The 38th Ectrims congress, the most important scientific event dedicated to research on multiple sclerosis, is back in place after two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, kicks off in Amsterdam. Over 8 thousand participants from 108 countries, in hybrid mode, including neurologists, researchers, associations. The challenge is to give each person with multiple sclerosis the most appropriate treatment based on the characteristics of their disease, from the most widespread to the most aggressive forms, in order to lead normal, full, happy lives. A challenge increasingly within reach, thanks to the progress made in recent years by research against this neurodegenerative disease. There are about 130 thousand patients in Italy, mostly women.
“Despite the difficult times we have experienced in the last two years, we have witnessed a continuous evolution both in the treatment and in the lives of people who live together and are affected by Sm”, comments Pia Amato, Italian neurologist and president of Ectrims, (European committee for treatment and research in multiple sclerosis).
From today to Friday, at the Rai Convention Center in Amsterdam, the spotlight is on new therapies, such as drugs that no longer have to be taken in the hospital, intravenously, with long infusions replaced by a couple of tablets a day, or that they should only be taken for a few weeks; but also on the molecules under study to give therapeutic alternatives to patients who do not benefit from the available treatments and to respond to the progressive forms of multiple sclerosis, the more aggressive ones, which still have few treatment options. Among the hot topics of the congress, the mechanisms by which multiple sclerosis develops and the results of numerous studies on possible new diagnostic and prognostic markers, both laboratory and imaging, to identify the disease, understand how it will evolve and how much it will respond to therapies. . Finally, great attention to technology which, with tools such as apps and virtual assistants, can simplify and improve the daily life of patients with multiple sclerosis.