How friendly the Scots are! This became apparent at the Strathclyde Lupus Group 'Meet and Greet' session on Saturday, 10th May.

The following day delegates were seated in a huge airy conference room at round tables. This was conducive to meeting new people and finding out how they experienced lupus.

Jane Atkinson, the chair of the local group, began by welcoming everyone to Glasgow. She was followed by Dr Asad Zoma. He is part of a world wide team of people doing collaborative research which began in 2000. The purpose of this work is to test people newly diagnosed with lupus and make a register of atherosclerosis. Work has also been in progress since the 1980s to develop international measures looking at the levels of lupus activity, damage to the body and the quality of life of those with the illness. A new measure of quality of life is now being developed which will be interesting. It is very cheering to learn that there is an international team working hard on our behalf.

After a coffee break, a very jolly and dynamic Prof. Naveed Sattar gave a Talk entitled, 'Lupus and Coronary Heart Disease; what is the risk and what can we do about it?' This tied in well with Dr Zoma's work. He gave the very clear message that those with SLE are more than twice as likely to have a heart attack. The other risk factors are age, smoking, gender, diabetes, high blood fat (cholesterol) and high blood pressure. Other factors are weight, social class and South Asian background. Things we can be responsible for to lessen risk are; don't smoke; stay active and avoid weight gain. From the medics we need aggressive treatments to dampen down the lupus disease activity and, if necessary, for high cholesterol, take cholesterol lowering drugs. Prof. Sattar recommended that everyone over 40 should ask their GP to assess their heart disease risk.

The LUPUS UK AGM then took place with Reports from the Chair, Director and Treasurer. The Minutes of the 2007 AGM were agreed and a vote was taken on amendments to the Constitution, this, too, being agreed.

The afternoon session was opened by Frances Curran, National Patron, who was followed by Dr. Max Field.
Dr. Field’s Talk asked, ‘What do Lupus Nurses do and what would you like them to do?’ During the Talk, delegates were asked to complete a short questionnaire. This was another good way of not only finding information which Dr. Field requested, but, also, encouraging the delegates to share their thoughts and ideas on what they expect from a Lupus Nurse.

The day was rounded off by an excellent Gaelic Band and the raffle draw.

Congratulations go to the National Office Team and the Strathclyde Lupus Group for organising a really good National Convention.

Prof. Naveed Sattar

Frances Curran, Patron LUPUS UK