16th International APS Congress - Patients' Conference 20th September 2019

-

The 16th APS International Congress is being held in the UK - at Manchester Central from 17th-20th September 2019.

This important global APS Congress is held every three years, and attracts around 400 researchers and specialists who discuss the recent advances and future directions in the field of APS.

On Friday 20th September, there is a unique opportunity for patients to attend an all-day event with a Patient Education Session in the morning and Joint Patient Session in the afternoon, both hosted by world-renowned APS experts.

The cost is £42 per ticket and this includes:

  • ·         Access to both patient congress sessions 
  • ·         Access to the exhibition and posters
  • ·         Congress materials
  • ·         Tea, coffee breaks and lunch
  • ·         Complimentary Wi-Fi

Specialists will talk on a number of APS topics in the morning based on an agenda set by patients. In the afternoon, there will be patient speakers and the opportunity for discussion and questions; in particular, scientists would like to learn from the patients about unmet needs so they can prioritise future APS research.

To book your place please visit the APS Congress Patient Registration page. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Direct oral anticoagulants and APS

-
The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has recently issued advice concerning use of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) in patients with APS. This advice may result in warfarin being preferred to DOACs for patients with APS until more evidence is available.   The chief aim of drug treatment in patients with APS is to prevent blood clots or strokes.   The main drug used for many years has been warfarin, which thins the blood. There is good evidence from clinical trials that warfarin is effective in preventing clots in patients with APS. There are some disadvantages to using warfarin. Patients have to have regular blood tests (called INR tests ) to make sure that the level of thinning of the blood is at just the right level – if the dose of warfarin is too high there is an increased risk of bleeding. Furthermore, warfarin interacts with a number of other medications so that when those drugs are being taken the INR tests may need to be done more frequently
Read more

Important information for patients taking hydroxychloroquine

-
If you are an APS patient who regularly takes hydroxychloroquine (trade names Plaquenil and Quinoric in the UK), please be aware that the Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCO) have updated their guidelines regarding eye testing.  This is because recent studies have shown that hydroxychloroquine retinopathy is more common than previously reported – around 7 in every 100 patients - especially with long-term use over five years or heavy doses. The risk is much higher in patients who have been taking the drug for 20 years or more: in these patients, between 20-50 out of 100 will develop retinopathy.  This type of retinopathy, also known as ‘bull’s eye maculopathy’, damages the retina and symptoms can include partial colour-blindness, loss of fine detail, blurring or distortion, night blindness and permanent central vision loss.  Therefore, the RCO now recommends that all patients who take hydroxychloroquine for longer than five years should be referred by their GP, or APS specialis
Read more

Medicines Discovery Catapult

-
We have published a blog about APS after being approached by the government initiative, Medicines Discovery Catapult. The idea is to promote antiphospholipid syndrome ( APS ) to researchers and scientists in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. It has given us the opportunity to alert the drug industry to APS and how important new medication is for patients. https://md.catapult.org.uk/what-is-antiphospholipid-syndrome-aps/
Read more