public health

Pain does not increase linearly with age; rather, the most pronounced increases occur before the age of 55. This is the main conclusion of a study published in the journal Nature Medicine, which included Spanish participation and analyzed data from more than six million people aged five to over 100 in 118 countries. Across all areas of the body, the prevalence of pain increased most sharply before age 55. Headaches and abdominal pain peaked at an earlier age, while back, hip, and knee pain continued to increase with age.

A study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters estimates that babies born in Spain in 2025 will experience 7.3 more years of extreme weather conditions conducive to wildfires. The exposure for their grandparents, born in 1950, will be half that figure: 3.7 additional years. According to the authors, the vast majority of this increase is due to climate change rather than rising life expectancy. Limiting global warming to 1.5 °C, in line with the Paris Agreement, would reduce Spanish young people’s lifetime exposure to these conditions by more than a year, compared with current policies.

The arrival of thousands of migrants in Ceuta at the end of July has led to the emergence of messages portraying these people as a health threat. However, the scientific evidence points to exactly the opposite: those arriving in our country are, generally speaking, in good health, and it is they – not the local population – who are at greatest risk of falling ill, due to the conditions in which they are forced to live. In the face of fear and misinformation, the best defence is transparent, data-driven information.

Among the migrants who have been in Ceuta for several weeks, there are confirmed or suspected cases of tuberculosis, chickenpox, scabies and gastroenteritis. Specialists in public health, epidemiology and infectious diseases explain to SMC España the basic recommendations that must be followed when providing care for this population.

A study led by the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII) shows that, between 2013 and 2018, on days when fires were recorded, there was an increase in A&E admissions for respiratory problems in nine Spanish provinces. At a briefing organised by SMC Spain, Cristina Linares and Julio Díaz, the study’s authors and researchers at the ISCIII, explained the implications of the research and called for a surveillance plan, alongside the monitoring of these harmful particles and compounds, in the face of increasingly severe wildfires.

A team from Canada analyzed nearly one million emergency room visits for migraines or headaches that occurred between 2010 and 2023 in two Canadian provinces during the peak wildfire season. Their analysis shows that the presence of small particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5) from wildfire smoke was associated with an increase in emergency room visits for migraines and headaches. The study is published in JAMA Network Open. In Spain, the Ministry of Health has published health recommendations for action in the event of wildfires. The Community of Madrid, with several active fire fronts, has shared this video with safety and protection tips.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the most common form of pancreatic cancer, is an aggressive tumor that is often diagnosed at advanced stages. Some people are at high risk of developing it due to a hereditary predisposition (10% of cases) or an injury. A new Phase 1 clinical trial has tested, in high-risk patients, a vaccine targeting several mutations in the KRAS gene responsible for more than 90% of these tumors. The vaccine has been shown to be safe and has stimulated specific immune responses, detectable in the blood up to two years later, in 90% of the study participants. The study is published in Cancer Discovery.

An international team analyzed data from 262 clinical trials involving 100,000 people, which evaluated a total of 19 currently available obesity drugs, including GLP-1 analogs such as semaglutide and tirzepatide. Overall, the results indicate that, despite substantial weight loss, most of the drugs do not significantly improve quality of life, and few show cardiovascular benefits after one year of treatment. Furthermore, those that achieved greater weight loss were often associated with more side effects. The study is published in The BMJ.

Nature has published two independent studies demonstrating the ability of large language models based on artificial intelligence (AI) to support different stages of patient management in controlled settings. The first study analysed MIRA, an AI agent that operates within electronic health records, which achieved a diagnostic accuracy of nearly 88%, compared with 78% for a panel of physicians. The second study evaluated AMIE, a conversational clinical reasoning model, against 21 primary care physicians across 100 multi-visit scenarios. AMIE achieved performance comparable to, and in some cases better than, that of physicians in terms of treatment accuracy, test ordering, and adherence to clinical guidelines. The models are based on simulations or retrospective data, which limits the strength of the conclusions that can be drawn. The findings are consistent with another model published in Science last April.

A new United Nations (UN) report assesses the annual environmental costs of artificial intelligence (AI). According to the report, by 2030, if data centers were a country, their electricity consumption would be on par with that of France. As for carbon dioxide emissions, these could reach 400 million tons of CO₂ equivalent, comparable to the total emissions of the United Kingdom. The 9.3 trillion liters of water they use would cover the drinking water needs of the planet’s 8.1 billion people for 1.6 years. The report notes that the generation of high-resolution videos is at the top of AI’s energy consumption. Furthermore, it highlights the growing digital divide and environmental injustice between the nations that control AI systems and those that bear their environmental costs, particularly in the Global South.