Hospital Universitario La Paz

About: Hospital Universitario La Paz is a healthcare organization based out in Madrid, Spain. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Medicine. The organization has 8960 authors who have published 11499 publications receiving 191509 citations.

Spanish Guidelines on Treatment of Bronchiectasis in Adults.

Abstract: In 2008, the Spanish Society of Pulmonology (SEPAR) published the first guidelines in the world on the diagnosis and treatment of bronchiectasis. Almost 10 years later, considerable scientific advances have been made in both the treatment and the evaluation and diagnosis of this disease, and the original guidelines have been updated to include the latest therapies available for bronchiectasis. These new recommendations have been drafted following a strict methodological process designed to ensure quality of content, and are linked to a large amount of online information that includes a wealth of references. The guidelines are focused on the treatment of bronchiectasis from both a multidisciplinary perspective, including specialty areas and the different healthcare levels involved, and a multidimensional perspective, including a comprehensive overview of the specific aspects of the disease. A series of recommendations have been drawn up, based on an in-depth review of the evidence for treatment of the underlying etiology, the bronchial infection in its different forms of presentation using existing therapies, bronchial inflammation, and airflow obstruction. Nutritional aspects, management of secretions, muscle training, management of complications and comorbidities, infection prophylaxis, patient education, home care, surgery, exacerbations, and patient follow-up are addressed.

The immune system in the oxidative stress conditions of aging and hypertension: favorable effects of antioxidants and physical exercise.

Abstract: Several studies have shown that both oxidative stress and inflammation are linked to the process of hypertension and that the immune system is also involved in this age-related process. More specifically, the oxygen stress related to immune system dysfunction seems to have a key role in senescence, in agreement with the oxidation/ inflammation theory of aging. From a practical point of view, and according to our own research, the immune functions change in a similar fashion in hypertension and aging. As antioxidant diet supplementation decreases oxidative stress, it may be useful to treat hypertension and increase longevity. Probably, these favorable effects are mediated by an antioxidant-induced improvement of the immune function. The practice of moderate physical exercise shows similar favorable effects, and indeed our studies on exercising hypertensive women demonstrate an improved immune function, probably linked to raised levels of intracellular antioxidant defenses. The present review summarizes a s...

Differential Growth and Development of the Upper and Lower Human Thorax

Abstract: The difficulties in quantifying the 3D form and spatial relationships of the skeletal components of the ribcage present a barrier to studies of the growth of the thoracic skeleton. Thus, most studies to date have relied on traditional measurements such as distances and indices from single or few ribs. It is currently known that adult-like thoracic shape is achieved early, by the end of the second postnatal year, with the circular cross-section of the newborn thorax transforming into the ovoid shape of adults; and that the ribs become inclined such that their anterior borders come to lie inferior to their posterior. Here we present a study that revisits growth changes using geometric morphometrics applied to extensive landmark data taken from the ribcage. We digitized 402 (semi) landmarks on 3D reconstructions to assess growth changes in 27 computed tomography-scanned modern humans representing newborns to adults of both sexes. Our analyses show a curved ontogenetic trajectory, resulting from different ontogenetic growth allometries of upper and lower thoracic units. Adult thoracic morphology is achieved later than predicted, by diverse modifications in different anatomical regions during different ontogenetic stages. Besides a marked increase in antero-posterior dimensions, there is an increase in medio-lateral dimensions of the upper thorax, relative to the lower thorax. This transforms the pyramidal infant thorax into the barrel-shaped one of adults. Rib descent is produced by complex changes in 3D curvature. Developmental differences between upper and lower thoracic regions relate to differential timings and rates of maturation of the respiratory and digestive systems, the spine and the locomotor system. Our findings are relevant to understanding how changes in the relative rates of growth of these systems and structures impacted on the development and evolution of modern human body shape.