EAG 29th SYMPOSIUM , 8-10th NOV 2001, THESSALONIKI, GREECE
Academic
fun in the sun
Adrian Treloar and Michael Philpot
One aim of the EAGP has always been to bring together (mainly) medical specialists working with the problems of mental disorders in older people. This includes old age psychiatrists, neurologists, geriatricians, gerontolgists, pathologists and basic scientists. This year was no exception and the symposium attracted 270 delegates from more than 20 countries, as well as a 13-year-old observer from the UK. The meeting was organised by Professor Stavros Baloyannis, a neurologist with an enthusiasm for intra-neuronal organelles and the changes that occur in Alzheimer's disease. Consequently there was an emphasis on biological aspects of dementia.
It occasionally seems that new dementia syndromes are emerging every year. Gone are the days when fronto-temporal dementia (A Brun, Sweden) was the only new 'kid' on the block. Now we have Lewy body dementia (P. Sakka, Greece; E. Londos, Sweden), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (N. Gonatas, USA), multiple subtypes of vascular dementia (A Korczyn, Israel) and an increasing number of genetic and clinical variants of Alzheimer's and Pick's disease (J. Hardy, USA; M. Haltia, Finland). Add to this our ever-deepening understanding of the neurobiology, neurochemistry and aetiology of dementia (S. Lovestone, UK) and we have a bewildering amount of new information to digest. Small meetings, such as those organised by the EAGP, can be ideal ways of updating knowledge in a convivial and not-too-impersonal setting.
The prospect of second and third generation treatments for dementia, such as vaccination against beta amyloid and anti-inflammatory drugs that reduce beta amyloid pathology, were an obvious focus of interest (E. Giacobini) but we heard of the cognition enhancing properties of ovine colostrum (J. Leszak, Poland).
There were some surprises for old age psychiatrists. One speaker viewed dementia and depression as mutually exclusive entities, a position that might surprise many clinicians (G. Kaprinis, Greece); another called for the routine use of lumbar punctures in diagnosis (H. Link, Sweden). We learnt how to inject the back of the head with steroids to treat cervicogenic headache (M. Anthony, Australia). Medical ethics raised considerable interest (H. Baumgartner, Austria) as did the home grown issue of hiding medication in our patients' food and drink. We could but marvel at psychiatrists with catchment populations as high as 23 million (N. Tataru, Romania) and at the work of our colleagues from other eastern European countries (A. Miliscevic, Serbia).
Lastly, the diversity of clinical practice across Europe, whether it be as a result of financial constraint, societal factors or state interference suggests that the EAGP has an educational as well as an advocacy role. A pre-conference training course was an important ingredient of last year's symposium in Romania and this may become the model for future years.
The meeting itself was placed under the auspices of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and for us cynical Northern Europeans perhaps the most surprising element was the emphasis on the interface between spirituality and our discipline. The respect for older people, their importance in family life and the value placed on their wisdom which are features of life in this part of southern Europe remain lessons for us all. Naples is next, planned for the autumn of 2002.
Minutes of the Annual General Membership meeting (10/11/01)
Members
present:
Profs. Gustafson, Kanowski, Drs Ihl and Philpot, and 23 other members
of the Association.
1. Apologies
Drs C and H-J Kretschmar, Prof R Levy.
2. Minutes
of meeting held on 16.9.00 in Oradea.
The minutes were accepted as a true record of the meeting.
3. Matters
arising not appearing on the agenda
As neither the Dusseldorf nor the Oradea AGMs had been formally
announced, the re-elections of the board members initially proposed in
1999 (LG, SK, MP and RI) were confirmed.
The proposal, made in Oradea, to replace Prof Leger with Dr Clement
was not confirmed.
No changes had been made to duration of executive officer term as this
would have required a costly process of altering the Association statutes.
The Oradea meeting had been a great success and Dr. Tataru was thanked
for her efforts. The combination of symposium with an education programme
was also successful as might serve as a blueprint for future meetings.
Members decided that the EAGP should remain independent from the Geriatric
Psychiatry section of the Association of European Psychiatrists which
had been inactive in recent years.
4. Report by the members of the Executive Committee.
Board
members
Executive Board members were due to come to the end of their second
terms of office in the next couple of years. Prof Gustafson announced
that he planned to resign a year early. Vacancies would therefore become
available as follows:
Chairman Lars Gustafson until 2002
1st Vice-Chairman Siegfried Kanowski until 2003
2nd Vice-Chairman vacant
Treasurer Ralf Ihl until 2002
Secretary Michael Philpot until 2003
The Executive Committee had discussed possible replacement officers
but no individual approaches had yet been made. The vacant position would
be voted for later in the meeting. There was a recognition that, as the
EAGP funds were held in Germany, it would be practically difficult for
the Treasurer to work elsewhere in Europe. Any member wishing to serve
on the Executive Committee was requested to write to the Chairman.
Thessaloniki
meeting
Nearly
300 participants had registered for one of the 3 symposium days and the
meeting was voted a scientific and social success. Prof. Baloyannis and
his local team of organisers were congratulated on their hard work.
National
Advisory Board
This
idea had been discussed in Oradea but not yet acted on. Prof. Gustafson
reviewed the proposal that a board of representatives, one from each country,
would be contribute more actively to promote recruitment, dissemination
of the Association's work, translations and general information. These
individuals might act as a link to national organisations.
Prof. Kanowski also pointed out the need for a Scientific Board - smaller
than the National Board but with the additional functions of advising
other European organisations and individual nations on matters related
to Geriatric Psychiatry. Members discussed these proposals at length.
It was felt that the EAGP should be in a strong position to influence
the development and services, formalise education and promote research.
It was important to raise our profile with origanisation such as the EC
and the WHO.
Dr Philpot would send letters to individual members within each country
inviting them to be part of the National Advisory Board. Members with
e-mail facilities would be given priority so as to reduce costs of setting
this up. Dr. Mendonca-Lima would convene a meeting in Lausanne under the
auspices of the WHO to discuss education/policies and strategies.
Web-site
This
had been transferred to Dusseldorf and although there had been some initial
difficulties updating the site these had now been resolved. Dr Grass-Kapanke
was acting as web-master. AGM minutes and links to other organisations
would be included.
5. Financial
status
Dr. Ihl reported that the EAGP was in a healthy financial situation.
Following the symposium the balance was expected to be approx. 12,000
Euro. Under German financial law, it was important for an organisation
such as the EAGP not to accumulate money but show an active turnover in
support of the aims of the organisation. There was a continued problem
with members failing to pay on time. Dr Ihl re-iterated the plea for members
to submit e-mail addresses if they had them (only 10% of addresses were
currently known).
An additional auditor was required: Dr Mendonca-Lima volunteered for
this task.
6. Future
meetings
Prof Mateos outlined problems that had led to the abandonment
of Santiago di Compostela as the venue for the next meeting. Other possibilities
existed and Dr Calabrese offered Naples. However this would not be confirmed
until January or February 2002.
Further meetings had been planned as follows:
2003 Wroclaw, Poland
2004 Oslo, Norway
2005 Lausanne
7. Any
other business
Board Election for current vacancy. Prof Mateos and Dr Calabrese
were both proposed, seconded and accepted nominations for this post. An
open vote of the members present resulted in a 9-9 draw! Dr Calabrese
offered to withdraw in favour of Prof Mateos who was welcomed as the new
2nd Vice-President.
8. Date
of next meeting
This was clearly dependent on the dates of the next symposium
but members would be advised by post.
Dr
Michael Philpot
Secretary
02.02.02