camclub November News

• camexpo reports successful 2011 show
• Study shows fish oil diet slows growth of prostate cancer
• US study links fizzy drinks with violent assaults
• Campaigners question controversial vitamin study
• Cancer-fighting ‘superbroccoli’ is launched

camexpo reports successful 2011 show!

The ninth edition of the UK’s only dedicated professional CAM show – camexpo – has been a huge success, with both exhibitors and visitors reporting a very productive and vibrant event. Organised by Diversified Business Communications UK, camexpo attracted a total of 5333 attendees over 22-23 October at Earls Court, London, and was praised yet again for the quality of its visitors, its Keynote speakers, and the wide choice of CAM products and services on offer.

Zoe Campbell, event manager of camexpo, is delighted by the overwhelmingly positive feedback received so far: “I would like to say a huge thank you to all of our exhibitors, visitors, speakers, and supporters, for making this year’s camexpo the most successful, inspiring and educational event yet!”

Despite severe disruptions on the tube lines serving Earls Court over the weekend, thousands of dedicated practitioners, therapists, CAM students and health store buyers flocked to the show. Attendees benefited from incredible ‘show only’ savings on thousands of essential CAM purchases, plus an unrivalled opportunity to be kept up-to-date with all the latest research and developments by big name industry speakers and trainers in the show’s 22 free Keynote seminars (sponsored by The Nutri Centre), 34 free demos, and 48 Taster Workshops (sponsored by Balens). With the show floor buzzing with business throughout the two days, this year’s show also saw an increased social media presence, with thousands of Twitter and facebook followers able to share in the show’s activities via live updates and photos from camexpo’s exhibitors and attendees.

Firmly established at the forefront of the CAM profession, the success of the show has been reflected in the fantastic re-booking rate for next year – with around 65% of the 190 exhibiting companies demonstrating their continued support for camexpo by booking stand space for 2012, which marks the tenth anniversary of the event. Highly satisfied exhibitors included Jonathan Orchard, director of Lyposphericnutrients.com, who commented: “camexpo was our first trade show and proved to be way beyond our expectations in terms of overall value. Speaking face to face with so many practitioners, clinic/shop owners, buyers and even some of our own existing customers was fantastic. We also made contact with several key journalists. We will be back again next year for sure.”

Exhibitor Sam Tucker, web marketer at NES Health, was equally upbeat: “This is the 4th year that NES Health has exhibited at camexpo. It is always an excellent show for us and this year was no exception. camexpo was filled with excited practitioners all eager to try out our new NES miHealth healthcare device. With non-stop demonstrations this was a phenomenal launch weekend for us!”

“Busy show, it’s unbelievable, if there is a recession it’s not in here. Level of interest is really amazing and we have been busy the whole time,” says Sarah Daly, sales manager at A.Vogel.

“Excellent show, we met the key people we needed to see and some fantastic buyers we did not expect,” says Adeniyi Okinikan, UK distributor of Grander Water.

“This is our first camexpo. It has been brilliant! Lots of visitors to our stand – amazed at how busy we have been,” says Gillian Edwards, chairman of The Association of Registered Colon Hydrotherapists (ARCH).

“The show experience has been amazing – great new connections, very vibrant and excellent for business,” says Paul Kensett, course director of The Smart School.

Hundreds of surveyed visitors also sang the show’s praises. “camexpo is fantastic! I find it very informative and also a great place to source lots of products in one place. Everything I am looking for is here,” says massage therapist Judith Ravelo Alvarez.

“Fantastic seminars – full of up-to-date research results, advice and information,” says Sarah Veale, trainee reflexologist at Tranquil Moods.

Show highlights included the announcement of the winners of camexpo’s three prestigious annual awards, including the Best New CAM Product Award 2011, voted for by visitors to the show’s New Products Showcase on Saturday 22 October. The winner – by some margin, was Sappho Organic Cosmetics by Xynergy Health Products (distributed by The Nutri Centre).

