On October 23rd, there has been an exciting webinar organised by the East Meets West Action Group, under the auspices of European Calcified Tissue Society.
Two important issues have been debated. The first one took into consideration the different dietetic approaches for metabolic bone diseases with particular reference to osteoporosis in Eastern and Western countries. The final conclusion of the speakers of this session (E. Biver from Switzerland and A. Suzuki from Japan) was that there are different nutritional behaviours between the two continents that may partly underly different prevalences of osteoporosis for example, in Japan, in respect to Western countries. Th
e second issue debated by A. Kahn (USA) and J. Liu (China) was centered on “Different therapeutic approach of hypoparathyroidism in Eastern and Western countries”. This debate evidenced striking different pharmacological approaches in the two continents. For example, one of the most important differences is represented by the lack of commercialization of parathyroid hormone in China. The webinar has been a very interesting sparking discussion.
The webinar further highlights the importance of continuous comparisons between the two continents in the footsteps of previous debates and Congresses, the last one being held recently in China on last September.