ISOM Chinese Editor
Professor Ian Brighthope graduated in Agricultural Science in 1965. For the next three years he was involved in teaching and research. His research interests were in the fields of agriculture and veterinary nutrition, including the nutritional health of cattle, horses, sheep, dogs, pigs and poultry. His involvement in the design and implementation of field trials provided him with a deep respect for scientific methods, its strengths and its weaknesses.
In 1969 he entered medical school at the University of New South Wales and following three pre-clinical years, completed his clinical studies at Monash University in Victoria, graduating with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery in 1974. After completing his residency and a year of general medicine and anaesthetic practice, he travelled widely throughout Europe, North America and Asia searching for solutions to the problems created by the significant gaps he recognised in the normal medical training of doctors.
This travel and its educational processes to learn about all forms of medicine and healing has contin-ued throughout his career. His interest in the implications of human nutrition and the environment in health and disease commenced in his undergraduate training in the 1960’s and as a doctor and has continued to develop throughout his career.
It was in the fields of plant and animal nutrition that Professor Brighthope became aware of the im-portance of optimum nutrition and the use of nutritional supplementation in animal production, the treatment of animal dysfunction and the potential of this approach in the prevention and treatment of human disease. Also, the addition of agricultural and food processing chemicals to the food chain concerned him and this resulted in his investigating their harmful effects on human health in general, and in particular, the human nervous, immune and endocrine systems. Neglect of these areas of human care prompted him to adopt the nutritional and environmental medicine approaches in his medical practice, which was the first of its kind in Australia.
The Brighthope Clinics and Biocentres were developed in the 1970’s. They specialised in Nutritional and Environmental Medicine with particular interests in psychiatric diseases, learning and behaviour disorders, cancer patient care, heart disease, psychological disorders related to foods and chemi-cals, the chronic fatigue syndrome, arthritis, asthma, food and chemical sensitivities, auto-immune diseases, diabetes and the treatment of acute viral illnesses and other conditions with megadoses of intravenous Vitamin C and other nutrients.
The antioxidant and intravenous Vitamin C clinics under his management were the first of their kind in Australia. They treated patients from all walks of life from all over the world. The Brighthope Clinic was the first Integrative Medicine Centre in Australia in which modalities such as herbal medi-cine, acupuncture, chiropractic, meditation, intravenous nutritional therapies and others were inte-grated with mainstream and hospital medicine in the 1970’s. In the early 1980’s, he coined the term ‘Integrative Medicine’. This term was adopted by the Australasian Integrative Medicine Association (AIMA), which has become a significant force in changing the practice of orthodox medicine in Aus-tralia. Professor Brighthope was closely involved in the establishment of Integrative Medicine in Aus-tralia.
Chelation therapy was started in the early 1980’s and continues to be of great clinical value to pa-tients with cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and many other disorders in which heavy metal bur-dens are a problem to their health and wellbeing. Chelation therapy for patients with cardiovascular disease has recently been hailed as a potentially very valuable therapy by the American Heart Asso-ciation, a development that seemed impossible a few years ago.
The Brighthope Biocentre was the first EDTA Chelation Centre in Australia in which holistic detoxifi-cation programs were established in conjunction with megadose intravenous Vitamin C therapy. The approach to the management of many diseases in his centres was always based on science and frequently innovative and always safe. These modalities are now taught to medical practitioners in Australia and are routinely practiced by ACNEM trained medical practitioners.
As president of ACNEM, Professor Brighthope pioneered the first post-graduate medical course in nutrition in Australia and remained on the faculty as one of its principle lecturers from 1980 until 2007. In August 2007 he was awarded the Inaugural ACNEM award in recognition of more than 25 years of outstanding service in the field of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine including 25 years as founding President of the College. He initiated the ACNEM fellowship program and examinations and now plays a pivotal role in maintaining, as an official ambassador, ACNEM as the peak body in Nutritional and Environmental Medicine in Australia and Asia. A quality assurance and continuing medical education program is an integral part of the qualifying fellowship program. Professor Brighthope, in association with Professor Avni Sali, formed the Graduate School of Integrative Medi-cine at Swinburne University in 1996, at which he was honoured with a Full Professorship. This school has subsequently been succeeded by other programs, in particular, the National Institute of Integrative Medicine at which Professor Brighthope is a director.
