Berlin. The enormous impact of the study of Prediabetes and the Metabolic Syndrome on public health, and the impressive progress led a group of experts under the chairmanship of Sir George Alberti, UK to convene the 1st International Congress on "Prediabetes" and the Metabolic Syndrome which was held in Berlin, Germany, last week, April 13 - 16, 2005.

This congress was dedicated to the advances made in this field and served as a platform in which screening and intervention efforts were presented and evaluated. More than 2,200 top level experts from all over the world attended this highly scientific congress!

An intensive discussion on “Prediabetes and the Metabolic Syndrome” has shown some important insights. People with “Prediabetes and the Metabolic Syndrome” are at high risk for diabetes and CVD and are the ideal target population for prevention programmes. Intensive lifestyle interventions are efficacious and should be encouraged. However, they may be difficult to broadly apply. Therefore, effective pharmacological therapies must also be identified.

The 1st International Congress on “Prediabetes and the Metabolic Syndrome” in Berlin was a great success for Bayer HealthCare AG as one of the main sponsors. The congress gave the ideal opportunity to represent Glucobay® as the therapeutic bridge between pre- and established type 2 diabetes for an optimal treatment across the whole disease continuum.

To achieve this objective, Bayer HealthCare had prepared a wide range of activities on this congress: Pre-event campaign, Bayer booth, Bayer Satellite Symposium, two "Meet-the-expert" meetings, and post event activities.

The faculty of the Bayer HealthCare symposium was made up of an international group of eminent opinion leaders, led by Professor Chiasson. The symposium “Acarbose – The therapeutic bridge between pre- and established type 2 diabetes“ was extremely well-attended with over 450 participants.

The satellite symposium was complemented by two “Meet-the-expert“ sessions and the Bayer HealthCare booth which was a great-accepted meeting point. The “Meet-the-expert“ sessions deepened the scientific results of the preceding Bayer satellite symposium themed “Acarbose – the ideal therapy for patients” with pre- and established type 2 diabetes. Prof. Chiasson was the speaker for our invited European delegates. Prof. Karasik was the speaker for our delegates from China.

And, finally, Glucobay® was present with nine posters and three oral presentations in the main scientific programme of the congress. This reflected again the acknowledgement of the high data quality of Glucobay® in this field.

The symposium, the "Meet-the-expert" sessions, the booth as well as the above-mentioned presentations combined to re-iterate core data that reinforce Acarbose’s unique, proven benefits in Prediabetes and overt type 2 diabetes.