Food for thought: Making the case for food produced via regenerative agriculture in the battle against non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs).

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) pose a global health challenge, leading to substantial morbidity, mortality, and economic strain. Our review underscores the escalating incidence of NCDs worldwide and highlights the potential of regenerative agriculture (RA) products in mitigating these diseases. We also explore the efficacy of dietary interventions in NCD management and prevention, emphasizing the superiority of plant-based diets over those high in processed foods and red meat. Examining the role of the gut microbiome in various diseases, including liver disorders, allergies, metabolic syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, and colon cancer, we find compelling evidence implicating its influence on disease development. Notably, dietary modifications can positively affect the gut microbiome, fostering a symbiotic relationship with the host and making this a critical strategy in disease prevention and treatment. Investigating agricultural practices, we identify parallels between soil/plant and human microbiome studies, suggesting a crucial link between soil health, plant- and animal-derived food quality, and human well-being. Conventional/Industrial agriculture (IA) practices, characterized in part by use of chemical inputs, have adverse effects on soil microbiome diversity, food quality, and ecosystems. In contrast, RA prioritizes soil health through natural processes, and includes avoiding synthetic inputs, crop rotation, and integrating livestock. Emerging evidence suggests that food from RA systems surpasses IA-produced food in quality and nutritional value. Recognizing the interconnection between human, plant, and soil microbiomes, promoting RA-produced foods emerges as a strategy to improve human health and environmental sustainability. By mitigating climate change impacts through carbon sequestration and water cycling, RA offers dual benefits for human and planetary health and well-being. Emphasizing the pivotal role of diet and agricultural practices in combating NCDs and addressing environmental concerns, the adoption of regional RA systems becomes imperative. Increasing RA integration into local food systems can enhance food quality, availability, and affordability while safeguarding human health and the planet's future.

Beyond the Imodium, a One Health Discussion on Diarrhea and the Impact of Climate Change.

Our ability to tackle the looming human, animal, and global ecosystem health threats arising from the issues of climate change and extreme weather events will require effective and creative cross-disciplinary collaboration. There is a growing national and international interest in equipping the next generation of clinicians and health scientists for success in facing these important challenges by providing interprofessional training opportunities. This paper describes how we assembled an interdisciplinary team of experts to design and deliver a case-based discussion on a cross-species illness outbreak in animals and humans using a One Health framework. The small group, case-based approach highlighted the impact of climate change-driven extreme weather events on human and animal health using a diarrhea outbreak associated with a contaminated community water supply precipitated by extreme flooding. Post-activity survey data indicated that this team-taught learning activity successfully engaged a cross-disciplinary cohort of medical, veterinary, and public health students in the issues of environmental public health threats and helped them understand the importance of an integrative, cross-functional, team-based approach for solving complex problems. The data from this study is being used to plan similar interprofessional, One Health learning activities across the health sciences curriculum in our institution.

Policy Advocacy Workshop Tools for Training Medical Students to Act on Climate Change.

Introduction: Doctors are trusted voices for communities and can influence lawmakers on climate change. Effective climate policy advocacy requires awareness, knowledge, and skills not typically taught in medical schools. Such curriculum additions could help students describe reasons for physicians to engage in climate policy advocacy and compose advocacy presentations. Methods: To empower engagement in climate policies and develop advocacy skills, we deployed three 90-minute workshops at three institutions for first-, second-, and fourth-year students. The workshops included background on various climate policies of concern to health care professionals, advocacy guidance, scripts and factsheets from physicians' meetings illustrating advocacy opportunities for students and physicians, and active learning exercises. The exercises utilized advocacy templates and actual proposed actions on climate change. Students worked in small groups on advocacy presentations' content and format. Each group shared its work, and facilitators provided feedback. Results: Out of 102 participants, 29 completed a survey (28% response rate). Using a Likert scale and narratives, students reported significant improvements in readiness to advocate for legislation or policies to mitigate the health effects of climate change, awareness of advocacy opportunities, and capability to prepare advocacy documents. Discussion: Workshops on climate policy advocacy can equip medical students with important perspectives on their responsibilities and opportunities, as well as skills to be effective. The physician's voice is critical to promoting policies related to the health impacts of climate change. Targeted workshops with actual examples and exercises on climate advocacy are feasible and important additions to the curriculum.

Asthma Exacerbation Triggered by Wildfire: A Standardized Patient Case to Integrate Climate Change Into Medical Curricula.

Introduction: Climate change presents unprecedented health threats. It is imperative that medical trainees understand the implications of climate change/planetary health on the physical and mental health and well-being of their patients. Medical professionals generally are not trained to consider climate change impacts in patient encounters. Hence, there is a need to train climate-aware providers who will be at the forefront of patient care in managing these current and emerging health impacts. Methods: We created a standardized patient (SP) case enhanced with details of risks and health impacts due to exposure to wildfire smoke. This session was deployed to 11 internal medicine clerkship students as part of a standard OSCE already included in our curriculum to evaluate core clinical and communication skills. Two cohorts, a group activity, and a one-on-one encounter were deployed and followed with a faculty debrief and learner assessments. Results: Students had increased awareness and knowledge of health impacts of climate change and potential actions for adaptation and mitigation. The improvements were statistically significant for the one-on-one cohort (p = .006). Postsimulation comments were favorable; students were more inclined to consider health impacts, risks, and vulnerabilities exacerbated by climate change. Discussion: Students had an increased recognition of climate change as a force impacting their patients' health which should be considered in patient care. This format allowed retention of well established curricular content, but also the inclusion of other crucial emerging issues that will impact public health locally and globally and foster the development of climate-aware health care providers.

Effects of clinical decision support on venous thromboembolism risk assessment, prophylaxis, and prevention at a university teaching hospital.

PURPOSE: The implementation of a mandatory assessment of risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE) in a health system's electronic medical record (EMR) and clinical decision-support (CDS) system was evaluated to measure its effect on the use of pharmacologic prophylaxis and the occurrence of VTE and bleeding events. METHODS: A commercially available CDS system was used in designing the automated CDS intervention. During computerized order entry, the system delivered alerts prompting clinician risk assessment and also delivered alerts under circumstances suggesting less-than-optimal prophylaxis. Rates of pharmacologic prophylaxis, clinically diagnosed hospital-acquired VTE, and hospital-acquired bleeding events were measured during one year before and one year after implementation. RESULTS: After adjustment for patient age, sex, and high-risk comorbidities, the data showed a postimplementation increase in the percentage of patients who received pharmacologic prophylaxis at some time during their admission from 25.9% to 36.8% (p < 0.001). The rate of VTE for the entire hospital did not change significantly, but a significant reduction among patients on medical units was observed, from 0.55% to 0.33% (p = 0.02). There was no increase in either major or minor bleeding events. CONCLUSION: Without increasing the risk of bleeding, a CDS system requiring clinicians to document VTE risk assessment in the EMR promoted improved rates of pharmacologic prophylaxis at any time during an admission and a decreased risk of VTE in general medical patients but not all adult patients.