Waddell Center Experts Conduct MS Symposium

CINCINNATI—Clinicians from the Waddell Center for Multiple Sclerosis will conduct MS Symposium 2007: Education, Support and Solutions, a free event for patients, caregivers and health care providers, on Saturday, Oct. 6, at the Oasis Conference Center in Loveland. The Waddell Center is an affiliate of UC Physicians and the Neuroscience Institute at University Hospital and the University of Cincinnati (UC).

The symposium offers two different educational tracks targeted to patients, a third track targeted to caregivers, and a provider track that offers continuing medical education (CME) credits to neurologists, radiologists, emergency medicine physicians, ophthalmologists, nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, social workers and others who work with MS patients.

Registration opens at 8:15 a.m. The first presentation will begin at 9 a.m.

Patients and caregivers needing reservation information for the symposium can contact Rebekah Schraer at (513) 769-4400 or rebekah.schraer@ohg.nmss.org. For CME credit information, contact Kimberly DiPilla at (513) 558-1434 or kimberly.dipilla@uc.edu.

Multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system, afflicts about 400,000 Americans, at least two-thirds of them women.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for patients and their caregivers to receive broad and unbiased information about MS and how best to cope with it,” said Bibiana Bielekova, MD, director of the Waddell Center. “Similarly, we hope the symposium will serve as an important educational resource for health care professionals who confront this complex disease. We view the symposium as a reflection of the Waddell Center’s commitment to provide valuable services to Greater Cincinnati’s entire MS community.”

Presenters at the event will include Bielekova; Maria Melanson, MD, medical director of the Waddell Center; Istvan Pirko, MD, associate professor of neurology at UC; and Jack Llewellyn, PhD, a sports psychology consultant.

Topics will include treatments for multiple sclerosis, developments in research, fatigue and spasticity, bowel and bladder dysfunction, depression, physical activity, intimacy and sexuality, pain, legal and financial issues, family dynamics and caregiver needs. 

The Waddell Center for Multiple Sclerosis is the only neurological practice in the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky/Dayton area that has fellowship-trained MS specialists. The center, which integrates state-of-the-art clinical care with laboratory and clinical research, was established in 2002 with a $5 million gift from Virgilee and Oliver Waddell.

UC Physicians is a private-practice group of more than 400 clinical faculty members of the UC College of Medicine. The physicians provide clinical services in 18 different specialties, including primary care, surgery, internal medicine, emergency medicine, oncology, urology, cardiology, neurology, neurosurgery, rehabilitation and pain management.

The Neuroscience Institute is a regional center of excellence dedicated to patient care, research, education and the development of new treatments in nine areas of neuroscience: stroke, brain and spinal tumors, epilepsy, traumatic brain and spinal injury, MS, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, disorders of the senses (swallowing, voice, hearing, pain, taste and smell), and psychiatric conditions (bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and depression).