World Neurology - September/October 2017, Volume 32, No. 5
Published: 31 Oct 2017
Published by Ascend Integrated Media LLC, Kansas, USA
We are pleased to present the September/October 2017 issue of World Neurology, subsequent to the remarkably successful World Congress of Neurology XXIII held Sept. 16-21 in Kyoto, Japan. This issue opens with WFN President Professor Raad Shakir’s report from the World Congress. Dr. Wolfgang Grisold and Dr. Lewis also summarize many of the key events from the Congress, including some representative photographs from this attendance record-breaking event. To round out the Congress reports, this issue also offers an enthusiastic report from one of the many young bursary awardees who participated in the Congress.
This issue features also reports and images from World Brain Day 2017 from around the globe, with reports from Moldovia; Myanmar; Nagpur, India; and Pakistan. Dr. Grisold also updates us on the outcome of the recent European Board examination as well the World Health Organization meeting that took place in September in Budapest, which the WFN was privileged to take part in.
Professor John D. England, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Neurological Sciences, provides his report of the most recent issue of the journal. This issue’s history article, by Dr. Frank Stahnisch, explores the transition from the Kaiser Wilhelm Society to the Max Planck Society.
Dr. Prisca-Rolande Bassolé and colleagues update us on their thoughts, from the perspective of young African neurologists, two years after the founding of the African Academy of Neurology. Also from Africa, Drs. Philip Adebayo and Funimola Taiwo report on a novel approach to improve neurologic education in Nigeria.
This issue also includes an enthusiastic report from Dr. Vanessa Benjumea-Cuartas from Colombia after her recent Canadian/WFN Department visit at the Montreal Neurologic Institute. You also will find news of the prestigious award recently presented to Dr. Vladimir Hachinksi, past president of the WFN.
The XXIII World Congress of Neurology Kyoto: A Successful Congress by all Measures
By Raad Shakir
The biennial World Congress of Neurology is the WFN’s window to the world. Holding the Congress in various parts of the world ensures its diversity and uniqueness. This was definitely the case in Kyoto.
Report on the Department Visit Program to Canada
By Vanessa Benjumea-Cuartas, Medellín, Colombia
During my visit to the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, everything was wonderful from beginning to end. I submitted a special request in order to do my fellowship in the epilepsy department because most of my patients in Colombia have this diagnosis. I really love to help patients and their relatives with epilepsy.
Regional WHO Meeting Update
By Wolfgang Grisold
The World Federation of Neurology (WFN) was invited to participate in the World Health Organization (WHO) meeting that took place Sept. 11-14 in Budapest.
From Islamabad to Kyoto: A Dream Come True
By Dr. Qurat Ul Ain
The XXIII World Congress of Neurology 2017 took place Sept. 16-21 in Kyoto, Japan. It was organized by the World Federation of Neurology (WFN) and co-hosted by the Japanese Society of Neurology (JSN) and Asian and Oceanian Association of Neurology (AOAN). More than 8,650 delegates attended this conference from 121 countries.
AFAN Supports Young Neurologists
By Prisca-Rolande Bassolé, Professor Amadou Gallo Diop,
and Professor Mouhamadou Mansour Ndiaye
The inaugural meeting of the African Academy of Neurology (AFAN) took place in August 2015 in Dakar, Senegal. In a brief presentation, two young African neurologists identified and summarized the expectations of their generation about this African academy.
WCN Report: Palliative Care Is Gaining Momentum
By Professor Gian Domenico Borasio, Lausanne, Switzerland
and Professor David Oliver, Canterbury, U.K.
Modern palliative care traces its origins to the pioneering work of Dame Cicely Saunders who founded the first modern hospice, St. Christopher's Hospice, in 1967 in London. Although most patients in St. Christopher's suffered from cancer (as indeed most patients followed by palliative care teams to this day), a small group of patients did not. From the beginning, a few beds were reserved for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Dr. Hachinski Named to Medical Hall of Fame
Vladimir Hachinski, MD, is among several prominent physicians selected for induction into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. He will be recognized at a ceremony April 12, 2018, held in association with Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University at the London Convention Center in London, Ontario.
Report of the XXIII World Congress of Neurology
By Wolfgang Grisold and Steven L. Lewis, Editor
The XXIII Congress of the World Federation of Neurology took place Sept. 16-21, 2017, in Kyoto, Japan.
European Board Exam Presented at EAN
By Wolfgang Grisold
The Ninth European Board Examination Neurology took place during the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) Congress in June in Amsterdam.
Chat Group Helps Improve Effect of Neurophobia
By Philip B. Adebayo and Funmilola T. Taiwo
Neurophobia has been widely described by medical students1 as a fearful perception of neurology and neurological sciences. A survey among medical students in three Nigerian medical schools has indicated factors for neurophobia such as difficulty in understanding neuroanatomy, lack of teaching aids/models, and poor teaching of neurosciences subjects.
Countries report on their celebration of World Brain Day
This year’s World Brain Day commemorated the foundation of the WFN. The prior World Brain Day topics were aimed at epilepsy and dementia, and this year it was aimed at stroke. We partnered with the World Stroke Organization (WSO), which puts great global effort into the prevention and treatment of stroke.
Bringing Back Neurology Following WWII
By Frank W. Stahnisch, MD, MSc, PhD
World War II drew to a close in Europe on May 8, 1945. Many institutes for brain research, psychology, and psychiatry of the former Kaiser Wilhelm Society (KWG) were destroyed. Numerous scientists and scholars had died or were forced into exile in America, Britain, and elsewhere around the globe, where they found new working environments after the Nazis had seized political power 12 years before.