- Foundation for the Development of Internal Medicine in Europe
April 6, 2023
FDIME activities during ECIM 2023 15 -18 March in Athens During the EUROPEAN CONGRESS of INTERNAL MEDICINE in Athens the Foundation for the Development of Internal Medicine in Europe (FDIME) was involved in a variety of activities. The most important activity probably was the combined FDIME/EFIM patient session on Friday March 17, mainly organized by members of the FDIME Management Team and chaired by Ramon Pujol and Dror Dicker. After a short introduction about the recent activities of FDIME entitled “Internists, patients and FDIME” and presented by Jan Willem Elte, three patients gave their view after being introduced briefly by three internists, respectively on diabetes developments (Nikolaos Tentolouris), obesity (Dror Dicker) and rare diseases (Ramon Pujol, taking over from Daniel Sereni). The patients were Efstathios Chatzopouloson, who talked about diabetes, Vicki Mooney about obesity and metabolic disease and Eustratios Chatziharalambous about rare diseases/general aspects, followed by a Round Table discussion with all speakers and a general discussion. “Patients address European Internists”. The session was well received with ample discussions and more audience than expected. During the closing ceremony on Saturday March 18 traditionally the two Grant Award winners of 2021 gave a short presentation of their research. Leonardo Bencivenga from […]
March 9, 2023
Verena Briner, Switzerland Paracelsus, a famous physician of the 16th century, wrote ‘everything is poison and nothing is poison. It is a question of the dose’. It is true in alcohol consumption. Factors such as gender, cultural reasons, comorbidities and genetics may contribute to alcohol toxicity. The danger of alcohol consumption lies primarily in alcohol addiction, leading to chronic abuse and organ damage. This results in impaired function of the brain and nerves, the heart, the liver, the pancreas, gastro-intestinal tract, immune system and metabolism. In addition, chronic heavy drinking affects family life, work and causes often economic problems. Alcohol is absorbed fast and about 15 minutes after consumption reaches all organs of the body. Alcohol is mainly metabolized in the liver. However, in the stomach and intestine, alcohol results in the production of acetaldehyde (ACD). The ACD formed is an important factor in alcohol dependence. ACD also increases the release of mediators (histamine and bradykinin) to cause flushing. The of ACD is most severe in the brain and the heart. Abstinence from alcoholcauses increase in calcium uptake in the cells, causing arrythmia, tremor and even seizures. ACD does not pass the blood-brain barrier. In heart muscle, alcohol causes inflammation […]
February 20, 2023
Should sodium glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2-i) be the first choice in the treatment of diabetes type 2? Jan Willem Elte The Netherlands For many years metformin has been the first choice drug in the treatment of diabetes type 2 after, of course, life style modifications have been applied. Recently, however, new classes of diabetes drugs have been investigated. A new consensus report on the management of hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes developed and published by the joint scientific associations of diabetes in Europe (EASD) and the United States (ADA) has appeared (published in Diabetes Care 2022). This report now recommends that patients with cardiorenal (heart and kidney ) risks should start with a SGLT2-i or a GLP1-RA ( glucagonlike peptide1-receptor agonist) with proven CVD (cardiovascular disease) benefit. In heart failure (HF) SGLT2-i is prefered. A combination of SGLT2-i and GLP1-RA may also be considered in patients with a very high atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk. Use of both agents is recommended independent of HbA1,c, even if not on metformin. It should, however, be realized that the agents (GLP1-RA even more than SGLT2-i) are expensive. Before going into somewhat more detail, it is good to define what is meant by high […]
January 19, 2023
Source: BMJ2022;379: e072833 (GA Gaesser et al, Phoenix, AZ, USA) Recent research has confirmed results which have in fact been known for a long time. The walk of Mr Teabag (John Cleese) and Mr Putey (Michael Palin) in the legendary Monty Python Ministry of Silly Walks (MoSW) skit in 1970 were duplicated in 13 healthy adults (22 – 71 years, six women and seven men) with no known gait disorders. Participants performed three 5 minute walks around an indoor 30 m course in an exercise physiological laboratory. The first trial consisted of walking at a freely chosen speed. The next two trials consisted of low efficiency walks similar to the ones of Mr Teabag and Mr Putey (Figure). The famous silly walks of Mr Teabag (the fictive Minister of Silly Walks) can be described as walking with bow knees, throwing the legs in the air every few steps, and walking backwards sometimes before walking on. The walks of Mr Putey were less pronounced. Ventilation and gas exchange were recorded and collected to determine oxygen uptake (VO₂) and energy expenditure (EE), which were the main outcome measures. VO₂ and EE were about 2.5 times higher during the Teabag walk, but not […]
May 18, 2021
Benefit Concerts with classical music have been held since 2010 to help generate funds for Research in the study of Rare Diseases:- Geneva Victoria Hall 4 March 2016 Zurich Tonhalle 21 October 2013 Paris Salle Pleyel 22 October 2010 Comments from Prof Daniel Sereni, FDIME President:- We have had excellent attendances at our Benefit classical music concerts in recent years. Audiences came from far and wide to support the events. I would like to thank not only the musicians for providing us with truly memorable and highly enjoyable evenings, but I would also like to express my gratitude to all the members of the audience who came to share these events. Your support is enormously appreciated, and has contributed to highly successful fund raising events for FDIME. The revenue from ticket sales is used specifically for research and study of Rare Diseases in Internal Medicine. We expect to arrange another Benefit Concert in 2018 or 2019.