Press release
Innovation in cardiology is starting from Brescia
From 28 to 30 January a Symposium will be held with leading Italian and international experts
Among the topics addressed during the three days – heart failure and the therapies for controlling it
Brescia, 28 January 2015 – Over the last few decades giant strides forward have been made in the prevention and treatment of heart disease, but much still remains to be done. One of the key challenges concerns the treatment of heart failure, a condition destined to increase, especially with the increase in the average age of the population. The American Heart Association estimates that eight million Americans will be suffering from heart failure within ten to fifteen years and that the total direct costs associated with the disease will rise from the current 21 billion dollars to 70 billion dollars in 2030. And this is one of the principle issues of the international Symposium entitled “Innovation in cardiology: still wishful thinking?”to be held in Brescia from 28 to 30 January 2015.
The Symposium, organised by the Institute of Cardiology of the Civil and University Hospitals of Brescia and promoted by the Fondazione Internazionale Menarini, will be chaired by Marco Metra, Director of the Cardiology Unit of the Civil Hospitals of Brescia and Professor of Cardiology of the University of Brescia, as well as Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Heart Failure, the tenth out of just on 150 cardiology journals worldwide and first in importance among the scientific journals that deal with heart failure.
“Since the beginning of the nineteen-eighties, when the drugs were mainly used for their effects on the symptoms and the haemodynamic parameters, far more effective pharmaceutical products are now available that are capable of improving the course of this syndrome with reductions in hospitalisations and the death rate. This also applies to other fields of heart disease. In the nineteen-eighties and nineties, therapies were introduced which have revolutionised the treatment of coronary risk factors. The prognosis of cardiac patients has improved significantly. Unfortunately, much still remains to be done with regard to the identification of new mechanisms responsible for the progression of heart disease, as well as the most efficacious measure of all, that is, the prevention of cardiovascular disease. It is for these reasons that, despite my field of interest being heart failure, I wanted to extend the boundaries of this congress to include everything related to innovation in the cardiovascular field. The need for further innovation is the greatest requirement that we are faced with in this field, where there has been great progress but where the prevalence and severity of heart disease are still too high,” concludes Metra.
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