ORISIA HAAS, OMD It occurred to me that it might be of interest to you to have some "background" information, in order that you might better understand my interests, aspirations and goals. For the past 30 years I have been following a course of study in the area of holistic health, with an emphasis on nourishment, both in its traditional Western approach, and, for the past 20 years, with an emphasis on Oriental Healing Arts and Philosophy. I maintain a private practice in New Orleans, which has as its primary focus the well-being of body, mind and spirit through the combining of the best of Western and Eastern healing practices and philosophies into an integrated and integral aspect of daily health care. I specialize in organ system cleansing and rejuvenation. Areas of concentrated study include: Oriental Healing Arts Philosophy Development & Treatment of Specific Disease States Oriental Bodywork Therapies Chinese Herbology Immunity & Longevity Therapy Oriental Food Energetics Oriental Breath Movement Psychology & Spiritual Development Heart Disease Nutritional components in development of disease Physiologic changes Data analysis of long-term heart studies with regard to nutritional efficacy (Framingham, AHA, MR FIT, Pritikin) Lipids and Lipoproteins - correlation in heart disease M.R.F. profiles and indicators Nutrition as a component in preventative methodology Cancer Nutritional components in development of disease Physiologic changes Nutritional therapy respondent to: Cachesia, Inanition, Anorexia, Altered BMR Nutritional support pre and post operatively Nutrition as an adjunct to chemical therapy Nutrition as a component in preventative methodology Nutritional Influences in Mental and Emotional Illness Nutritional components in development of disease Orthomolecular & Pharmacological therapies and their impact on nutritional status Nutritional Therapy as primary or adjunctive treatment Nutritional management of stress (sub-clinical or chronic) Physical Training and Fitness Regimens Nutrition as an integral component in exercise and physical training programs Nutritional assessment and monitoring in weight loss programs Nutritional assessment and monitoring of the athlete professional and amateur Nutritional modalities, sport specific in focus: tennis, jogging, weight training, etc. Geriatrics Physiologic changes in aging Physiosocial aspects of aging Nutrition assessment and adjustment in aging Chronic disease states and nutrition Impact of drug therapies on nutritional status In addition to the above areas of concentrated study, there has been, for the past ten years, an emphasis on the environment and its impact on health. As a delegate to both the Mayor's Conference on Urban Environment in New Orleans, and the Louisiana Department of Public Health's Annual Symposium on Environmental Quality, I have the opportunity to review vearly, the quality of air, water, and soil in Louisiana, and, in a larger sense, our state's impact on the environment nationally. I lecture and teach, as well as conduct private seminars for specific diverse groups, on a wide variety of health topics, once again drawing from both East and West. Some of my recent lectures : Tulane University Medical School: Chinese Healing Arts; Their Role in Modern Medical Practice Chevron Oil Co. - Senior Engineering Staff: The Impact of Energy (Body-Mind-Spirit) as a Vehicle for Increased Productivity Xavier University: School of Pharmacology: Chinese Herbology: It's Therapeutic & Regenerative Capabilities Tulane University: School of Public Health: The Human Body: A Working Model Landmark Education Foundation: (Eight Corporate Seminars) Beyond Fitness: Creating Your Own Environment for Health and Personal Effectiveness National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine: Psychology of Health, Immunity and Disease I am a health liaison and "Referred Practitioner" for Tulane Uriiversity's School of Public Health. As a participant in the March 1997 Harvard Medical School Conference on Alternative Medicine, I had the opportunity to teach and interact with thousands of doctors and health care professionals from across the country, and to see, first hand, the increasing awareness, interest and involvement by the Western Medical Community in incorporating alternative practices into traditional care. I also participate in Oriental and Western Medicine research programs. See East/West Health journal, "Oriental Medicine Takes on AIDS," September, 1 991, pp. 58-64, and have developed a study protocol for Chinese Healing Arts in HIV-AIDS people. I contribute to various magazines and health periodicals, and publish a newsletter for my clients that not only keeps them abreast of the latest developments in Body-Mind-Spirit, but also provides a forum for their queries and concerns. True nourishment is that which supports the body's natural process. Nourishment is the air we breathe, the water we drink. It is the environment in which we choose to live, the emotions that we generate in ourselves and others, our relationship to nature, and most familiarly, nourishment is the food we eat. All food has a purpose. All food has an energy and an energetic effect on the body. Understanding the energies in food enables one to balance the energies in the body. We licreate" ourselves each day by the food we eat. I would like to help facilitate in others, an understanding of what is proper nourishment, and how the nourishment we choose affects our body and our mind, creating harmony or disharmony, ease or diseases in ourselves and the world around us. If one accepts the premise that optimal health forms the basis for optimal achievement, combining the best of Western and Eastern healing practices into an integrated and integral aspect of daily health care can enable one to not only alleviate and mitigate illness and disease, but perhaps ultimately, affect the direction and commitments of whole societies. To that end, I dedicate my work.