“I knew when I was introduced to Sappho Organic Mineral Make-up that I had found a truly wonderful, professional-level product,” says Soo Cieszynska, sales & managing director at Xynergy Health Products. “To win the award, with JoAnn Fowler, the creator of Sappho, with me at camexpo, completed a fabulous weekend for us. Thank you!”

Another camexpo winner was Clare Brown, who together with her husband Richard owns Revitalise in Hove, East Sussex, which won the CAM Clinic of the Year Award 2011. The Award, sponsored by Viridian Nutrition, in association with The Nutri Centre, included £500 prize money, and was presented by Jayney Goddard, president of The Complementary Medical Association (CMA). The Award, which is now in its second year, was judged on the treatments offered, marketing, client testimonials, unique selling points and all round client experience. The final shortlist, drawn from over 35 entries from clinics all around the UK, also included Gaia Lifestyle in Pontcanna, Cardiff, and Atman Clinic in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

The judging panel were impressed by the high quality of entries but singled out Revitalise Hove for its distinctive approach and “fantastic client testimonials”, commenting: “The winning clinic not only offers a wide range of therapies, it also has a great eco-friendly ethic using solar power and 100% recycled paper in their marketing material. They also have a health food store alongside the clinic selling health foods, ecover refills and vegan organic supplements.”

“We are absolutely delighted to have received the camexpo CAM Clinic of the Year Award 2011,” says Richard Brown, co-owner of the winning clinic Revitalise Hove. “We have a superb team of receptionists, and expert therapists and teachers working at Revitalise, and this award is a testimony to them too. In the past few years we have invested in our website and promotional material, launched our new health shop to compliment the range of therapies offered, and expanded the range of services we offer – this award recognises those achievements and that makes it all worthwhile.”

The recipients of camexpo’s third annual, industry-voted CAM Outstanding Achievement Award were also a popular choice. With the winners Meghan Mari and Rachel Fairweather, directors and co-founders of the Jing Institute of Advanced Massage Training, enjoying a standing ovation as they accepted the honour from last year’s winner, complementary therapist, tutor and author, Mary Atkinson. Aside from winning an overwhelming majority of votes, many of Meghan Mari and Rachel Fairweather’s legion of followers submitted glowing testimonials on their behalf, including the following by one anonymous supporter:

“Their aim was to start a revolution in massage therapy in the UK and provide the type of advanced massage training available in other countries such as the USA. In 2003, they ran three short weekend workshops in the cutting edge techniques that had helped make their own practices successful. The feedback was phenomenal and students started to build their own successful practices using their proven protocols incorporating trigger point therapy, myofascial release, advanced stretching and hot stone massage. Their rallying cry of “join the revolution” spread and they started growing a passionate, dedicated community of students and teachers who wanted to make a difference.”

“We are thrilled and honoured to be this year’s recipients of the CAM outstanding achievement award,” commented Mari and Fairweather earlier today. “We are humbled by the incredible outpouring of support of the CAM community. We feel this award belongs not only to ourselves but also to our amazing teachers, staff and inspiring students who have been with us every step of this wonderful journey. This award is an important recognition of our collective triumph. Together, we have raised the standard of professionalism of the UK massage industry. The success of Jing is a testament to the power of positivity, passion, enthusiasm and co-operation in achieving any goal you set your mind to.”

“We would like to thank the camexpo team for all their help and dedication through the years and everyone who has joined the Jing revolution; those we have met and those we have yet to meet.”

camexpo will return to Earls Court, London, on 20-21 October 2012. For further information, please visit www.camexpo.co.uk, or stay up-to-date with all the latest news and 2012 exhibitor information via the show’s facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001522315531) and twitter account (@camexpo).

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Study shows fish oil diet slows growth of prostate cancer

According to a new American study, a low-fat diet with fish oil supplements eaten four to six weeks before prostate removal slows growth of prostate cancer cells. The study, from UCLA, used human blood and tissues to prove that the diet changed the prostate cell’s fatty acid composition.

