Upcoming Conferences:

Medical Academy of Pediatric and Special Needs – Spring 2026:

https://www.medmaps.org/events/spring2026/

use: GUEVARA20 – for a 20% discount at registration

SATURDAY – MARCH 14TH, 2026 – 2:00 PM:

Pathways to Protection: Building Health in a Toxic World– GENERAL SESSION (RECORDED)

Issues in the Tissues – An Introduction to Clinical Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) and Manganese – The Other Lead:

Minerals are the Foundation of Life, the Key to Conductivity, the Spark Plugs of Cellular Function

Mineral imbalances are the largest contributing factor to human disease. Every enzyme in the human body depends on mineral cofactors for its structure, its induction, and its function.Energy production in the mitochondria requires specific minerals. Voltage-gated ion channels and nerve signal transduction only function with proper conductivity; conductivity depends on proper mineralization.

Let’s talk neurological function in our ASD kids from the perspective of a mineralist. Letʻs look at sequential losses of nutrient minerals under chronic stress. How can we aide in containing inflammation? What minerals are involved in glucose dysregulation, adrenal and thyroid dysfunction, even in seizure activity? How can we employ minerals to create optimum circumstances for the detoxification of our patients and “calm the storm”?

You are introduced to the clinical interpretation of an affordable and non-invasive test based on the study of mineral movements in the human body. Learn strategies to rebalance, alkalize, and detoxify our pediatric patients with the motto “You have to give to get” in mind. Leave MAPS Spring 2026 with a new found tool and the confidence to understand the undercurrent of mineral movement in your patients. Clinical hair tissue mineral analysis opens a new perspective on the longstanding challenge of Bernard and Pasteurʻs original dispute: addressing the germ or changing the terrain of the human body to heal.

 

https://www.medmaps.org/events/maps-speakers/karen-von-merveldt-guevara/

Karen von Merveldt -Guevara, German MD, graduated from Friedrich-Alexander-University in Erlangen/Nueremberg – Germany in 1996.

She works in private practice as Health Consultant at Harmonia Mundi, LLC in Sedona, AZ, remotely from Mākaha, HI as of October 2023 – Her scope of practice covers orthomolecular medicine with biochemical lab evaluations (blood, hair, and urine), as well as Integrated Manual Bodywork, which encompasses elements of Western and Eastern techniques. She offers consultation for environmental aspects of diseases (mercury amalgams, root canals, dental and orthopedic implant material incompatibility, metal, chemical and mycotoxin intoxications, housing related Issues: mold, chemicals, EMF-RF, building materials), dietary and nutritional counseling.

Patients with challenging neurological and other chronic inflammatory diseases over the past 15 years called her to study the deep biochemical changes in their tissues. The study of metal and mineral properties, their behavior in vivo, an extensive review of the body of orthomolecular literature, and a thorough analysis with comparison of different diagnostic approaches (blood biochemistry cross-referenced with hair mineral tissue analysis, and urine laboratory tests), led her to realize that routine lab tests deliver answers to many unresolved health issues when scrutinized from a novel perspective of mineral and vitamin imbalances.

Past Webinar:

International Society of Orthomolecular Medicine (ISOM):

Free webinar online from May 9th, 2024 : https://isom.ca/learning/webinars/vitamin-b1/

Presenter: Karen von Merveldt-Guevara, MD (Germany)

In this webinar, attendees gain comprehensive insight into thiamine (vitamin B1) and its critical role in human health, including the unrecognized epidemic of B1 deficiency within the general population.

From its utilization in the breakdown of carbohydrates, amino acids, and fatty acids, to its significance as a cofactor in essential metabolic pathways and liver health, thiamine has many implications for preventing disease. Understanding the impact of acidosis, dietary factors, and medication use on thiamine levels is significant for improving patient care.

Learn about the importance of B1 throughout the lifecycle – including the epigenetic impacts of deficiency during pregnancy, its contribution to brain development, and in delaying mental and physical decline in the elderly.

Past Conferences:

 

SATURDAY – MARCH 16TH, 2024

ADVANCES IN NEURODEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS: CLINICAL INSIGHTS AND RESEARCH BREAKTHROUGHS– GENERAL SESSION (RECORDED)

The crucial role of Thiamine (B1) in speech development, maternal risk factors and genetic implications – Prevention and Therapy:

The contribution of B1 deficiency as a stand alone factor and the subsequent drain on Biotin as a compounding factor to impaired speech development.

Few publications have as clearly demonstrated the impact of B1 (Thiamine) deficiency on speech development, syntax and lexical retrieval, as the article “Delayed language development due to infantile thiamine deficiency” by Aviva Fattal-Valevski et al. (2009) based on the longitudinal study of 20 children in Israel who had been exposed to a thiamine deficient soybased formula in infancy.

Thiamine deficiency is largely seen as a problem existing in underdeveloped countries, especially in the Asian hemisphere known for B1-deficiency caused by consumption of processed, B1-devoid white rice.

Little are we aware of the consequences of high caloric malnutrition and subsequent widespread B1-deficiency in the general population in our industrialized nations, though the increasing case load of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease as a result of these life style changes in an ever younger patient population is noted.

B1-deficiency and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease often tied in with latent or overt T2D and/or gestational diabetes are not only maternal risk factors for pre-eclampsia and eclampsia, yet are risk factors for the offspring to develop autism spectrum disorders and to suffer in particular from delayed speech development affecting higher cognitive functions as well as sensorineural disorders affecting swallowing, tongue movement and the motoric aspects of speech development.

Lastly, let us take a look together at genetic challenges in B1 processing and B1-dependent enzymes that compound the problem of B1-insufficiency and contribute to problems with speech development in our pediatric patients.