Author
Marion Wilkens, Alpha1 Germany eV, as published in Alpha1 Journal 1/2020.
Dear readers, Alphas and family members,
What a strange time! We would have loved to see you all again, instead of just writing to you, as on page 10. But we all know it's better to avoid large gatherings right now. It is expected that
There won't be many meetings this year where people with lung and/or liver diseases can get together. We'll make up for everything in the anniversary year of 2021 and are really looking forward to seeing each other again then, healthy and with many personal experiences to share.
Personally, I reacted to the coronavirus crisis in several stages: I started with optimism: "Oh, this won't knock me down." Then came the worries about many of our Alphas, who have severe lung damage and some even heard their doctors say things like, "If you get infected, you won't survive." The images from Italy, Spain, and many other countries couldn't completely dispel my optimism, and I also began to worry—for myself, too.
As so often happens, searching for information and evaluating it proved helpful. Together, we at Alpha1 Germany tried to share our knowledge through our newsletters (see page 13) and asked our experts many questions. We've never had so many concerned callers or so many consultations. Often, these were people who had known for years that they were an Alpha but had never addressed it – and they were often young.
Every crisis also has its positive aspects, and we'd like to mention one here: The Alpha1 world has grown closer! We've had many exchanges with our colleagues from other countries, and the improved collaboration is also noticeable among the doctors. Exchanging and sharing information is so important – now more than ever.
Once again, we would like to thank the many doctors, researchers and experts who are committed to helping us, are always available for us and answer our questions.
We hope that even without the speakers' reports from the information day, we have compiled interesting content for you that you can now read in this issue. Actually, we're not entirely without reports! Thanks to Mr. Greulich, there's a great presentation about general information, new developments, and rare mutations in AATM available to listen to on our YouTube channel, Alpha-1-Deutschland. Feel free to check it out; it's worth it!
Her
Marion Wilkens
