Dedicated rheumatology conference opens doors in Dubai today
The issues relating to the current available treatments for Rheumatoid Arthritis to be discussed during opening day
The importance of early diagnosis and aggressive treatment for individuals suffering with arthritis will be a major focus of the Rheumatology Exhibition and Conference 2009, which opens its doors in Dubai today, at the Dusit Thani Hotel, and runs through until Friday 20th March.
The most common form of arthritis, osteoarthritis, affects most people over the age of fifty or sixty. Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is less common, but can affect the quality of life of young and old.
Dr. Humeira Badsha, Consultant Rheumatologist at the Dubai Bone and Joint Centre and Chairperson of the Rheumatology Conference 2009, being organised by IIR Middle East, believes the public’s assumption of RA is that it’s untreatable.
“We estimate that globally over 20 million people suffer from rheumatoid arthritis. The big issue though is that up to half of this number will become disabled within ten years of diagnosis,” she said. “Many people resign themselves to a life of pain, but in fact, if we can diagnose the condition early, then there is a range of effective treatments that can hinder the long term effects of the condition. We can prevent people becoming disabled.”
There are many different forms of arthritis, and similar to all rheumatic conditions early diagnosis can be crucial for the future wellbeing of the patient.
However, medical insurance is one issue that relates directly to the ability of physicians to offer a prognosis early enough to prevent long term complications of RA.
Dr. Claire Bombardier, Professor of Medicine, Rheumatology Division Director, University of Toronto has been invited to Rheumatology 2009 to present a talk on managing inflammation of RA. She believes reimbursement of medical costs for patients is essential to combat the disease successfully.
“The mentality of insurance companies has to change,” she said. “If you consider cancer patients, reimbursement is given in the blink of an eye, but for rheumatoid arthritis patients this isn’t the case.”
Part of the problem is cost, but there are also questions over what treatments will be of benefit to individual patients. The most effective treatment applies biologic therapies, but insurance companies are disinclined to reimburse patients when they are used at an early stage because they are very expensive.
Dr. Kaleb Michaud, Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Centre, who is also speaking at the conference, believes tracking the effects treatments have on individual patients is the best way to proceed for everyone involved.
“Some models suggest that using biologics early is very expensive, but some models are now saying that it can be cost-effective if they are introduced earlier,” he said. “It all comes down to monitoring because unnecessary treatment is the concern. Monitoring is helpful to the clinicians and the insurance companies.”
Keeping complete records of patients’ records is a standard daily practice, but in the field of RA it is essential to follow how the disease is progressing. What treatments are working? When did they stop working? At what stage of complication should other treatments be introduced? These are all questions rheumatologists must answer.
Dr. Bombardier will be tackling this issue in her talk. She explained: “The paradigm under which we’re working is shifting. We now say hit it early. There’s a tendency to use more conservative treatments because of cost, but the question is: At what time do you use biologics?”
The progress being made in the field of RA has been remarkable in recent years. Today there are a range of treatments available, although there is not a cure.
Simon Page, Director of Life Science Division, IIR Middle East believes Rheumatology 2009 is the perfect congress for clinicians to keep pace with current developments in this specialist area of medicine.
“There has been a massive amount of research carried out on a range of rheumatic diseases in recent years, and Rheumatology 2009 brings together international experts who will discuss the latest research findings of their work,” he said. “Medical practitioners on the front line of healthcare provision being offered to the public, nurses and specialist rheumatologists will all benefit greatly from this event running over the next two days.”
For all rheumatologists, seeing the quality of lives of their RA patients improve channels their efforts into finding a cure. It is still early days, but Dr. Bombardier believes the progress being made could result in an antidote to the disease.
“The goals are much more demanding. We’re aiming for remission now, rather than counting the number of swollen joints, as we did in the past, and I’m optimistic that we’ll find a cure in my life time,” she said.
The Rheumatology Exhibition and Conference 2009 will run 18-20 March at the Dusit Thani Hotel, Dubai. The first session begins at 9:00am.
