Greetings from the chair

With the recent remarkable advances in medicine and standards of health and living, society is aging rapidly and disease structures are changing. Acute disorders are well controlled, but lifestyle diseases, such as cancer, hypertension and diabetes, which account for the majority of chronic disorders, are very difficult to completely cure. The pathological condition of lifestyle disease is a complex system in that physical, psychological, environmental and social factors all interact and are mutually interrelated. Accordingly, there is a limitation in western medicine because it is a primarily symptomatic therapy. Therefore, a new medical system is required to be built.

In other words, that means a paradigm shift from 20th century medicine aiming at “Cure”, to 21st century medicine aiming at “Care”. Integrative medicine that combines modern medicine with CAM (complementary & Alternative Medicine), can be considered to be one medical approach that indicates the direction of medicine in the future. The final goal of integrative medicine is to extend healthy life expectancy, including through preventive medicine.

Taking a global perspective on the changing of the times, the AHCC Research Association, established in 1994, changed its name to the International Congress on Nutrition and Integrative Medicine (ICNIM) in 2015. Based on the results of basic and clinical research into the various functions of AHCC as a BRM (Biological Response Modifier), we have recently published a new book, “The Clinician’s Guide to AHCC”.

We aim to accurately relay information and clinical data to all parties that are interested in functional ingredients such as AHCC and Oligonol, be they researchers conducting studies, physicians introducing them into the clinical arena, or end-users that are focused on disease prevention, treatment, and health maintenance. Furthermore, we aim to strive ever onwards as an evidence-based congress that is responsive to the diversity of society, and that raises the public profile of the role of functional foods within integrative medicine. We endeavor to continue all of this into the future.