2023 is starting to make the transition from a life fully occupied by the challenges of COVID-19 to that of what will be the “new normal”. We are left, however, with the spectrum of neuroimmune disorders characterized as Long COVID syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, Post-Lyme syndrome, post-Epstein Barr infection Syndrome, post-cytomegalovirus infection syndrome, Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS), Alzheimer’s Disease, and pre-autoimmune syndromes.
We have learned from the SARS-CoV-2 triggered pandemic that as a population we were not nearly as healthy as we thought. The reserves in both our Immune and nervous systems were compromised prior to the exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The United States had far higher death per capita from COVID-19 than other developed countries. We recognized that we were suffering from a pandemic associated with exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus that was overlaid onto a pre-existing pandemic of compromised neuroimmune health.
Long COVID Syndrome, like chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) and fibromyalgia and desert storm syndrome before it, leaves us with a legacy of chronic illness associated with a country of people with compromised neuroimmune resilience and increased dysfunction. We are witnessing a dramatic increase in what has only recently been termed “pre-autoimmune disease”. What is “pre-autoimmune disease”? It is now presenting itself as a collection of multiple neuroimmune symptoms of differing duration, intensity and frequency across many organs that results from a disturbed interaction between the genetic and epigenetic characteristics of the individual’s nervous and immune systems and their lifestyle, diet, physical and social environment.
These complex health problems are rooted in disturbances in the complex interconnection among the nervous, immune and endocrine systems and don’t fit well within the present medical system for which the sine qua non is a definitive diagnosis derived from a well-defined pathognomonic process. Rather the rising prevalence of pre-autoimmune syndromes are reflective of functional disturbances of the neuroendocrineimmune super system. To address this problem, we need a multifocal intervention that is tailored to the needs of the individual, and is proven safe and effective over years of observation and study.
The 2023 PLMI 11th Annual Thought Leaders Consortium is focused on presenting advances in the management of neuroimmune disorders based upon recent discoveries as to how to better assess, develop personalized treatment approaches and manage the complexity of patients with chronic neuroimmune disorders. This year’s program is presented by a faculty composed of well-respected leading innovators in the application of next generation approaches to the management of these complex chronic conditions associated with neuroimmune disorders. This is a program that is focused on delivering “news to use” in how to integrate the recent discoveries concerning neuroimmune disorders into clinical practice through advances in both assessment and personalization of intervention. This is a program designed for those who are seeking new approaches to the management of the complex neuroimmune disorders of our age. It is limited in size to create an experience that will maximize learning and skill development and interaction with the faculty and the other conference delegates.
