IMSF is a recently established society with the goal of promoting the new concept in the prevention and treatment of skeleton diseases, based on the principles of personalized and integrated medicine, in order to approach the skeleton as a complex organ which functions as a whole.

The IMSF’s main activities are:

• creating the guidelines of the clinical approach, with regular updates upon latest relevant scientific evidence
• education of doctors and other medical professionals through training centers
• providing “online” and “offline” consultation
• promoting the importance of prevention among the population

It is a well-known fact that chronic skeleton diseases, such as osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, present one of the most common medical problems and a big public health issue. Despite various pharmacological treatments, the problem of osteoporosis is not yet solved nor decreased. Drug’s adverse event and fractures after long termed pharmacotherapy indicate a need for new treatment modalities. Regarding osteoarthritis, conventional clinical practice is based on symptomatic treatments with limited and temporary effect and, in the severe cases, surgical replacement of knee or hip with endoprosthesis, are often left as the only option. There is no prevention or treatment with the aim of improving the quality and functional ability of skeleton as a whole.

However, The recent development of technology, as well as intensive scientific activities for the past two decades brought a notable advancement in understanding of skeleton physiology and the influence of metabolic and biomechanical factors on the bone. Those, as well as development of new technologies and treatment modalities, provide us with better possibilities for treatment and prevention of complications in chronic skeleton diseases.

CHANGING THE STANDARD CLINICAL APPROACH TOWARDS THE PRINCIPLES OF PERSONALIZED AND INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE;

However, in order to do that, it is necessary to create a new organizational platform which will speed up the process of implementation of the new knowledge, adjusting the clinical practice in daily life.

Medical societies have an important role in that, particularly because the development of science and technology is too rapid to be appropriately followed up with the standard educational programs provided by Universities. This is especially important in the case of the skeleton pathology, which has been neglected for many years.

Skeleton was not even considered as an organ, there was no basic education about the physiology of the skeleton and biological mechanisms that affect the skeleton. The understanding of the skeleton was poor due to the lack of methods able to provide the most important information about skeleton biology. Because of that, the common clinical practice was, and still mostly is, partial and symptomatic treatment.

Orthopedics, physical medicine, rheumatology, and endocrinology only deal with parts of this large and complex organ. The discipline of clinical medicine which would deal with a skeleton as a whole is still missing.