2023-10-19 10:20:01
Rheumatism, gout, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus: these are all examples of rheumatological diseases which at the beginning of the 19th century were almost unknown, while today at least 200 are known. This is also thanks to the communication and information work carried out to the public done in past years: “Today – he explains Gian Domenico Sebastianipresident of SIR (Italian Society of Rheumatology) and director of the Rheumatology UOC of the San Camillo – Forlanini Hospital in Rome -, showing the impact that propaganda has had on the identification of new pathologies and on research allows us to understand the enormous potential, also in terms of prevention and correct interpretation of symptoms: in this area of medicine, in fact, patients often wait years before receiving a diagnosis”. Here is therefore the rationale for the exhibition “History of pharmaceutical advertising for therapy of pain and rheumatological diseases”, inaugurated last October 14th in Potenza, at the National Archaeological Museum of Basilicata “Dinu Adamesteau”, which will be open to visitors until Sunday 22nd, from 9am to 8pm. With something new compared to the previous stages.
Rheumatological diseases, an exhibition dedicated to advertising to better understand the forms of pain by Irma D’Aria 05 September 2023
The warrior of the necropolis of San Chirico Nuovo
As he says Annamaria Mauro, architect and director of the Regional Museums Directorate of Basilicata, the exhibition also offers the opportunity for an excursus in the anthropological field: “The results of recent paleoanthropological analyzes thanks to which it was possible to find rheumatological pathologies on individuals of ancient Basilicata”. Among these, continues Mauro, there is for example a warrior from the 6th century BC buried in a necropolis near San Chirico Nuovo, in the province of Potenza, who shows signs of severe arthrosis of the left elbow bones, i.e. the so-called tennis player, compatible with prolonged use of a shield. The exhibition therefore consists of a sort of thematic itinerary that accompanies visitors to discover the use of amulets such as amber, and natural remedies for the treatment and cure of ailments in the ancient world, from the archaic to the Roman age: “A fascinating journey into the universe of medical care, starting from the domestic sphere, with strong cultural implications, to reach the civic value assumed, for example, by the attendance of public health spas in Roman times”, continues Mauro.
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The role of advertising and communication
“The exhibition on the history of advertising demonstrates how communication techniques, to be effective, even in the medical field, must be able to interpret the needs of the population and use quality artistic expressions – comment Alberto Perez-Negrete, scholarship holder at the Institute of History of Rheumatology (ISR) and curator of the exhibition and catalogue, and Leonardo Punzi, director of the ISR. The Institute of History of Rheumatology was born in 2020 in Venice with the aim of studying the history of rheumatological diseases to better understand their mechanisms and consequently guarantee innovative therapies to patients. “Rheumatological diseases are famous for having affected prestigious figures in the past, such as Michelangelo, Galileo, Garibaldi and Christopher Columbus – adds Roberto Gerli, Past president of SIR and Director of the School of Specialization in Rheumatology of the University of Perugia – . However, these were the few already known, such as gout, seen as an ‘aristocratic’ pathology because it was associated with the consumption of red meat. Others, such as rheumatoid arthritis, have only developed in the last two centuries. Today many of them have a strongly negative impact on the quality of life of patients, but if we can control their symptoms with drugs such as cortisone, which entered clinical practice only in 1950, and more effectively with innovative drugs, such as biological ones, it is thanks investments in research and the dissemination of information regarding pathologies, including through advertising”.
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Basilicata, excellence for Rheumatology
And its inauguration, underline Angela Padula and Stefania Cutro, respectively director of the Department of Rheumatology of the Basilicata Region and regional SIR delegate, took place just a few days after the 25th anniversary of SIR’s activity: “Rheumatology was in fact born in Basilicata on 12 October 1998 as a regional department, under the guidance of Dr. Ignazio Olivieri, with the aim of slowing down healthcare migration. In these 25 years – they conclude -, the Lucanian rheumatology reality has consolidated, becoming a reference center for the South and, for some rheumatological pathologies, also a national reference center”.
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