World Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Day: 16 November 2011

World COPD Day is a global effort to expand understanding of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease - COPD and advocate for better care for patients. In 2004, 64 million people had the illness and WHO predicts that COPD will become the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2030.

Organized by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD), the Day is marked by activities implemented by health care professionals and patient groups throughout the world.

Respiratory Decade active participate every year in organization and promotion of World COPD Day!

If you are blogger we invite you to share your posts about COPD and World COPD Day in your country!!! Upload it HERE!

Moderate Alcohol Consumption: A Protective Effect Against Asthma Development

by Liudmila Corlateanu

During the European Respiratory Society Annual Congress Sophie Lieberoth from Copenhagen University presented a curious study about the connection between asthma treatment and alcohol intake.

There is a vast range of studies concerning the hazards and benefits of alcohol. Some studies proved that frequent alcohol consumption (1-2 times/day) increases the chances of good health in old age by 30%. The authors of another work have found that consumption of one glass of wine a day helps you lose weight. 

Danish researches established that drinking alcohol in moderate quantities can reduce the risk of developing asthma. In this way, drinking 1-6 units of alcohol a week could reduce the risk of developing the condition. But what is considered to be a unit of alcohol? A half pint (284 ml) of beer that has a strength of 3.5% abv contains almost exactly one unit or a medium glass (175 ml) of 12% abv wine contains around two units of alcohol.

The research examined 19,349 twins between the ages of 12 and 41 years of age. All participants have completed a questionnaire at the start and end of the study to compare alcohol intake with the risk of developing asthma over 8 years. The results showed that the lowest risk of asthma was seen in the group which had a moderate intake of alcohol, as less than 4% of those who drank 1-6 units per week developed asthma.

Another important point of the study was that a preference for beer drinking was associated with an increased risk of asthma when compared with no preference.

It was concluded that higher incidence of asthma development occurs in the never drinking and rarely drinking group.

The relationship between alcohol intake and the risk of developing adult-onset asthma could be U-shaped, but still there is a need of further investigation. What needs no basis or explanation is the old French Proverb which states: “Eat with pleasure; drink with measure.”

Seminars of Interventional Pneumology, 28 October 2011, Firenze, Italy

We are happy to invite you at Firenze, Italy at International Conference: Seminars of Interventional Pneumology, which will take place at 28 October 2011, organized by great friend of Respiratory Decade Professor Lorenzo CORBETTA.
Prof. Corbetta is an opinion leader in Italy in interventional bronchoscopy for many years. Much of his career has been devoted to the implementation of bronchoscopic laser resection and stenting and novel endoscopic technologies and also to the development of new teaching methods. He was elected President of the Interventional Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery Working Group of the Italian Society of Respiratory Medicine in 2006 and currently holds this position. 

FINAL PROGRAM

Final Program

You can contact for registration organizators of this important Respiratory Event:
NEWTOURS S.p.A. - Via Augusto Righi, 8 – 50019 Sesto F.no (FI)
Tel.: 055 3361.1 / Fax: 055 3033.895
E-mail: pneumologiainterventistica@newtours.it

ERS Opening Ceremony in Amsterdam: hottest basic science starts here!

On 24th September ERS opening ceremony was held in RAI. More than 20.000 respiratory specialists are going to attend the conference.

The evening started with the speech of Co-chair of the ERS Congress, Dr. Elizabeth Bell, who welcomed all the participants and wished a fruitful stay in the innovative city.  

Marc Decramer, President of the ERS mentioned the increasing of ERS membership as one of the key moments for the lung health awareness. Dissemination of information, expending the network and improving the knowledge are those classical aims followed throughout the years by ERS. Events 2010, such as World Spirometry Day, Ministerial “Chronic Disease” and European Parliament Event with FERS were mentioned as those crucial. During 5 days pulmonary specialists will have a range of possibilities to follow various events, such as:

-          attend postgraduate high quality courses;

-          discuss e-posters;

-          get access to new educational publications

Prof. Marina Saetta received Presedential Award for competitive spirit, 128 publications and being a remarkable research fellow, while Prof. Dario Olivieri got Educational Award as an expert in interstitial lung diseases. U-BIOPRED Art Contest Winner got to be 16 years old girl from Holland who managed to reflect with her painting how does an asthma patient feel.   

Spirometry Button was passed on to the next President of ERS, Klaus Rabe who will be ERS President and will be busy with World Spirometry Day on 27 June 2012.

