Stockholm

It's Sunday so it must be Stockholm. I've been invited as a guest of Servier Laboratories at the European Society of cardiology meeting here. They are presenting, what they hope, will be ground breaking study on the use of their drug Ivabradine in heart failure.

I flew in last night, settle down, then go for dinner with three of their people. They are all very cagey about the results and reckon not to know. However, they have a huge stand, with lots of people from France and the UK. It is a French company. The top executives are staying, not in a hotel, but have hired a boat in Stockholm harbour. Hardly the actions of a company who are on the brink of disaster.

I get up reasonably early this morning and make sure I get a good seat in the 'hot topics' section. I forgot my glasses, so I'm going to need to get reasonably near the front to see anything. First, there is a paper on using stem cells to improve heart function in people who have had heart attacks. It works, a bit but it's another step in the right direction. Next there's a drug that can reduce Pottassium levels in people with heart failure, presented by Bertrand Pitt no less. Yes, yes, get on with it. Then the SHIFT study. Sure enough Ivabradine does improve management of heart failure, well it reduces hospital admissions, although it doesn't statistically improve mortality. Anyway, that's good enough to give them all a boost back at the stand. We're going out to celebrate tonight.

After a 'long lunch' I take a nap and now I'm getting ready to go out again. It's a hard life