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Latvia - officially the Republic of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas Republika), is a beautiful country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe, one of the three Baltic states. The name “Latvia” comes from the ancient Latgalians, one of four Indo-European Baltic tribes who formed the core of modern Latvians. With a coastline of 531km along the Baltic Sea, Latvia is bordered by Estonia, Lithuania, Russia, and Belarus, and has 64,589 km2 of scenic plains and rivers, lakes and hills, including a majestic coastline.

David B. Vodušek (DV): As a senior experienced European neurologist, can you illustrate the role you give to EAN within the community of European Neurologists? Claudia Sommer (CS): The EAN is the umbrella society for the community of European Neurologists, and I am more than glad that after many years, we have achieved to build one strong society.

For November 2016 we have selected: Cree BAC, Gourraud P-A, Oksenberg JR, et al. Long-term evolution of multiple sclerosis disability in the treatment era. Ann Neurol 2016:80;499-510. Studies describing the natural history of multiple sclerosis (MS) before the availability of disease-modifying treatments have reported a progression of the disease from the relapsing-remitting form to the secondary progressive form in about 50% of patients at 19 years after the onset.

Ireland: island of saints and scholars. Although in the interests of full disclosure not all of its 5 million inhabitants are necessarily either saintly or scholarly, the visitor to its shores will certainly find many footprints of Ireland’s tradition of folklore and stories. The island’s temperate climate is nourished by the Gulf Stream, turning the landscape into a lush green onto which are embedded imprints of Ireland’s cultural past, typified by the extraordinary Neolithic tomb at Newgrange.

It is a dream of neurologists to cure degenerative diseases. The big brothers, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease have always been a huge burden of the population but are now, in the millennium of increasing population age becoming a scourge of humanity. While everybody is acknowledging this, both PD (1) and AD (2) communities of clinician researchers and basic researchers are preparing to attack the problem fundamentally frequently unnoticed by the general neurology community.

For October 2016 we have selected: Sevigny J, Chiao P, Bussiere T, et al. The antibody aducanumab reduces Aβ plaques in Alzheimer’s disease. Nature 2016;537:50-56. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most frequent neurodegenerative disorder. It is also extremely disabling with severe impact of the quality of life of patients and caregivers. The main pathological process is related to the toxic deposition of amyloid-β plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. No effective treatment is currently available to slow down the disease progression.

EANpages has the honor and the pleasure to introduce this virtual Round Table, composed by some members of the EAN Scientific Panel on Dementia and Cognitive Disorders, who are discussing the Paper of the Month, in addition to the comments of the Presidential Page. We thank the Panel for their enthusiastic participation and we invite all EAN members to participate with sending their comments.

David B. Vodušek (DV): EFNS has been a founding member of EBC, and its successor EAN continues to be an actively involved member society. Nevertheless, many of our readers would appreciate to hear your views on what is EBC, its mission and how it gets this accomplished? David Nutt (DN): The ultimate reason behind all EBC actions is to improve the condition of those living with brain disorders and to reduce prevalence of brain diseases all together.

By Jose E. Martínez-Rodríguez
More than 9000 participants attended the 32nd Congress of the European Committee for the Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) and the 21st Annual Conference of Rehabilitation in MS in London from September 14th to17th.… Continue Reading

Georgia (Georgian: საქართველო, Sakartvelo) is a country located at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia, and generally considered to be part of the European continent. To the west it is bordered by the Black Sea, to the north and northeast by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and by Azerbaijan to the southeast.

David Vodušek (DV): The AFAN, like the EAN, addresses and covers the neurological interest of a continent. Can you explain to the readers of the EANpages how was the AFAN created and why? Mansour Ndiaye (MN): Delegates from over 30 countries in Africa representing the interests of their national neurologic societies and associations met in Dakar, Senegal, over the weekend of August 29-30, 2015.

Albania, officially the Republic of Albania (in Albanian: Republika e Shqipërisë), is situated in South-East Europe on the West of Balkan peninsula. It is bordered with Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. Albania has a long coastal line facing the Adriatic Sea on the west and the Ionian Sea on the south and southwest.

David Vodušek (DV):  The Lundbeckfonden Brain Prize is a very prestigious award. Can you illustrate to the EANpages readers how this prize came into existence and what is the scope of such a prize? Kim Krogsgaard (KK): In 2008 Lundbeckfonden’s board of trustees envisioned a large personal research prize within brain research.

For August 2016 we have selected: Gormley P, Anttila V, Winsvold BS, et al. Meta-analysis of 375,000 individuals identifies 38 susceptibility loci for migraine. Nature Genetics 2016 June 20;doi: 10.1038/ng.3598. Migraine is a worldwide common, disabling, and costly disease. Its pathophysiology has been related to either a primary vascular dysfunction or a primary neuronal dysfunction with secondary vascular involvement.

The International Parkinson Disease and Movement Disorders Society (MDS) Task Force on Genetic Nomenclature in Movement Disorders developed an online database providing a comprehensive overview of movement disorders phenotypes linked to causative gene mutations. MDSGene was just revealed at the… Continue Reading