Ahmedabad plays host to 2-day meet on neurological disorder

Given the lack of clarity in controversies in the field of neurology, NeuCon 2009, a first-of-its-kind conference in India, was organised in Ahmedabad. With over 20 speakers participating, the two day conference which aims to bring consensus on topics like stroke, epilepsy, neurodegenerative disorders and CNS infections

According to Dr Sudhir Shah, chairman of NeuCon organising committee, “Controversies are not new in the field of neurology; for that matter any field of medicine. But they need to be addressed in the regional and local context and we have to consider the socio-economic and ethnic factors and disease prevalence. NeuCon 2009 aims to address the controversies in neurology from the Indian perspective.”

Citing a WHO report, Shah said that neurological disorders constitute nearly 6.29 per cent of the total global disease burden. Amongst them, stroke, epilepsy, cerebrovascular disorders, migraine, dementia, Parkinson's disease, motor neuron disorder and neuromuscular disorders are the major ones. "In our country neurological disorders, consequent to nutritional deficiency, contribute to significant burden as compared to the first world countries. The prevalence rate of neurological disorders is in the range of 967 to 4070 per 100000 population. It is estimated that there are 20 to 30 million people with neurological disorders in our country and the common disorders include epilepsy (6 to 8 million), headache (10-12 million) and strokes (1 to 2 million)," said Shah.

Considering this, NeuCon addressed issues related to neurological disorders and ways to reduce them. "Although there have been many developments in this area, there are also many controversies on managing these disorders. These controversies need to be resolved and a consensus needs to be arrived at in order to ensure better care and treatment," said a member of the organising committee.

Various conferences have been conducted in Germany, Greece and Czech Republic that address these controversies in the global context. However, this is the first time that a conference on this theme is being organized in India that specifically focuses on the Indian context. Moreover, more than 200 delegates have registered online for the event.