Curbing tobacco's toll starts with the professionals: World No Tobacco Day

Spain: a decentralised health system in constant flux

The Spanish healthcare system is one of Europe’s most efficient, but urgent reform is needed if it is to cope with changing demands and rising costs, argue Jose M Martin-Moreno and colleagues

Low toenail chromium concentration and increased risk of nonfatal myocardial infarction

Chromium intake may increase insulin sensitivity, glucose tolerance, and the ratio of high density lipoprotein cholesterol to low density lipoprotein cholesterol. However, the epidemiologic evidence on the association between chromium and cardiovascular disease is very limited. To determine whether low toenail chromium concentrations were associated with risk of nonfatal myocardial infarction, the authors conducted an incident, population-based, case-control study in eight European countries and Israel in 1991-1992. Cases (n = 684) were men with a first diagnosis of myocardial infarction recruited from the coronary units of participating hospitals. Controls (n = 724) were men selected rando…

Cancer causes and prevention: a condensed appraisal in Europe in 2008.

The rising cancer burden in Europe, mainly due to a rapidly ageing population, demands a clear and coordinated response from researchers, oncologists and other physicians, public health professionals and policy-makers. Primary and secondary prevention is the front line in the complex battle against cancer in Europe. To formulate the best strategies in this fight, the major determinants of cancer are summarised in the order of their relative importance in Europe, including tobacco smoking, alcohol, diet, physical activity, occupational factors, environmental factors, infectious agents and genetic and hormonal factors. Furthermore, this paper offers explicit recommendations on individual beha…

Tobacco: deadly in any form or disguise

Valoración de la investigación que se realiza en los hospitales españoles

Resumen Objetivos No se ha realizado un estudio que analice como perciben y valoran los investigadores que trabajan en los hospitales espanoles el sistema de investigacion actual. Este trabajo, llevado a cabo por el Foro de Ciencia de la Fundacion Lilly, tiene por finalidad mejorar el nivel de informacion sobre la actividad de investigacion que se realiza en los hospitales. Sujetos y metodos Mediante entrevista «autoadministrada» compuesta de 34 items y dirigida a los medicos u otros facultativos investigadores que trabajan en hospitales espanoles (272 encuestados), se analizaron tres cuestiones: a) situacion general de la investigacion biomedica en Espana; b) administracion de los recursos…