issues in this field of practice.

"Medical professionals, as well as the general public, are more readily
acknowledging that a focus on nutrition and mind/body medicine
significantly improve mental health and overall well-being," says Dr.
Boodhoo. "And specific alternative therapies can do the same. For
example, aromatherapy can assist with sleep and behavioural disorders in
seniors with cognitive behaviour problems, electromagnetic waves can
positively influence mood disorders and the use of herbs in Traditional
Chinese Medicine can complement the treatment of schizophrenia."

Conference: First International Conference on Integrative, Complementary
and Alternative Medicine (ICAM) and Mental Health

Date: May 23 to 25, 2008

Location: Sheraton Centre Toronto, 123 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON

Register: www.camspecialistsconnect.com/registration

Contact: (403) 580-2822; jeannieb@camspecialistsconnect.com

A health and wellness exhibition will also take place at the conference.
To book your exhibit contact: Michael Wipf at (604) 638-8467;
mw@camspecialistsconnect.com.

Speakers include:

- Dr. Steven Aung, World Health Organization advisor on the
standardization of acupuncture; President of the World Natural Medicine
Foundation.

- Dr. James Lake, author and attending physician at Stanford's Center for
Integrative Medicine where he helped establish integrative mental health
services.

- Dr. Alan Logan, Harvard professor and author of "The Brain Diet" and
"The Clear Skin Diet".

- Dr. Scott Gerson, a leading authority on Ayurvedic Medicine who helped
establish Mt Sinai School of Medicine's (NY) first course on alternative
medical treatments.

To view the list of additional speakers please click on the following
link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/ICAM0513.pdf.

Contacts:
CAMSpecialistsConnect.com
Keela Keeping
(604) 897-4548
Email: keelak@camspecialistsconnect.com
Website: www.camspecialistsconnect.com

Copyright 2008, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

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