Document Download: World Neurology - July/August 2018

Published by Ascend Integrated Media LLC, Kansas, USA

From the editors

Steven L. Lewis, MD, Editor, and Walter Struhal, MD, Co-Editor

In this issue, Drs. Mohammed Wasay and Wolfgang Grisold report on the activities that surrounded World Brain Day 2018 from around the globe, with an additional report by Jera Kruja about the activities in Albania. Dr. Grisold also reports on the highly successful meeting of the International Congress of Neuromuscular Disease that was recently held in Vienna; Dr. Grisold and Javier Cardenas update us on the Palatucci Advocacy Workshops from the American Academy of Neurology in 2018.

Reporting on another international meeting, Dr. Peter Sandercock provides a report on Brain Diseases – From Bench to Bedside that was recently held in Moscow.

In the President's Column, Dr. William Carroll describes the parallels and the relationship between WHO and WFN and updates us on purpose and aims of the Global Neurology Network.

Dr. David Oliver informs and updates us on the important topic of palliative care in neurology, and in this issue's well-illustrated history column, Dr. Peter Koehler describes the neurological aspects of the work of the Dutch physician and anatomist Frederik Ruysch.

Education is an important aspect of the WFN and the joint AAN/WFN Continuum program is an excellent example of collaboration to promote worldwide neurology education. In this issue, Dr. Aaron Berkowitz reports on the recent introduction of Continuum to the trainees in Haiti.

Finally, this issue includes two reports from recent recipients of WFN Junior Traveling Fellowships to attend June's EAN Congress that was held in Lisbon, Portugal.

Highlights

President's Column

• Toward a More Meaningful WHO/WFN Relationship
  

  By William Carroll

  The WFN and WHO share a number of common features and have had useful collaborations in the recent past. Both organizations have a global perspective with regional organizations, parallel mission and goals, and the development of the Atlas of Neurology and the neurology section of the 11th revision of the International Classification of Disease (ICD11) to its present stage. In addition, the WHO and WFN have collaborated during the Zika virus Public Health Emergency of International Concern of 2016, and the recognition of stroke as a disease of the brain and dementia and on other degenerative neurological disorders being included in the WHO non-communicable disease (NCD) initiative. The two organizations diverge only in the magnitude of the tasks confronting them.

Editor-in-Chief's Column

• Journal of the Neurological Sciences - Editor's Update
  

  By John D. England

  The mission of our journal aligns exactly with the mission of the World Federation of Neurology. Thus, we strive to publish articles that improve world health by promoting prevention and care of people with disorders of the nervous system. As such, our articles cover a wide spectrum, ranging from basic neuroscience to purely clinical and public health topics. With the full support of the World Federation of Neurology, we have been able to improve the quality of our journal. This is reflected in the latest metrics available from 2017.

From the WFN

• Neurology, Environment and World Brain Day
  

  By Wolfgang Grisold, Mohammad Wasay, and Jacques Reis

  The World Brain Day (WBD) was established to commemorate the foundation of the WFN, at the WCN 2013, in Vienna. This year’s topic was the environment: “Clean Air for a Healthy Brain”. This WBD has brought the important message to all policy- and decision-makers around the world: Take care of our environment, notably air quality; healthy air is mandatory for our brain’s health!

• World Brain Day in Albania
  

  By Jera Kruja

  Albania, acknowledging the importance of air pollution as a risk factor for neurological disorders, organized a special event during World Brain Day. The conference was titled “Dita Botërore e Trurit: Ajër i Pastër për Tru të Shëndetshëm,” (“Clean air for brain health). Prof. Dr. Jera Kruja, head of the neurology service at the University Hospital Center “Mother Teresa,” advocated with the faculty of medicine at the University of Medicine, Tirana, and the Albanian Institute of Public Health to join efforts toward raising awareness on air pollution and its deleterious effects exerted on the brain.