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US study links fizzy drinks with violent assaults
New research from US scientists shows that drinking more than five cans of fizzy drink a week is linked to significantly higher levels of violence among teenagers, reports The Times.
The findings — published in the journal Injury Prevention —were based on a survey of 1,878 teenagers aged 14 to 18 from 22 state schools in Boston. Participants were asked how many non-diet fizzy soft drinks they had had during the past week.
The researchers say that over 23% of those who drank one or no cans carried a gun or knife, but this rose to 43% of those drinking 14 or more cans.
Sara Solnick, of the University of Vermont, concluded: “There was a significant and strong association between soft drinks and violence.”
Seena Fazel, senior lecturer in forensic psychiatry at the University of Oxford, told The Times: “It does suggest that a trial of an intervention to reduce high soft-drink consumption may be worth considering in high-risk populations.”

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Campaigners question controversial vitamin study

Campaigners and industry groups have questioned the validity of a study by scientists in Finland linking vitamin use with a higher death rates among older women.
The study, carried out by the University of Eastern Finland, was based on self-reported interviews completed by 38,000 US women in their 50s and 60s.
The team concluded that multivitamins, folic acid, vitamin B6, magnesium, zinc, copper and iron in particular appear to increase mortality risk.
However they acknowledge that the usefulness of their findings relied on how well the women had been able to recollect their supplement use over two decades.
Even so, Dr Jaakko Mursu, who led the Finnish team, concluded: “Based on existing evidence, we see little justification for the general and widespread use of dietary supplements”.
Other scientists used the report’s findings to challenge the increasing use of higher potency supplements.Drs Christian Gluud and Goran Bjelakovic, who review research for the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews to evaluate best evidence, told the BBC: “We think the paradigm ‘The more the better’ is wrong. We believe that for all micronutrients, risks are associated with insufficient and too-large intake.”
But natural health campaigners and industry groups have challenged the report’s findings which they say exclude consideration of key factors that could influence mortality rates, including pharmaceutical drug use, pre-existing disease and the form of vitamin and mineral taken.
Dr Robert Verkerk, technical director at Alliance for Natural Health International (ANH-Intl) said: “Our view is that the self-reporting questionnaires, and lack of any supporting data on nutrient status of the study’s subjects, means that the majority of the trends emerging from the adjusted data on which the study’s conclusions were based are likely to be anomalous.”
Verkerk added that that the way the researchers had presented their findings “played into the hands of the pharmaceutical industry, the single biggest contributor to, and controller of, medical research”.
Leading US nutritionist and Natural Products contributor, Jack Challem, said: “The only really significant association (in the report’s findings) was between iron supplements and a greater risk of death, which has been known for years. What the researchers and editors seemed to miss is that older women (or men) have a greater risk of death simply because of their age, their greater likelihood of having serious diseases, and their use of multiple drugs, a common cause of illness (from side effects) and of death. For all we know, the risk of death might just as well have been associated with the use of the internet or cell phones. These reports made for great headlines, but very poor science.”

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Cancer-fighting ‘superbroccoli’ is launched

A new ‘superbroccoli’ that is claimed to offer enhanced heart disease and cancer-fighting properties has gone on sale.
The vegetable — called ‘Beneforte’ — looks the same as normal broccoli but contains boosted levels of glucoraphanin (three times the level of normal broccoli), which scientists say may protect the body against heart disease and some types of cancer.
Beneforte was developed by British scientists using conventional breeding techniques rather than genetic engineering. Work on the project began after a wild broccoli variety was discovered in 1983 with naturally raised levels of glucoraphanin. The nutrient is converted in the gut into the bioactive compound sulphoraphane, which circulates in the bloodstream.Compared with normal broccoli, eating Beneforte broccoli raises sulphoraphane levels two to four times.
Professor Richard Mithen, from the IFR, told The Guardian: “Our research has given new insights into the role of broccoli and other similar vegetables in promoting health, and has shown how this understanding can lead to the development of potentially more nutritious varieties of our familiar vegetables.
• Beneforte was launched in the US through a collaboration between Monsanto’s Vegetable Seed Division and California-based vegetable growers Apio Inc.