Dear members of the round table and interested parties, as the year is nearing its end, we felt it was time for some reflection and plan-making, which we would like to share with you!
All the best,
Manfred Eggersdorfer, Reindert Graaff, Ard Struijs, Chaja Hudepol, Marjo Kommeren, Jaap Toet, Idelette Nutma, and Roland de Wolf
LinkedIn page
First of all, we are very happy that the CMSM has its own LinkedIn page now! Here we will be sharing our news items, as well as some opinion pieces. It would mean a lot to us (and our outreach) if you could give the page a follow!
https://www.linkedin.com/company/collaboration-cmsm/
New core group member
We are very happy to welcome Ard Struijs to the core group of the CMSM. Ard is Intensivist at the Erasmus MC, and passionate about driving advancements in both clinical and commercial patient care. With expertise spanning endocrinology, bone metabolism, and bacteriophages, his goal is to improve the safety and effectiveness of medical care. We are grateful that he will be sharing his insights and experience with us.
Sepsis patient organisation
An interesting development within our group is the decision of Idelette to form an official patient organisation for Sepsis. This does not currently exist in the Netherlands, and Idelette has filled that gap in the past with her personal work. But now it has become clear that there is a need for an official organisation to continue her important work. We are very excited about this development, and about any possible collaborations with this group in the future.
Our thoughts on After-ESPEN
Just like last year, the CMSM went to after-ESPEN. However, afterwards the feeling that reigned was disappointment; not one talk or poster even mentioned micronutrients. And during the case study that was discussed in the end, the severe vitamin D deficiency of the sepsis patient was brushed aside as being 'normal for all ICU patients'. That was the only time during the entire day that micronutrients were mentioned.
You can probably understand that this was upsetting to us, especially because last year there were actually a couple of talks that at least mentioned micronutrients. This was certainly a disappointment, but the congress did help us to stick a barometer into the field of nutrition, and showed us that there is still much room for improvement, and much need for efforts such as our own.
Recap: Our activities in 2024
Round table - Taking vitamin C from bench to bedside
We organised a round table session this spring. The session brought together multiple interesting speakers, who elaborated on the steps that micronutrients -and specifically vitamin C- need to take to go from the research bench to the patient bedside. A summary of the talks can be found on our website: CMSM Round Table summary
Collecting patient experiences
A project that has been in the making for a long time, is the collection of patient stories with regards to their experiences with micronutrients, in- and out of the clinic. The goal of these stories is to be able to highlight that micronutrient use is happening, and that it can have beneficial effects. We hope that by spreading these stories, we can initiate a change from the bottom-up, or at the very least get people to consider a new perspective.
We are currently deciding on how to move forward with this project, and you will hear more about it in 2025.
Future plans
Of course 2025 will have a round table event again. We have already reached out to some speakers and are looking forward to organising another get-together where knowledge and insights can be exchanged.
We will also be attending the vitamin C congress organized by Pascoe in the summer. We have been in close contact with this company since our last round table session, talking about ways to spread knowledge on micronutrients further. We look forward to expanding our knowledge on vitamin C even further, and to meet more experts in the field.
As mentioned we will also continue collecting patient stories, and hopefully finish the project with a bundled collection of stories that together can form a voice in favor of micronutrients.