It is undoubtful that Amsterdam 2011 Programme impresses by its variety and richness:

·         49 Symposia,

·         7 hot topics,

·         332 free communication sessions,

·         13 practical workshops,

·         25 evening symposia

Science and the city- the perfect match! 
Enjoy it!
Liudmila CORLATEANU, 
Press Representative 

European Respiratory Society Fellows’ Get-Together at Amsterdam Congress

The popular ERS Fellows' Get-Together session will take place for the fourth consecutive year at this year's ERS Annual Congress in Amsterdam on Saturday, 24 September in Room 3.2 (13:00-16:30). 

The session format will be a series of interactive poster board presentations and talks, followed by a panel discussion.

It will be an opportunity for ERS/Marie Curie Fellows to share their experiences with candidates interested in applying for an ERS Fellowship, and will provide a valuable platform for young Congress delegates to network with experienced ERS Officers.

The session will target, in particular: 

ERS Fellowship recipients and candidates

Fellows' Host and Home Supervisors
Members of the ERS Evaluation Committee
Young investigators and scientists
Lung Science Conference mentors and mentees
Non-members and members under the age of 35
ERS Officers and Assembly Heads

This year's session has a specific focus on the Society's EU FP7 co-funded Marie Curie Fellowship Programme, RESPIRE, which has been a successful collaboration, with an application for further funding in February 2012 currently being considered.

The session will be chaired by Prof. Robert Bals (Research Director) and Prof. Laurent Nicod (Scientific Committee Chair), and moderated by Prof. Oliver Eickelberg (Conferences and Seminars Director). Poster discussions will be co-chaired by former Scientific Committee Chair Prof. Benoit Nemery, who highly contributed to launch the RESPIRE project in 2007-2008.
 
Nine Fellows will present their scientific research output and experiences from the ERS/Marie Curie Fellowship Programme: Laura Chimenti (Italy), Jeong-Hee Choi (South Korea), Prajakta Dandekar (India), Frances de Man (France), Arnaud Goolaerts (Belgium), Maha Zohra Ladjemi (France), Frederic Lador (Switzerland), Laura Nunez-Naveira (Spain), Rodolfo De Paula Vieira (Brazil).

Prof. Johan C. De Jongste (The Netherlands) and Prof. Marc Humbert (France) will provide commentary from their perspective as ERS Home Supervisor and ERS Host Supervisor to Marie Curie Fellows. In addition, Dr. Alan Craig from the European Commission's Research Executive Agency will outline the overall aims of the EU Marie Curie Programme, highlighting its potential to help researchers, regardless of nationality, to move within or outside Europe for training.

ERS Secretary General Dr. Mina Gaga will focus on the initiation of an ERS Junior Members Committee, to engage younger ERS members and help to shape the future of the Society. The afternoon event will be rounded off with a panel session discussion and concluding remarks on the ERS Funding Programmes and the Junior Members Committee.

Join the ERS Fellows' Get-Together session 

LET’S WORK TOGETHER…TO IMPROVE CARE FOR YOUR COPD PATIENTs!

Preliminary results of the COPD Audit will be launched following sessions during the ERS Annual Congress (24-28 September 2011 - Amsterdam):
Sunday 25 Sept. 10:45-12:45 - Room Emerald: 

Diagnosis of COPD exacerbations on hospital admission
Sunday 25 Sept. 13:00-14:30 - Room 4.1: 

Optimizing healthcare for COPD across Europe
Wednesday 28 Sept. 10:45-12:45 - Room Forum: 

Provision of non-pharmacological treatment options for COPD patients in 13 European countries

Moreover you can discuss COPD care and auditing face-to-face with the COPD Audit Steering Board during the 'Meet the Experts' session, Monday 26 Sept. 13:00-14:00 - ERS stand A.01
For more information and pre-ordering the official COPD Audit report, please visit the ERS stand A.01

UNite in the Fight Against Non-Communicable Diseases

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is an international public health agency with more than 100 years of experience in working to improve health and living standards of the countries of the Americas. The Pan American Health Organization is participating in preparation of the United Nations  High-Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases on Sept. 19-20, 2011. 
Very inspirational motto of this campaign: 

UNite in the Fight Against NCDs 

Exclusive interview with Dr. Jon Andrus, Deputy Director of the Pan American Health Organization, with regards to the high-level UN-NCD meeting that shall take place this fall in New York City.