Scandinavian Journal of Clinical & Laboratory Investigation, 2014; 74(Suppl 244): 1
informa h e a lth c a re
FOREWORD
14th B erg m ey er C o n feren ce on W om en ’s H ealth
IAN S. YOUNG The Centre for Public Health, Queen’s University, Belfast, UK
‘Sometimes it’s hard to be a woman’ sang Dolly Parton, and this applies in relation to health as in many other areas. While it is true that women, in general, live longer than men, there remain many important areas of health where women suffer earlier and more severe disease than men, with poorer outcomes as a consequence. Gender and sex differences have sig nificant impacts on health, particularly in developing countries where social and economic challenges mean that women often have particular difficulty in accessing high-quality healthcare. In addition, there are specific diseases and illnesses associated with being a woman which present specific challenges for health care and disease prevention. It was against this background that a decision was made to focus the 14th Bergmeyer Conference, held from 3-5 March 2014, on the topic of Women’s Health. This issue of the Scandinavian Journal of Clin ical & Laboratory Investigation contains papers based on the presentations which were given at the Confer ence. It includes discussion of pregnancy, fertility and the major female cancers, but also highlights some of the gender specific challenges which are encountered in other areas of medicine, such as hepatology and infectious disease. In part these challenges result from the different physical manifestations of disease, and in part from differences in how women access the healthcare system in different settings and how health care professionals respond to their needs. The Bergmeyer Conference is named after and dedicated to Professor Hans-Ulrich Bergmeyer to hon our his outstanding achievements in biochemistry and the area of standardization. The conference is finan cially sponsored by Roche Diagnostics in the form of an unrestricted educational grant, and the topic is cho sen and the programme put together by the Scientific Division of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC). The participants in this conference came from a wide range of professional backgrounds, including research scientists, hospital scientists, clinical labora tory scientists and clinicians. The majority of the ISSN 0036-5513 print/ISSN 1502-7686 online © 2014 Informa Healthcare DOI: 10.3109/00365513.2014.936671
speakers and attendees at the conference were, appropriately, female. The faculty brought together consisted of many of the world’s leading experts on Women’s Health who gave state-of-the-art presenta tions on relevant topics. Almost all speakers at the conference have provided papers for this issue of the journal, and we are grateful for their contributions. Together, they provide a valuable overview of the major contemporary medical and laboratory chal lenges in the area ofWomen’s Health. As for all of the previous Conferences, Anders Kallner again took over the main responsibility of edit ing these proceedings. Maurizio Ferrari and Janet Smith summarized discussions and put them in their proper context. Paola Bramati at the IFCC office sup ported the organization of the scientific aspects of the Conference. Last but not least, Joe Passarelli and his staff at Roche Diagnostics carried the burden of orga nizing the Conference in Eibsee, Germany, facilitating an outstanding meeting. We are grateful to them all. Finally, a reminder of the topics of the previous Bergmeyer Conferences: 1988 1989 1990 1992
1994 1996 1999 2001 2003
2005 2008 2010 2012 2014
Principles of assays in medical sciences Laboratory measurements in lipid disorders Immunoassay standardization Proposals for two immunomethod refer ence systems: cortisol and human chorionic gonadotropin Tumor markers Biochemical markers of bone diseases Markers of cardiac damage Biochemical markers for autoimmune diseases Nucleic acid markers for bacterial and viral infections in intensive care and immuno compromised patients Diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease Markers of kidney disease Novel biomarkers: from discovery to clinical application Vitamin D in health and disease Women’s health
Copyright of Scandinavian Journal of Clinical & Laboratory Investigation is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
Copyright of Scandinavian Journal of Clinical & Laboratory Investigation. Supplement is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
informa h e a lth c a re
FOREWORD
14th B erg m ey er C o n feren ce on W om en ’s H ealth
IAN S. YOUNG The Centre for Public Health, Queen’s University, Belfast, UK
‘Sometimes it’s hard to be a woman’ sang Dolly Parton, and this applies in relation to health as in many other areas. While it is true that women, in general, live longer than men, there remain many important areas of health where women suffer earlier and more severe disease than men, with poorer outcomes as a consequence. Gender and sex differences have sig nificant impacts on health, particularly in developing countries where social and economic challenges mean that women often have particular difficulty in accessing high-quality healthcare. In addition, there are specific diseases and illnesses associated with being a woman which present specific challenges for health care and disease prevention. It was against this background that a decision was made to focus the 14th Bergmeyer Conference, held from 3-5 March 2014, on the topic of Women’s Health. This issue of the Scandinavian Journal of Clin ical & Laboratory Investigation contains papers based on the presentations which were given at the Confer ence. It includes discussion of pregnancy, fertility and the major female cancers, but also highlights some of the gender specific challenges which are encountered in other areas of medicine, such as hepatology and infectious disease. In part these challenges result from the different physical manifestations of disease, and in part from differences in how women access the healthcare system in different settings and how health care professionals respond to their needs. The Bergmeyer Conference is named after and dedicated to Professor Hans-Ulrich Bergmeyer to hon our his outstanding achievements in biochemistry and the area of standardization. The conference is finan cially sponsored by Roche Diagnostics in the form of an unrestricted educational grant, and the topic is cho sen and the programme put together by the Scientific Division of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC). The participants in this conference came from a wide range of professional backgrounds, including research scientists, hospital scientists, clinical labora tory scientists and clinicians. The majority of the ISSN 0036-5513 print/ISSN 1502-7686 online © 2014 Informa Healthcare DOI: 10.3109/00365513.2014.936671
speakers and attendees at the conference were, appropriately, female. The faculty brought together consisted of many of the world’s leading experts on Women’s Health who gave state-of-the-art presenta tions on relevant topics. Almost all speakers at the conference have provided papers for this issue of the journal, and we are grateful for their contributions. Together, they provide a valuable overview of the major contemporary medical and laboratory chal lenges in the area ofWomen’s Health. As for all of the previous Conferences, Anders Kallner again took over the main responsibility of edit ing these proceedings. Maurizio Ferrari and Janet Smith summarized discussions and put them in their proper context. Paola Bramati at the IFCC office sup ported the organization of the scientific aspects of the Conference. Last but not least, Joe Passarelli and his staff at Roche Diagnostics carried the burden of orga nizing the Conference in Eibsee, Germany, facilitating an outstanding meeting. We are grateful to them all. Finally, a reminder of the topics of the previous Bergmeyer Conferences: 1988 1989 1990 1992
1994 1996 1999 2001 2003
2005 2008 2010 2012 2014
Principles of assays in medical sciences Laboratory measurements in lipid disorders Immunoassay standardization Proposals for two immunomethod refer ence systems: cortisol and human chorionic gonadotropin Tumor markers Biochemical markers of bone diseases Markers of cardiac damage Biochemical markers for autoimmune diseases Nucleic acid markers for bacterial and viral infections in intensive care and immuno compromised patients Diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease Markers of kidney disease Novel biomarkers: from discovery to clinical application Vitamin D in health and disease Women’s health
Copyright of Scandinavian Journal of Clinical & Laboratory Investigation is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
Copyright of Scandinavian Journal of Clinical & Laboratory Investigation. Supplement is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
