EULAR Congress Report
At the top of some mountain or other.
I was in Madrid in June for the European League against Rheumatism (EULAR) annual congress. This is the major European conference for rheumatology. Apart from the extreme heat, the major highlights were chairing a meeting of gout experts which helped arrive at some consensus decisions around gout terminology and listening to a presentation from Nottingham, UK that described a randomised controlled trial of nurse-led care for people with gout compared to usual care from their general practitioner. People who received nurse-led care did much better, in terms of gout control and medication use, reinforcing the benefits of structured education and frequent support and monitoring. In addition, I took advantage of the weather and the geographical proximity and went hiking in the Swiss alps between La Sage and Zermatt, covering about 75km in 5 days and about 7000m of climbing up over the passes and down into the valleys. Beautiful views of the Matterhorn and other mountains as well as mountain villages and their postcard perfect chalets.
