I have been speaking with a really lovely doctor from Spain. His name is Dr. Ignacio Blanco. He is an Internist and Pneumologist and his specialty of research is in Fibromyalgia.
Dr. Blanco just recently problished a groundbreaking article on the Abnormal Overexpression of Mastocytes in Skin Biopsies of Fibromyalgia Patients. This is an article that some patients believe connects mastocytosis and fibromyalgia. I'm not raising this to discuss this possibility, but the reason why I'm raising this article is to say that the world of research into mast cells has been given a huge blow in the the FORCED RETIREMENT of this doctor and two of his fellow scientists!!!
We know that within the study of mast cells we have researchers who have dedicated their lives to studying mastocytosis in order to discover not only how the disease itself works, but also how the mast cell works. It is due to their groundbreaking discoveries that other scientists have become interested in the mast cell and have begun studying it in regards to other diseases. The Mastocytosis researchers concentrate their efforts still within the realm of only diagnosis and so much about the disease and how it affects our bodies is poorly understood. It is the work of other doctors, like Dr. Blanco, which begins to shed light as to the mast cell's role in other disease processes. The more this is understood, the more our researchers can comprehend as to the mast cells role in masto and our other areas of the body!
The loss of this particular doctor is huge for there are perhaps only a HANDFUL of pneumologists in the world who understand and study the mast cell!! So very little is understood as to the role of the mast cell within the lungs for mastocytosis so very rarely occurs within the lungs and this is why it's not been studied! But even then, mastocytosis of any tissue outside of the skin and the bone marrow is very poorly studied and there are patients out there who have real issues with their breathing and other body functions due to the lack of study of the mast cell's role in other tissues and other diseases!!!
So, why is he and his colleagues being forced to retire. Because Spain is forcing anyone over the age of 65 to retire, period, due to their high rate of unemployment! Yet, doctors, especially researchers are in a profession in which these people are finally in their prime around this age! These people traditionally get into the market place at an older age due to all the study they must go through in order to practice medicine. Yet, for many years, doctors are still learning and it takes them years of study and personal investment and work to come to a place of mastering a certain area of study and it is only by the time that they reach their mid to late 50s that they are real authorities in any subject and to force these people to retire by the time they are 65 is a TRUE LOSS TO THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY!! This doctor has taken a real interest in the mast cell and it's function within fibromyalgia as well as the lung and has been forced as of December to STOP EVERYTHING!!!
THIS IS JUS UNACCEPTABLE!!! For not only does this cut short the hopes for fibromyalgia patients, but it also cuts our own hopes short for finding answers and understanding of how mast cells work in this specific disease of which some of us are known to suffer, but also as to the mast cells function within the lung! I have been looking here in Brazil for a pneumologist who knows mast cells and I have been unable to find a single one! To lose this man in the prime of his career, and the point where he is just beginning to shed light upon this area is a TRAVESTY!!!
But what can we do?
If you are as upset about this as I am, I think that it's necessary to write a letter to the American Consul in Spain protesting this decision to retire doctors and especially scientists due to their age, especially when they are active in the field of research! This forced retirement affects the entire medical community around the world and not just within our own particular countries, for research, today, is international and we ALL profit from it one way or another!
So please consider writing to the US Embassy in Madrid. This is their website:
http://madrid.usembassy.gov/The Ambassador's name is Ambassador Alan Solomont and his wife, who is also very active, her name is Susan.
Mr. Solomont's background is in health care and is a graduate from Tufts University which is where Dr. Theoharides is from. This man may be able to help persuade Spain for the need to change it's recent laws to allow for an exception of scientists who are over the required retirement age to return to their work. This is what we want to ask be done in the case of Dr. Ignacio Blanco and his fellow colleagues!!
I would ask that you would please consider writing a strong letter to Ambassador Solomont. We need Dr. Blanco and his colleagues to return to their work for younger doctors can not pick up where he has left off - it would take YEARS for them to catch up!!!
Thank you!
Lisa
Contact information for the US Embassy in Madrid, Spain.
U.S. Embassy in Madrid, Spain
Serrano 75
28006
Phone: 91587-2200
Fax: 91-587-2303
Web Site:
http://www.embusa.es/Email: amemb@embusa.es
Office Hours: Mon - Fri 0900 - 1300
Below is the abstract of the recent work by Dr. Blanco and colleagues. If anyone is interested, please PM me with your email address and I will gladly send it to you.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20428906