ASTER-'Synerge' International Medical Conference on Lifestyle Disorders

Continuous Education & Public Awareness is highly significant in preventing Lifestyle Disorders – say experts at the ASTER-“Synerge” International Medical Conference.

Over 200 delegates including doctors and medical professionals attended the conference, organized under ‘Synerge', featuring global, regional and local experts

DUBAI- 23 Sep 2013: Putting spotlight on key concerns in lifestyle-related health issues confronting people in this part of the world, ASTER - the flagship vertical of DM Healthcare, a leading healthcare provider in the Middle East and India, organized an International Conference on Lifestyle Disorders in the region, in association with global pharmaceutical major Novartis, on September 20, 2013 at Murooj Rotana Hotel in Dubai.

Dr. Hanan Ali Obaid, Head of Dubai Tobacco-Free Project and Head of Community Health Services- Primary Healthcare Sector, DHA, officially inaugurated the International Conference, organized under ‘Synerge' - the CME Division of ASTER. The Conference featured leading global, regional and local experts and hosted over200 delegates including specialists and medical professionals from different medical organizations in the region.

The Conference emphasized on the message that medical professionals should effectively and efficiently promote healthy lifestyle changes in their patients empowering them with knowledge, skills and tools. Lifestyle diseases cause serious long-term morbidity, disability and complications if not detected early. Simple measures can easily modify such disorders and prevent further complications.

Appreciating the initiative taken by Aster and DM Healthcare, Dr. Hanan Obaid, said, “The subjects taken up by ‘Synerge' for the forum discussions are highly relevant. Sharing clinical expertise of medical professionals from a larger region will help educate the society on a number of prevalent lifestyle disorders, which are increasingly leading to several fatal diseases in this part of the world.”

Commenting on the program, Alisha Moopen- Director of Corporate Strategies at DM Healthcare, said, “We hosted the International medical conference, aimed at developing public and physician awareness on focused lifestyle diseases. It will help build up the responsibility of medical community and the patients themselves in understanding and managing such issues.”

Delivering keynote address at the conference, Dr. PMM Sayed –Group Medical Director, Aster Medical Centre Division of DM Healthcare, said that the CME Division ‘Synerge' has been conducting accredited programs and International Medical Conferences for clinical interaction for over a decade. The Synerge will come up with more forums for sharing expertise and updates on various clinical subjects among the medical community, benefitting the society in due course”. 

The conference featured global health leaders - Professor Gordon T Mcinnes, University of Glasgow-UK; Professor Martin John Stevens from University of Birmingham-UK. Other speakers included Dr. Ashish Kumar, Senior Consultant Cardiologist at Malabar Institute of Medical Sciences (MIMS)-India; Dr. Sami Alhashmi, Specialist Internal Medicine & Registrar Cardiologist at Medcare Hospital-Dubai; Dr. Prakash Pania, Specialist Endocrinologist at Aster Jubilee Medical Complex-Dubai; Dr. Shekhar S. Warrier, Specialist Cardiologist at Aster Medical Center-Dubai; and Dr. Kirti Mohan Marya, Specialist Orthopaedic Surgeon at Aster Medical Center-Dubai.

While speaking about the management of hypertension, Prof. Gordon T. Mcinng said that the strategy should be based on individual cases, and target BP should be different in essential hypertension with co-morbidity. Dr. Ashish Kumar, who spoke about “How to choose antihypertensive”, also shared this individualized strategy, based on co-morbidity BP lowering target and kidney profile of the patient. While giving an overview of hypertension in the Middle East, Dr. Sekhar S. Wariar, said that females are suffering from hypertension more than males in the region. Dr. Sami Al Hashimi, who spoke about “Definition, Risk Factor, Pathophysiology”, explained the hypertension risk factors which are family history, salt intake, sedentary lifestyle, high cholesterol level.

According to Dr. Prakash Pania, who spoke about “Standards of Care in Diabetics”, the treatment should be based on the patient's blood sugar level, eye, skin and heart conditions as well as kidney profile. Prof. Martin John Stevens presented his topic titled “Increatin based therapy in the treatment of Type 2 Diabetes”. Dr. Kirti Mohan Marya, spoke about “Osteoporosis Management” and elaborated that the treatment should be started at the earliest within first line of contact like GPs, and also with orthopedic surgeon, rheumatologist, internist, physical medicine specialist and spinal surgeon. Dr. Bassam Mahboub stated that the most important preventive tool to control COPD is rolling out more campaigns on tobacco and Sisha cessation and implement such programs effectively. 

The conference, highly significant with the gathering of leading experts in key lifestyle diseases – obesity, diabetes and hypertension; discussed the critical challenges faced by doctors treating diabetes and its related complications. It also debated on how to better prepare to manage diabetes at a regional level. The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has accredited the conference as being worth 5.5 Continuing Medical Education (CME) hours for attendees.