01/03/2023 - Press release
Low levels of a particular protein in squamous cell carcinoma cells indicate that they are preparing to start migrating to other organs, thereby causing the tumour to spread to other areas of the body. This is according to a study by the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, which has just been published in the journal Life Science Alliance. Tumour cells prepare to migrate by changing their metabolism so that they can consume lipids, in other words, cholesterol molecules. This raises the possibility of studying ways to block this process and prevent tumour metastasis.
Més informació "Marker discovered that shows when a type of skin cancer is preparing to metastasise"
20/01/2023 - Press release
A person's biological age, in other words, the real age of their body, which is independent of chronological age and which can be measured in specific blood tests, is conditioned by their lifestyle habits. A study by the Neurovascular Research Group at the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, published in the journal Biology, has for the first time associated a higher biological age with the presence of an indicator of brain ageing, white matter hyperintensities, areas of the brain that blood has a harder time reaching. Lifestyle habits influence the DNA configuration and determine biological age. If these habits are modified, DNA ageing and, therefore, biological ageing can be slowed down, thereby decelerating the increase in white matter hyperintensities in brain tissue.
12/09/2022 - Press release
Patients admitted due to SARS-CoV-2 infection with imbalanced levels of two immune system cells, CD4 and CD8 T lymphocytes, have a worse prognosis and a higher risk of death. Having more than twice the number of CD4 lymphocytes than CD8 lymphocytes increases the probability of dying from the infection by 4.6 times and the chances of experiencing respiratory distress by two times, according to a study by physicians and researchers from Hospital del Mar, the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, and CIBERINFEC, published in the journal Frontiers in Medicine. This finding leads the study's authors to recommend a more aggressive therapeutic approach for these patients from the moment of admission. Additionally, they believe that this situation may be repeated in other viral infections.
28/07/2023 - Press release
A study by cardiologists at Hospital del Mar and researchers at the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute reveals that more than half of the people treated for the arrhythmia known as atrial flutter will suffer an episode of atrial fibrillation in less than a year. The risk of atrial fibrillation reaches 86% in those patients who score higher on a risk scale designed by the team, prompting the need for more accurate monitoring of these patients because of the likelihood that they could suffer other cardiovascular problems, such as a stroke. The study, published in the Journal of Cardiology, was funded by the 2014 La Marató de TV3, dedicated to heart disease.
Més informació "Patients with arrhythmia are at greater risk of suffering atrial fibrillation"
22/03/2022 - Press release
In contrast, exposure to environmental pollutants such as fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and soot significantly increases the risk of suffering an ischaemic stroke. The article in the journal Environment International, one of the most important studies published to date in Europe, analysed data from the entire population in Catalonia, geo-referencing more than three and a half million people. The authors consider that these results mean that the maximum levels of atmospheric pollutants established by the EU need to be reconsidered. The risk of suffering an ischaemic stroke, the most common type of cerebrovascular event, is 16% less in people who have green spaces less than 300 metres from their homes. This has been revealed in a joint study by the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, Hospital del Mar, the Catalan Health Quality and Assessment Agency (AQuAS) from the Catalan Government's Department of Health and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre promoted by the "la Caixa" Foundation. It is the most important work in this field to date in Europe, analysing data on the entire population of Catalonia between 2016 and 2017.
Més informació "Living near green areas reduces the risk of suffering a stroke by 16%"
09/11/2021 - Press release
A multicentre study published in the journal Biomedicines led by the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute reveals that bronchiectasis affects women less severely than it does men. This is a highly prevalent lung disease that causes abundant accumulation of secretions in the lungs The study analysed data from more than 2,000 patients from the Spanish Computerised Registry of Patients with Bronchiectasis (RIBRON). A second study, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, determines the role of eosinophils, immune system cells, as predictors of severity in this type of patient
19/10/2021 - Press release
Activating a molecule present in the membrane of NK lymphocytes (Natural Killer cells) makes them resistant to the immunosuppressive mechanisms of HER2-positive breast tumours and enhances their antitumour action. Combining standard treatments for HER2-positive breast cancer with drugs that target this molecule in NK cells could increase their clinical efficacy. This paves the way for a new approach to treating this type of tumour with immunotherapy This has been demonstrated in a collaborative study led by researchers at the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, published in the journal Cancer Immunology Research
1/10/2021 - Press release
Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who also suffer from a blood iron deficiency significantly improve their physical fitness if they receive supplements of this mineral. This is a new approach to the disease, which has been validated by the first studies published in Spain in this field and the largest in the world, to date, involving 66 patients. The work, derived from the FACE-Ferinject Assessment study on improving Exercise Tolerance in patients suffering COPD and iron deficiency, was carried out by doctors and researchers in the Pneumology Department at Hospital del Mar and the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) and has been published in the journals Archivos de Bronconeumología and Biomedicines.
Més informació "Iron supplements improve physical fitness and quality of life in COPD patients"
15/12/2020 - Press release
DNA damage levels and the activity of the polymerase enzyme responsible for cell repair (PARP) increase in lung tumours in patients suffering chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but not in people who do not have this pathology. This is reflected in work by researchers from the CIBER of Respiratory Diseases (CIBERES) and doctors and researchers from the Hospital del Mar Pneumology Service and the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute research group on muscle wasting and cachexia in chronic respiratory diseases and lung cancer (IMIM-Hospital del Mar), published in the journal Cancers This research is of enormous importance given that treating lung cancer with PARP enzyme inhibitors (already in clinical use for other tumours, such as breast and ovarian cancers) is preferentially indicated for patients with an underlying respiratory disease, while the response in people with no COPD is highly controversial.
Més informació "The presence of COPD, a determining factor in lung cancer treatment"
18/12/2020 - Press release
The journal Neurology has just published the most complete and exhaustive study to date on the survival rate and sequelae of patients who suffer a ruptured brain aneurysm, a disease known as subarachnoid haemorrhage. The work was carried out by doctors at Hospital del Mar (from the Neurology, Neurosurgery, Intensive Medicine, Interventional Neuroradiology, Radiology and Anaesthesia and Resuscitation services) and researchers from the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM). The results show that the strategy implemented in Catalonia to cover emergency care for this condition produces results comparable to those of the most advanced centres in the world. The data analysed corresponds to 311 patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage treated at Hospital del Mar over the last 12 years. The short-term mortality rate is between 8.7% (one week after treatment, during the hospitalisation period), and 18.4% (after three months). One year after the vascular event, this figure reaches 22.9% and, five years later, 29%. Only 7% of the patients who survived after five years presented disabling sequelae. According to several studies, deaths from this pathology around the world are between 11% and 27.5% in hospital and over 30% after three months.
Més informació "Only 7% of patients treated for a brain aneurysm suffer long-term sequelae"
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