The day started very early, meeting the bus from the hotel to the hospital at 6:45. At the hospital, a quick breakfast and coffee, registration, and then off to the lecture hall for opening remarks, and the first speaker of the day .
Alain Moreau gave the opening address to all of the attendees, welcoming everyone to the first Canadian Collaborative Team Conference.This is a world wide collaborative conference with over 250 people in attendance from around the world
The first official speaker of the day was Dr. Alison Bested. She gave a great 40 min review of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome to get the day started.
Next up was Dr. Byron Hyde, from the Nightingale Research Foundation of Ottawa. Dr Hyde discussed brain imaging and the ME patient. Some of the Images that he showed where fascinating as they showed brain damage similar to what you would see in a polio patient. Over all an interesting and informative presentation.
Dr Peter Rowe then gave a presentation on Orthostatic Intolerance (OI) in the ME patient. Dr Rowe has found that there is a high prevalence of OI in ME patients.
Dr Ric Arseneau, from the Complex Chronic Diseases Program at BC Women’s Hospital , discussed their program and how they treat patients. He also mentioned that there was a 2 year waiting list to be seen at the clinic. They mentioned a number of initiatives they’ve implemented to improve services by including patient feedback forms, community partners, patient library and team building.
Dr. Lucinda Bateman, founder and medical director of the Bateman Horne Center of Salt Lake City gave a talk on Objective Diagnosis of ME. She discussed the use of the Rand-36 questionaire, as well and the Hours of Upright Activity (HUA). For a normal person it is 14-17 hours, for someone with a Chronic illness it’s 10-12 hours, and for ME it’s 1-7 hours. I found the HUA data informative.
Dr. Roland Stad, from the University of Florida gave a presentation on Peripheral and Central Mechanisms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. This presentation was way above me.
After the morning sessions it was time for a break, lunch was served and we had more discussion around the tables about the morning sessions. Lots of good discussions with some of the morning presenters.
In the afternoon, Dr. Eleanor Stein gave a presentation about Differentiating ME/CFS form Psychiatric Disorders. This presentation was good at distinguishing the differences between a Psychological Disease and ME/CFS. Another informative and well done presentation. Her paper on this topic is a must read for anyone dealing with a diagnosis of depression instead of ME.
Dr. Peter Rowe was back on stage giving another talk about Management of Pediatric ME/CFS. It’s sad to think about a child struggling to live with ME.
Dr. Betsy Keller was up next with a great discussion about Cardiopulmonary Exercise Tests. She explained about the second day tests for ME patiients and why you do not always get predictable results and ME patients have great difficulty with the 2nd day of testing.
A quick break and then back to the lecuture hall.
Dr. Riina Bray gave the next presentation titled, Diagnostic Dilemmas: Etiology and Treatment of the Fatigued Patient. One of the key points she stressed was taking a full environmental history of the patient.
The last Presenter of the day was Kevin Mejo, a pharmacist. Kevin stressed the need for co-operation between the doctors and the pharmacist to ensure that drug interactions do not occur, including the the impacts of natural remedies. Another key point in the presentation was the benefits of having a good relationship between the patient and the pharmacist .
Closing remarks for the day where given by Alain Moreau.
It was an overwhelming day with lots of information both very technical, and practical for the researchers and clinician that where present.