Professor Brighthope has published extensively for the general public and has appeared regularly in the media as an advocate of nutritional and environmental health. He is the author of 5 books and many scientific and medial lectures and reviews. His books have been endorsed by many luminar-ies, most notably the late Linus Pauling, the only person to have ever been awarded two unshared Nobel Prizes.
Over three decades Professor Brighthope had a very busy lecturing schedule to health professionals and the public in Australia and internationally. He continues to consult for the manufacturing industry in nutrition and micronutrient supplementation and supervises and consults for various health resorts and specialist clinics, preventive medicine programs and sporting concerns. He and his companies have initiated and/or sponsored many major events in Nutritional Medicine in Australia for more than 35 years, including international and national conferences and University based research. The re-search programs have included the study of Vitamin E in Cancer, the Risk Factors in Breast Cancer, the attitudes of Medical Practitioners to Complementary Therapies, the Antioxidant Activity of Poly-phenols in Grapeseeds, Post-Antibiotic use of Probiotics, the use of SAMe in fibromyalgia and De-pression. One of the most recent was a double-blind placebo controlled study proving the effective-ness of a specially prepared extract of Tumeric in the fast-acting relief of osteoarthritis. Research into the benefits of probiotics, trace elements, essential fatty acids and nutrient delivery systems con-tinues as a result of Professor Brighthope’s interests in these areas. Professor Brighthope intermit-tently employs research Fellows at various campuses to assist with R and D. His companies provide active nutraceuticals and placebos for university studies into serious conditions, for example, N-Acetyl Cysteine in major mental illnesses. He is currently researching the therapeutic potential of medicinal cannabis, a powerful health care therapeutic of the future.
Professor Brighthope has acted as an advocate of doctors practicing Complementary Medicine for over 35 years. He has had training and extensive experience in Crisis Management, Risk Manage-ment and Public/Government Relations. He was President of the Complementary Healthcare Council of Australia, the peak industry body for Complementary Medicines. He was responsible for the management of the many political, legal, insurance, regulatory and media issues caused by the world’s largest recall of pharmaceutical products, the Pan pharmaceutical recall of 2003.
In 2007, after stepping down as President of the Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmen-tal Medicine, he was honoured with the inaugural annual award to recognise his contribution to health through the research, teaching and the practice of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine. Professor Brighthope’s lifelong ambition is to change the way medicine and healthcare is practiced for the benefit of the public and to see nutrition, nutritional and environmental medicine the building blocks and keystones to world health and peace.
In December 2015, he appeared in a chapter of a groundbreaking book launched by the Australian federal treasurer titled “50 Unsung Business Heroes”. His chapter interview appears on Utube. On the 27th. May, 2016, Professor Brighthope was give the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Indi-an Nutritional Medicine Association (INMA). On the 9th. June he delivered a keynote address to the Indian Nutritional Medicine Association on the role of intravenous vitamin C, probiotics and medicinal cannabis to the Indian Nutritional Medicine association. On the 10th. June 2017, he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship in nutritional and environmental medicine of the Indian Nutritional Medicine As-sociation (FINEM).
In late 2017, he initiated the establishment and content of Australia’s first RACGP Category 1 CPD points course in medicinal cannabis. This course is a joint effort of ACNEM, NIIM and NICM, the Na-tional Institute of Complementary Medicine at the University of Western Sydney. Concurrently professor Brighthope was instrumental in the reconfiguration of a Human Research Ethics Committee to nominate general practitioners for authorised prescriber status of medicinal cannabis as required by Australian federal legislation. His interest in medicinal cannabis dates back to the early 1980’s when he observed that his hospital patients detoxing from alcohol, benzodiaze-pines, heroine and other hard drugs were doing better when they remained on cannabis to relieve anxiety and pain. In 1999 and 2000 he witnessed his dear friend, the Late Sir William Keys, derive great relief from unrelenting and excruciating pain caused by an extensive mesothelioma by using cannabis.
In November 2018, the National Institute of Integrative Medicine presented him with the 2018 Award in recognition of his Outstanding Contribution and Accomplishments in the Field of Integrative Medi-cine.
Diabetes | Asthma |
Arthritis | Dementia |
Rheumatoid Arthritis | Cancer |
Leukaemia | Autoimmune Diseases |
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome | Psychiatric Disorders |
Pediatric Disorders | Learning and Behaviour Disorders |
Epigenetics and Nutrigenomics |