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by Hansjörg Hubrich
The German Rheuma-League and the Vasculitis Working Committee had invited patients and their doctors to attend the 8th Nation-wide Information-Congress in Bad Bramstedt hospital.
The congress, formerly held on just one day, had been set out for two days. We were not quite sure whether patients would stay overnight to be able to attend the second day or whether they might be put off by the additional costs. The number of guests exceeded our expectations, though: 250 people attended our conference.
Dr. Wodarg, President of the German Rheuma-League Schleswig-Holstein, opened the conference and warmly welcomed the attendees.
PD Dr. Reinhold-Keller addressed all of us and wished for us that the event might be successful.
A very informative speech on the training of vasculitis-patients was given by PD Dr. Reinhold-Keller. For some years now patients have been trained in Bad Bramstedt hospital on how to cope with vasculitis with good results.
Doctors and patients alike were welcomed to visit the local laboratory with Prof. Dr. Gause and Dr. Csernok answering all kinds of questions.
The following break was welcomed by everybody, coffee and cake refilled us with the necessary energy. People who hadn't been able to talk to each other for a long time met again and you could see happy faces all over. Despite many boisterous talks the time-schedule announced the next lecture.
Mr. Zelewski welcomed the attendees on behalf of the Vasculitis Working Committee. He spoke on the daily routine of the Working Committee. Mrs. Joyce Kullmann, director of "Wegener's Granulomatosis Association", USA and her sister Judy were most warmly welcomed. It was their second time to attend our conference as guests from the United States.
Three patients reported on their long and difficult way from "Suffering from an unknown Illness" to being treated appropriately on the basis of a correct diagnosis. Only after a suitable therapy by specialists with high expertise had they been able to get better.
The next lecture was held by Prof. Rasmussen from Denmark. He reported on first results of European studies on therapies.
The official first part of our conference was over. We met again in the evening for dinner, informal talks and even dancing to the music of "Story Village Jazzband" from Rendsburg.
The next day was started by a lecture of PD Dr. Reinhold-Keller on "Vasculitis-News and Novelties". Then followed Dr. Hellmich's lecture on "Osteoporosis and Cortisone".
The lecturing-part ended with "Renal involvement in vasculitis" by Prof. Dr. Steinhoff and after a short intermission the Round-table-talks began. Participants were offered the opportunity of meeting specialised doctors to discuss things at a more informal level. The following break during which a light lunch was served marked the time to say good-bye for most of the guests.