Wednesday May 13th, 2009
Diabetes is a chronic disease caused by a defect in the production of insulin and for which there is no cure. People with the disease must learn to control it and keep their sugar levels as close to normal as possible. This control can help them to prevent complications involving the heart, kidneys, eyes and nerves. For this reason, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona has been carrying out therapeutic education programs for 20 years for patients with diabetes. The aim is to teach these patients the measures they need to take in their everyday lives in order to take care of themselves and how to implement them.
Coinciding with this anniversary, Hospital Clínic organized a conference to discuss the status of the education programs on diabetes and explain what is currently being done to improve the quality of life of these patients. The conference took place on Friday, 8 May in the Farreras Valentí room and was attended by Dr. Raimon Belenes, CEO of Hospital Clínic; Dr. Enric Esmatjes, an endocrinologist from the hospital’s diabetes unit; Dr. Ramon Gomis, director of IDIBAPS; Dr. Conxa Castell, head of the health care education and health care programs service of the Catalan Government Department of Health; Ms. Montserrat Soley, chairwoman of the Association of Diabetics of Catalonia; and Dr. José Manuel Boavida, chairman of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.
Tuesday May 12th, 2009
Sexual violence is one of the most frequent forms of violence against women. This type of assault constitutes one of the most common crimes affecting women and is an attack on their freedom, dignity and physical and psychological integrity. Hospital Clínic has had a Family and Gender Violence committee since 2000, which carries out a program to provide urgent attention to women who have suffered rape or sexual assault in Barcelona. An action protocol is used to provide rapid, effective and comprehensive care. Many women who suffer from this type of assault develop considerable psychological sequelae. With this guide, Hospital Clínic aims to provide women who have been the victim of sexual assault with the necessary tools to overcome the incident. The guide provides details of the most common psychological reactions that occur in the early days and suggests conducts to aid recovery.
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Tuesday May 12th, 2009
Is it possible for the public health care model and private health care to coexist? And if so, how should it be done? This was the topic of the latest Quiral Opinion discussion, a meeting organized by the Fundació Vila Casas to debate the social and health care news that most interests the Catalan press. On this occasion, Dr. Catalina Cabrer, director of Barnaclínic was a co-star of the debate on public and private health care and defended collaboration between the two systems, and said that “proposing a model of coexistence means potentiating efficacy, efficiency, equality, sustainability and, above all, quality of health care services”.
The representative of Hospital Clínic shared the table with the managing director of Grup Mútua de Terrassa, Esteve Picola. Among the audience were three journalists specializing in the health care sector (Milagros Pérez Oliva, ombudswoman for El País; Angels Gallardo of El Periódico; and Carmen Fernández of Diario Médico), and medical professionals from different institutions, including Dr. Miquel Vilardell, head of the internal medicine department of Hospital Vall d’Hebron; Marc Soler of the College of Physicians of Barcelona; Jacint Corbella, chairman of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Catalonia; and Mateu Huguet, director of the Institute for Health Care Studies. Also taking part in the debate was Dr. Raimon Belenes, CEO of Hospital Clínic. You can find the conclusions and opinions of the participants in the discussion.
Monday May 11th, 2009
Improving medical practice for third-cycle students and broadening their experience of the care of critical patients is the aim of the new Clinical Simulation Laboratory of the Faculty of Medicine at UB - one of the most advanced, in terms of medical simulation, of any Spanish university. This teaching device was presented on Friday, 8 May in an event presided over by the vice rector of Teaching and European Convergence, Amelia Díaz, and the dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Francesc Cardellach, as well as other institutional authorities.
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Monday May 11th, 2009
The Department of Health of the Catalan Government, with the support of the General Directorate of Public Information, has started a special website on flu caused by the new A(H1N1) virus. This website is updated continuously with contents aimed at the public and professionals.
Thursday May 7th, 2009
Hereditary anemias or major hemoglobin syndromes principally include two different entities: beta thalassemia major or Cooley’s anemia, which is prevalent in the native population; and sickle-cell anemia, which is associated with the immigrant population. The term thalassemia corresponds to a group of hereditary anemias that affect 2% of the Spanish population. Each year, approximately 300 children are born throughout the world with thalassemia syndromes. Falciform anemia is one of the most common hereditary anemias and has a higher mortality, especially in childhood. If not detected on time, mortality in children is as high as 8%; this is reduced to 1.8%, however, in patients who are diagnosed early by neonatal screening.
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