Chronic pain addressed at SPaRC – annual meeting March 27th

Published On Tue 25 Mar 2014 by Roddy Isles

Chronic pain is common to many major diseases and conditions and affects hundreds of thousands of people across Scotland. But how are the healthcare system and research community addressing it?

The latest developments in clinical practice and research will be discussed at the annual scientific meeting of the Scottish Pain Research Community (SPaRC) at the University of Dundee later this week.

Among the keynote speakers at the event will be Andrew Rice, Professor of Pain Research from Imperial College London, and Dr William Campbell, President of the British Pain Society.

“Chronic pain is a condition in its own right that affects around one-in-five adults in Scotland, with five per cent of the population severely affected by debilitating, disabling pain,” said Professor Blair Smith of the University of Dundee, who is Chair of SPaRC  and the Scottish Chronic Pain Research Subgroup.

“A lot has been done by the Scottish Government and the NHS in Scotland in recent years to improve pain services so we are moving in the right direction, but it is still an area that presents many challenges.

“Our meeting will look at a wide range of issues around the causes and treatment of pain, from what is being done at the molecular level aiming to discover new drugs to manage pain, to wider population-based studies relating to prescribing patterns across Scotland.”

The 4^th Annual Scientific Meeting of SPaRC takes place at West Park Conference Centre in Dundee on Thursday March 27^th.

Speakers will be delivering 15-minute talks to an audience that will include patients and service users.

Roddy Isles
Head of Press
University of Dundee
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