MACRO Programme Holds Successful Launch Event
The start of the seven year MACRO project into chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) was marked with a launch event on 3rd November at the Congress Centre, London.
CRS affects one in 10 people in the UK. The MACRO research project, led by Ms Claire Hopkins and Mr. Carl Philpott, will:
- Analyse health data
- Explore attitudes to treatment (both doctors and patients)
- Recruit 600 patients into a trial to compare medical and surgical therapy
- Recommend a best practice pathway of care
It is hoped that project will result in CRS patients getting a consistently high standard of treatment across the UK. Currently, only a small percentage of sufferers see their GP, and the treatment received varies – most receive antibiotics and some undergo surgery, but it’s not clear how effective either of these are. CRS sufferers spend five times more than other people on over-the-counter remedies.
Ms. Hopkins spoke at the launch event, along with Aneeka Deegun of ENT UK, who hosted a Q&A session with Imogen and Alahree, both of whom have CRS. Both ladies also gave moving accounts of the day to day challenges and frustrations of living with CRS to an audience made up of clinicians and patients.
It was interesting for all attendees to hear the breadth and depth of the issues associated with CRS. Fifth Sense member Alahree spoke about how her loss of smell had impacted on her life, whilst Imogen talked about the problems that her regular bouts of coughing that her condition cause on a practical level. This included all of her regular activities which people might not have thought of, such as worrying in case it disturbed others at her during yoga classes. She even thought it might be annoying for her husband, which is quite unusual, as most of the time it’s husbands who are doing annoying things!
As Alahree said, it’s great to feel that there is acknowledgement from medical profession that this is a medical condition that is being taken seriously and there is light at the end of the tunnel.
We will, of course, be following the progress of the project with interest and updating you will key findings and other relevant information.