Fibro at the EULAR Congress of Rheumatology

The recent EULAR 2008 Annual European COngress of Rheumatology took place from 11th to 14th June in Paris and 93 abstracts discussing Fibromyalgia Syndrome were submitted to the congress.

EULAR (the European League Against Rheumatism) defines rheumatology as "including rheumatic diseases of the connective tissue, locomotor and musculoskeletal systems" and EULAR addresses regional pain syndromes, such as RSD, and widespread pain syndromes, such as Fibromyalgia Syndrome (Fibro), as well as the more usual rheumatological conditions, such as the different forms of arthritis and autoimmune conditions. Last year, EULAR released their evidence based guidelines for the management of Fibromyalgia Syndrome, which were the first such guidelines to be published for Fibro.

According to EULAR, the aim of the annual congress is "to provide the best forum of the highest standards for scientific (both clinical and basic science), educational and social exchange among professionals involved in rheumatology, with links to patient organisations, in order to achieve progress in clinical care of patients with rheumatic diseases."

The congress included scientific sessions organised by EULAR and satellite sessions organised by various companies and there were also a large number of companies and organisations exhibiting at the Congress, including the American National Fibromyalgia Association.

A total of 93 abstracts of scientific papers that discussed Fibro were submitted to the Congress and presented there, demonstrating the good level of interest in and research into the condition.

There were also 6 satellite symposia relating to Fibro, sponsored by various pharmamceutical firms including Lilly, whose drug Cymbalta (duloxetine) was recently approved by the treatment of Fibro by the American FDA (Cymbalta approval article) and Pfizer, whose drug Lyrica (pregabalin) was FDA approved for Fibro last year.

The amount of discussion of Fibro at the Congress reflects the large and increasing amount of interest in the condition internationally, and the volume of research being done into Fibro. This is all goes to show that despite the low level of awareness generally in the UK, great steps are being made in knowledge of the condition.