From the field

• ICNMD 2018
  

  Update by Wolfgang Grisold, MD

  The 15th International Congress on Neuromuscular Diseases (ICNMD 2018) took place July 6-10 in Vienna, Austria. The congress was organized on behalf of the Applied Research Group on Neuromuscular Disorders of the World Federation of Neurology. For the first time, a conjoint meeting was organized with the European Federation of Autonomic Societies (EFAS). Joint sessions were organized with the Peripheral Nerve Society (PNS) and the European Neuromuscular Centre (ENMC).

• Palatucci Events
  

  By Wolfgang Grisold and Javier Cardenas

  In May 2018, the Palatucci Advocacy Leadership Forum (PALF) took place May 16-20 at the Rancho Bernardo Inn in San Diego. The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) has a longstanding initiative to promote advocacy and leadership by inviting interested colleagues from the United States with international participation. These events are called Palatucci Events after Dr. Donald Palatucci who was an early founder of this idea.

• Brain Diseases From Bench to Bedside Report
  

  By Peter Sandercock

  The meeting, organized by Profs. Eugene Gusev and Alla Guekht, focused on the recent developments in translational research and treatment innovations in cerebrovascular diseases, epilepsy, cognitive impairment and dementia, depression, demyelinating diseases, and others. It was held at the Buyanov City Clinical hospital, and was organized in partnership with the following institutions: Ministry of Health of The Russian Federation, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow Healthcare Department, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, World Stroke Organization, European Stroke Organization, World Federation of Neurology, International League Against Epilepsy, European Federation of Neurorehabilitation, All-Russian Society of Neurologists, Moscow Research and Clinical Center for Neuropsychiatry.

• Palliative Care in Neurology
  

  By David Oliver

  There is increasing awareness of the role of palliative care for neurological patients, and this has been emphasized at two recent conferences. At the Fourth Congress of the European Academy of Neurology in Lisbon, there was a European Association for Palliative Care / EAN Symposium on Palliative Care and Neurology as part of the program.

• Continuum in Haiti
  

  By Aaron Berkowitz, MD, PhD

  When I first began working in Haiti with the nongovernmental organization Partners In Health (PIH) and its Haitian sister organization Zanmi Lasante (ZL) in 2012, I was asked to provide CME in neurology for internists, family physicians, and residents in several hospitals. There is only one neurologist in Haiti for 10 million citizens and no neurology training programs. Therefore, physicians training in Haiti have no opportunity to learn about neurologic disease from a neurologist – no preclinical course, no rotation, no CME.

History of Neurology

• Neurological Aspects in the Work of Frederik Ruysch
  

  By Peter J. Koehler

  In the first chapter of Peau de chagrin (1831), one of the novels in the Comédie Humaine series by French writer Honoré de Balzac, it is written “Là dormait un enfant en cire, sauvé du cabinet de Ruysch, et cette ravissante créature lui rappelait les joies de son jeune âge.” [There, a child in wax slept, saved from the cabinet of Ruysch, and that splendid creature reminded him of the joys of his youth; p.36]. Apparently, 100 years after the death of Dutch physician and anatomist Frederik Ruysch (1638-1731), his work was still known in non-medical circles in Paris. Moreover, almost 1,000 of his anatomical preparations are still displayed at the Kunstcamera Museum in St. Petersburg.

Junior Travelling Fellowship

• WFN Junior Travelling Fellowship Report
  

  By Melody Asuile

  I had the privilege of attending the Fourth EAN Congress held June 16-19 in the history-rich city of Lisbon, Portugal under the theme of Neurogenetics. The program was filled with a wide range of interesting topics, including but not limited to movement disorders, dementia, stroke, neuromuscular disorders, epilepsy, and multiple sclerosis with presentations from leaders in their respective fields.

• WFN Junior Travelling Fellowship Report
  

  By Ahmed Darshan, MD

  It is my pleasure to write this report about my attendance and participation in the Fourth European Academy of Neurology (EAN) Congress held June 16-19, 2018, in Lisbon, Portugal.