Autoimmune diseases deliberated during three-day conference in Kolkata
Times of India | 23 July 2024
KOLKATA: Doctors cutting across various disciplines of medicine got together in Kolkata to deliberate on autoimmune diseases, one of the most neglected fields of medicine. Organised by Calcutta Association Calcutta Association of Practicing Pathologists (CAPP) around 200 delegates from across the country was part of the just three-day conference in Kolkata.
According to experts, autoimmune diseases encompass a plethora of health conditions that are caused by immunological anomalies where antibodies overreact within the body leading to tissue and organ damage.The anomalies can be either genetic or acquired.
While there is an increasing diagnosis of autoimmune diseases like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes, doctors said the awareness is still low. Since these are progressive diseases if not intervened on time it may lead to debilities, multi-organ failure, and even death. Many autoimmune diseases have no cure, but prompt and proper diagnosis can manage the conditions well. Such diseases affect 7.5-9.5% of the human population globally, and usually manifest in the middle age.
The three-day CAPP conference on ‘Autoimmunity and Vasculitis: Understanding the enemy within’ had deliberations by faculties from different fields of medicine, including clinicians and laboratory professionals, in various aspects of the disease. Some of the speakers included Kolkata doctors Subhankar Chowdhury, Yogiraj Ray, Alokendu Ghosh and Dr Biman Saikia from PGI Chandigarh.
While Dr Sukanta Chakraborty, an NABL assessor was one of the organising secretaries, Dr Bhaskar Narayan Chaudhuri, chief microbiologist, Peerless Hospital was the organising vice president.
The three-decade-old organization of lab professionals - pathologists, microbiologists, biochemists and haematologists currently had nearly 200 members from across private hospitals and diagnostic labs in Kolkata.