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 Intro
3rd Cachexia Conference
8-10 December, 2005
Cachexia (from the Greek kakos for "bad" and hexis for "condition"), a weight loss condition that occurs in various diseases at advanced stage, is becoming a concerning challenge for an increasing number of patients, their relatives and the medical teams caring for them. Somehow neglected with regards to a systematic approach, cachexia affects patients in a wide range of chronic medical conditions such as AIDS, cancer, chronic heart failure, chronic lung disease, liver cirrhosis, renal failure, rheumatoid failure, rheumatoid arthritis, and sepsis. It involves a complex interaction between the disease and the body with numerous potential therapeutic approaches.
Cachexia causes substantial morbidity and mortality. Furthermore, given the increasing number of patients, it has the potential for becoming the epidemic of the next decade. Considering that this concerning situation deserves thorough medical and scientific evaluation, research and management, as a group of specialists confronted with it on a daily basis, we decided to gather the medical and scientific experts from the various fields involved in order to foster a systematic and effective approach to optimize cachexia management and favor further needed research. A key role of these efforts is to convey practical information to health care professionals dealing routinely with cachexia.
In line with our objectives, the First and Second Cachexia Conferences were organized in Berlin in 2000 and 2003. They gathered over 200 world specialists and medical key opinion leaders.
Based on this success and unanimously enthusiastic approach, we have the pleasure of organizing the Third Cachexia Conference in Rome on December 8-10, 2005. The program includes over 60 international speakers. Due attention has been given to optimized clinical management of patients covering state of the art and future potential therapies. The efforts of the Scientific Committee has resulted in an impressive three-day program with one day dedicated to the definition of Cachexia, and then a dual approach to Cachexia with Basic / Clinical tracks.
This comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach focusing on both basic science and clinical aspects aims at boosting international exchanges for the benefit of patients. It is a unique forum for experts, key opinions leaders and all medical professionals dealing with cachexia in their disciplines. |
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