Miguel Hernandez University of Elche

Miguel Hernandez University of Elche

Information

addictions, Alzheimer's, bioethics, behavioural sciences, embryonic development, diabetes, gene editing, neurodegenerative diseases, epidemiology, physics, mathematics, microbiology, neuroscience, mental health, transgenics
Contact
Mª José Pastor Vicente
Head of Press Area
mjose.pastor@umh.es
96 665 8992
Ángeles C. Gallar Martínez
Head of Scientific Culture and Innovation Unit
agallar@umh.es
965222569

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SMC participants

Director of the Nutrition and Bromatology research group.

Director of the Institute of Neurosciences, a joint centre of the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH) and the CSIC

Professor of Physiology at the Miguel Hernández University of Elche

Director of the Institute of Bioengineering at the Miguel Hernandez University of Elche and director of the Biomedical Neuroengineering group at the Center for Biomedical Research Network on Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN)

Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Applied Biology.

Professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health at the Miguel Hernández University and director of the Global Health research group.

CSIC Group Leader at the Institute of Neurosciences (CSIC-UMH)

Professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health and Director of the Unit of Epidemiology of Nutrition at the University Miguel Hernández

Researcher at the Department of Plant Production and Microbiology, Miguel Hernández University of Elche

Professor of Social Psychology, Department of Health Psychology 

Contents related to this centre
therapy

A dose of psilocybin—a hallucinogenic substance—administered to groups of 3 or 4 people suffering from cancer and depression may help reduce their depressive symptoms, according to a clinical trial conducted in the United States. The study involved 30 patients who also received individual and group therapeutic support. In another article, also published in the journal Cancer, the authors examine how the study participants perceived the therapy.

neuroprosthesis

A neuroprosthesis that electrically stimulates an area of the spinal cord of a man with Parkinson's disease improved his mobility and balance, according to results presented in Nature Medicine. The 62-year-old patient had severe difficulties walking and frequent falls, despite trying other treatments. After trials in non-human primates, this is the first time this technology has been tested in a human being, who has now been using the neuroprosthesis about eight hours a day for two years. 

brain

The Science group of journals publishes several parts of a high-resolution atlas of human brain cells, the largest 'map' of its kind to date. It is a series of papers from an international mega-project, the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative - Cell Census Network (BICCN), launched in 2017 to study brain cell types and their functions in humans, non-human primates and rodents. The data "will now allow researchers to address fundamental scientific questions about the human brain and its genetic organisation," states the introduction to the journal's special issue.

mice

Early-life adversity, such as separation from the mother, can alter the neurological functioning of mice, causing some to experience panic and anxiety later in life. A study shows that these changes can be passed on for at least two generations and that inhalation of a drug, the diuretic amiloride, can reverse them. According to the authors, this treatment could be used in the future to alleviate panic disorders and related conditions in humans. The results are published in the journal Science Advances.

eukaryotes

An international team has discovered a new type of molecular fossil in sedimentary rocks from the mid-Proterozoic - which spans from 2.5 billion to 542 million years ago. Protosteroids, a type of lipids found in abundance in those rocks, indicate that eukaryotes were a dominant life form in aquatic environments between 1.6 billion and 800 million years ago, the authors explain in Nature. The finding would confirm the theory of Nobel laureate Konrad Bloch, who predicted the existence of these primordial molecules. 

bpa

A few weeks ago, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) said that exposure to bisphenol A through food is a risk to human health. The agency recommended a much lower tolerable daily intake dose than it had its own previous recommendations. In this explainer, we review key facts and documents to cover this issue--which will continue to make the headlines in months and years to come.  

beer

In 2018, a regulation was introduced in Scotland that establishes a minimum sale price for alcoholic beverages, proportional to the amount of alcohol they contain. A study has analysed the health impact of this measure. According to the authors, alcohol-related mortality has decreased by 13% since then, especially among the most disadvantaged socio-economic classes. The results are published in the journal The Lancet.

coffe

Previous research has shown that coffee drinking is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, but most are short-term, observational studies - they describe associations without being able to determine cause and effect. Research published in BMJ Medicine uses another method (Mendelian randomisation) to study potential causal relationships between caffeine levels in plasma and cardiovascular health, using genetic variants in nearly 10,000 people who participated in long-term studies. Higher genetically-predicted caffeine concentrations in plasma were associated with lower body-mass index and fat mass and a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. In addition, the research shows that 43% of the protective effect of caffeine on the risk of type 2 diabetes was influenced by a reduction in body mass index.

Supplements

Available studies show no difference in the risk of different types of fracture between those who take calcium supplements and those who do not, according to a report by the Iberoamerican Cochrane Centre via Nutrimedia. According to the report, these supplements have side-effects and do not provide benefits in the general population and are therefore only recommended for people living in residential homes or other institutions.   

tabaco

In an interview on TV3's Els Matins, the Catalan government's health minister Josep Maria Argimon explained that they are preparing a regulation to ban smoking on bar terraces and make them "smoke-free spaces". They are also considering adding canopies and the entrances and exits of schools to the ban.