The Center for Research and Treatment in Hypertension and Global Cardiovascular Risk, of the Internal Medicine Service of the Hospital da Senhora da Oliveira / University of Minho, which is classified as a European Center of Excellence in Hypertension, together with the School of Medicine of that University, organized the 5th International Postgraduate Course on Arterial Stiffness and Early Vascular Aging.
It took place on the 9th, 10th and 11th of November, and IDENTISOFT Medical Solutions participated in this course. According to Doctor Pedro Guimarães Cunha, coordinator of the Consultation for Hypertension and Chronic Kidney Diseases at the Center, “this is the only European course dedicated specifically to this theme”.
In his opinion, the course helped “to promote knowledge regarding the use of arterial stiffness and central blood pressure as biomarkers associated with cardiovascular risk, and their ability to identify subjects at risk of developing cardiovascular disease early”.
Another intention is to correlate these two hemodynamic biomarkers with the deterioration not only of vascular function, but also of cognitive function over time.
The course also helped “to integrate the use of these biomarkers in several cardiovascular and cardiometabolic pathologies, thus reaching different aspects and areas of interest and turning them into biomarkers that are used in various medical disciplines”.
The training took place under the defense of the European Hypertension Society, the Portuguese Society of Internal Medicine, the Portuguese Society of Hypertension and the Artery Society. Pedro Guimarães Cunha indicated that this “has contributed a lot to the certification of the course and for your statement in this field”.
It should also be noted that in this edition there was a session dedicated to clinical research in this area, with particular focus on different groups of researchers from the Iberian Peninsula, and with the contribution of several centers in Spain and Portugal.
The event which took place at the University of Minho, in Braga, had national and foreign speakers, especially from other European countries, aimed at all doctors who are interested in the area of cardiovascular risk (of the specialties of Internal Medicine, Nephrology and General and Family Medicine, for example), as well as researchers and non-medical professionals dedicated to other areas, such as engineering or vascular mechanics.
In addition to Doctor Pedro Guimarães Cunha, the Organizing Committee was joined by Dr. Jorge Cotter, Director of the Internal Medicine Service, at the Center for Research and Treatment in Arterial Hypertension and Global Cardiovascular Risk at the Hospital da Senhora da Oliveira (Guimarães). Doctor Nuno Sousa, professor and vice president of the School of Medicine at the University of Minho also joined.
