History of advertising for pain therapy, an exhibition in Turin

Turin, 5 November 2024 – The knowledge we have of rheumatological diseases is the result of the last two hundred years of research: if today, in fact, we can identify more than 200 different pathologies that affect over 5 and a half million Italians, at the beginning of the 19th century they were mostly unknown. Contributing to the studies for their identification and the development of therapies was advertising, which was born in those years and immediately became the favorite means of dissemination for pharmaceutical companies. To remember and celebrate his work, the exhibition will open from 8 to 17 November in Turin at the Palazzo del Rettorato in via Po 17 History of pharmaceutical advertising for the treatment of pain and rheumatological diseases. The exhibition will be inaugurated on November 8, from 2pm to 4pm, in the Sala Principe D’Acaja of the Rector’s Palace, in the presence of the local authorities.

“Rheumatology patients often suffer from diagnostic delays – he explains Gian Domenico SebastianiPresident of SIR and Director of the Rheumatology Unit of the San Camillo Forlanini Hospital in Rome -. It often takes up to 7 years to discover that you suffer from psoriatic arthritis, 5 for ankylosing spondylitis, 3 for systemic sclerosis and 2 for rheumatoid arthritis. This is also why it is important to study the history of these pathologies: to understand their mechanisms and thus guarantee early identification and innovative therapies. It is with this objective that in 2020, in Venice, the Institute of History of Rheumatology was born, at the behest of the Italian Society of Rheumatology, and with the same purpose today we are taking this knowledge around Italy, this year in Turin . Today, in fact, showing the impact that propaganda has had on the identification of new pathologies and on research allows us to understand their enormous potential, also in terms of prevention and correct interpretation of symptoms. A situation in which SIR is committed to the front line, because early diagnosis means better quality of life.”

“Rheumatological diseases cause numerous disabilities, as many as 57% of patients declare that they need help in carrying out daily activities – he underlines Roberto GerliPast President SIR –. The chances of developing it increase if the pathology is not diagnosed quickly and treatments are not undertaken immediately. This demonstrates the importance of information and communication, because the greater the knowledge of symptoms and disorders, the earlier the diagnoses will be. Advertising in this context has played a truly important role.”

“We will inaugurate the first exhibition on the history of advertising in Turin with great enthusiasm – comments the professor Leonardo PunziDirector of the ISR, Institute of the History of Rheumatology -, to demonstrate how communication techniques, to be effective, even in the medical field, must be able to interpret the needs of the population and use quality artistic expressions. The advertisements that will be shown to the public, evidence of the historical period from 1850 to the first half of the 20th century, were created for products that could be purchased freely in pharmacies, without a medical prescription. The historical value lies in showing ‘how we were’ and the importance of drugs for pain even in an era in which its causes were not yet well known.”

“Some rheumatological diseases, such as gout, are famous for having affected prestigious figures in the past, such as Galileo, Michelangelo, Garibaldi and Christopher Columbus – concludes Dr. Enrico Fusaroco-organizer of the exhibition –. Most, however, developed from 1800 onwards. If today we can control the symptoms of over 200 pathologies with drugs such as cortisone, which entered clinical practice only in 1950, and innovative medicines such as biologics, it is precisely thanks to investments in research and the dissemination of information regarding the pathologies, also through advertising. Today it is an important message that we want to convey to citizens.”

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