The International Myotonic Dystrophy Consortium (IDMC) is a group of scientists and clinicians with a shared interest in understanding all aspects of Myotonic Dystrophy type 1 (DM1) and type 2 (DM2) with the long term aim of providing improved treatment for affected patients. In order to discuss all the latest developments in the field, the IDMC organizes biannual meeting.

The next meeting, IDMC-6, will be held at main campus of University of Milan, from Wednesday 12th to Saturday 15th September, 2007, Milan, Italy.

DM1 and DM2 are multisystem diseases caused by unstable nucleotide repeat expansions.

The patients often go unrecognized or underdiagnosed for years.

Recent research has uncovered clues about the underlying molecular pathomechanisms and has provided potential new approaches to design specific treatments.

This conference covers a broad range of topics from DNA instability to future advances for treatment. We hope that the collegial atmosphere encourages stimulating exchange of informations between researchers, physicians and other care providers (neurologists, internists, pediatricians, occupational and physical therapists, geneticists and counsellors, ophthalmologists, oral surgeons, anesthesiologists, gynecologists, cardiac and pulmonary medicine specialists, gastroenterologists and endocrinologists) and patients.

We have arranged for the material from the presentations to be posted in the IDMC-6 website and to be available for patients, family members, all care providers and researchers to access.

We anticipate that this information will serve as a resource for holding local conferences and meetings between patients, care providers and investigators shortly after the conclusion of IDMC-6.

We hope that discoveries and new ideas about treatment emphasized at IDMC-6, by being available on the worldwide web, will increase the understanding of the challenges and opportunities in developing a better understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the disease manifestations and the best approaches for curative treatment.

The total number of investigators, physicians and patients should be around 200-300 persons.

If you wish to add your name to the mailing list, please send an e-mail to the secretary@idmc-6.com and include your full name and address in the message body.