The Norwegian ME Association – Department Rogaland – invited six lecturers to Stavanger in November 2015 to talk about ME.
The arrangement was split into two events; one seminar was held at Stavanger University Hospital during the day. This was aimed at health care workers and over 200 participants attended.
In the evening the same lecturers spoke for a wider audience of over 400 people.
This event was filmed and made into a DVD in order to make the lectures available for those who could not attend.
The DVD is now available also for an international audience with English subtitles for the Norwegian lectures. You can choose your preferred currency among USD, Euro or GBP. The duration of the DVD is approximately 2 1/2 hours.
Local media (TV VEST) covered the event with an interview of two of the speakers – Jørgen Jelstad and Dr. Amolak Bansal (the interview with dr. Amolak Bansal in English begins at 00.59). The DVD can be ordered here.
Content of DVD
Professor Olav Mella
Theme: Multicentre clinical trial RituxME
Professor Olav Mella is head of Department of Oncology and Medical Physics at Haukeland University Hospital. Together with colleague senior consultant Øystein Fluge he has done research on ME for several years. They are now working on a national, randomised, double-blind and placebo controlled multi centre phase III study investigating treatment with Rituximab on patients with ME. The study is expected finished in 2017
Ketil Jakobsen
Theme: Rehabilitation program for teenagers with ME/CFS. A pilot project at St. Olav’s Hospital
Ketil Jakobsen is specialised in psychology and project manager at Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit. Jakobsen talks about a pilot project with 13 teenagers diagnosed with ME. The project contained psycho-education, adjustment of activity, cognitive coping strategies and Bio-Feedback. He shares his experiences with emphasis on proper dialogue and respect for the individual youth’s own thoughts and feelings about being ill.
Dr. Nigel Speight
Theme: ME/CFS in children, and the challenge posed by the very severe cases
Dr. Nigel Speight is a pediatrician with background from The University Hospital of North Durham. He has over 30 years experience on children with ME, including from Norway. Dr. Speight speaks about his work and about the results from a 6 year follow-up study he performed on 49 patients. Further, he talks about misunderstandings surrounding ME and challenges for doctors facing very severe ME.
Dr. Katrine Brække Norheim
Theme: Diagnosing ME/CFS at Stavanger University Hospital
enior consultant/PhD Katrine Brække Norheim works at Stavanger University Hospital. She talks about a recently established interdisciplinary team at the hospital for examining and diagnosing ME. She also tells us about their cooperation with GPs.
Dr. Amolak Bansal
Theme: Diagnosis and differential diagnosis: Combining clinic and research
Dr. Amolak Bansal is an immunologist at Epsom and St. Helier Hospitals. His fields are allergy, auto immunity, ME/CFS and immune disorders. Dr. Bansal is involved in several research projects on ME – from microbes, Rituximab and auto immunity.
Jørgen Jelstad
Theme: Research provides hope for ME-patients
Jørgen Jelstad is a journalist and writer with background as a physiotherapist. He is author of the Norwegian book “The Hidden – and how ME/CFS became the most controversial disease of our time” (2011). He has also written many articles and debate contributions in addition to blog posts about ME at www.debortgjemte.com. Through several years he has lectured on the disease. Jelstad is very well up to date on the debate about ME and international research on the disease.
