MORE than 4,000 delegates from up to 70 countries are arriving in Dublin this weekend for an international conference on epilepsy. The organisers say it is the largest medical conference to be held in Ireland.
The official opening ceremony for the five-day 22nd International Epilepsy Congress will be performed at the RDS by the President, Mrs Robinson, tomorrow night.
Dr John Kirker, chairman of the conference's scientific advisory committee, said yesterday that its purpose was to provide a forum to allow interaction between medical experts, drug companies, research and development personnel and all those involved in the care of epilepsy.
"It will bring about public awareness in Ireland of this often misunderstood condition," said Dr Kirker, a consultant neurologist in Dublin. "All the most recent research will be presented and reported on."
It is estimated that one in 200 people in Ireland will suffer from some form of epilepsy.
"It has been suggested that as many as one in 50 people at some stage in their life will have a single fit," explained Dr Kirker.
One of the topics to be discussed at the conference is epilepsy and genetics, currently a big growth area in research into the condition.
"We are getting closer and closer to identifying chromosomal abnormality," he said. "You will then be able to say what chemical disturbance this chromosome causes and produce chemicals to neutralise the change, although we are a way off from that at the moment."