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November 8, 2019More than 150 professionals and specialists from Pulmonology and Nursing will meet on November 8 and 9 to learn about the latest advances in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
The Aragonese Respiratory System Society (SADAR) has organized the VII International COPD Biennial Conference 8 on November 9 and 2019, which will be held in Zaragoza under the title 'Changing the natural history of the disease'.
An event that will bring together more than 150 attendees, including professionals and specialists in Pulmonology and Nursing, with the double objective of learning about the latest advances in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and highlighting the work being carried out by Spanish-speaking researchers, who make up the panel of international experts who will participate in this congress.
Aragón is a leading community in COPD research through the Aragón Health Research Institute (IIS Aragón). The group, specialized in obstructive respiratory diseases, such as COPD or sleep apnea, is led by the doctor, José María Marín, professor at the University of Zaragoza and in charge of organizing these sessions.
COPD is a chronic lung disease that affects 10,8% of the adult population in Spain, preferably people over 45 years of age. Currently, this pathology has no curative treatment - only palliative treatment with inhalers - and there are still unknown aspects about the mechanisms that cause COPD.
This pathology is 70% associated with tobacco consumption. However, 30% of COPD patients have never smoked. It has also been observed that, with the same tobacco consumption, there are people who do not develop this disease. Furthermore, “its progress is faster in some patients, while in others it can stagnate,” explained José María Marín.
Inhaled therapy, therapeutic endoscopy, respiratory rehabilitation, oxygen therapy and ventilatory support are some of the current treatments for COPD. However, new findings in the molecular and cellular bases that develop the disease are the future of the treatment of this pathology. These last aspects are the topics that the experts will address.
The conference will begin with the inaugural conference '25 years of changes in COPD: from nihilism to optimism', given by Professor Bartolomé Celli, a world-class specialist in this pathology at Harvard Medical School in Boston (USA).
From this same institution, doctors Miguel Divo and Eric Folch will also participate. The panel of experts is completed by Francesca Polverino, from the University of Arizona (USA); Miguel Ángel Martínez-García, from the La Fe University Hospital (Valencia); Juan P. de Tores, from Queen's University (Canada); Ubaldo Martín, Director Clinical Research AZ in Philadelphia (USA), and Àlvar Agustí, from the Hospital Clínic (Barcelona), among others.
In parallel with the conferences and symposiums, the 'Simultaneous Nursing Course' has been organized in which topics such as chronicity, non-pharmacological treatment of COPD or new functionalities in NIV (Non-Invasive Mechanical Ventilation) equipment will be discussed.
In addition to the IIS Aragón, the congress is scientifically endorsed by the Zaragoza College of Physicians, the BODE initiative, Ciberes (Center for Respiratory Diseases) and the Spanish Society of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery.
The complete conference program can be consulted this article