One in every two deaths in Spain is due to cardiovascular diseases and cancer, according to the latest data published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) referring to 2023. Dr. José Luis Zamorano, head of the Cardiology Service at the Ramón Hospital and Cajal from Madrid, is even more precise: "One in three readers will die from cardiovascular disease. Everyone knows that smoking, having high cholesterol, living under stress or not exercising is bad, but it is still socially accepted" .
The World Health Organization (WHO) highlights that 80% of cardiovascular diseases and up to 90% of heart attacks could be prevented with a healthier lifestyle, which includes more physical exercise and a balanced diet.
Although both ailments – cancer and cardiovascular diseases – have clearly differentiated features, they also share common elements: the need to address risk factors and focus on prevention. Together with medical and pharmacological advances, this increases life expectancy and quality of life. As explained by Dr. Luis Rodríguez Padial, president of the Spanish Society of Cardiology, "although a person may have a genetic predisposition to develop diabetes, if they lead a healthy lifestyle, with regular exercise, a balanced diet and maintaining an adequate weight, they can mitigate that predisposition."
Another example is cancer. "Although it is a degenerative disease with a strong genetic load, the time of exposure of the genome to substances or products that can cause it is also determining," says Dr. Joan Carles, section head of the Oncology Service at the Vall d'Hebron Hospital. who points out tobacco as the main cause of this disease.
Dr. Antonio Alcaraz, head of the Urology Service at Hospital Clínic, expresses himself along the same lines: "Our genes predispose us to suffer from cancer in a more or less aggressive way. For example, in prostate cancer, if your father suffered from it, You have a 25% chance of developing it; if your uncle also suffered from it, these chances increase to 40%, but habits also play a role.
The specialists consulted emphasize the importance of following a healthy lifestyle as a preventive measure. "It is essential to stay in shape: swimming, light running, walking a lot... everything is beneficial. In addition, follow a low-calorie diet to maintain weight, without excess fat, but without being a fundamentalist. Our reference doctor, the Dr. Valentí Fuster, says that the trick is to make half portions," Alcaraz highlights.
José Luis Zamorano also advocates for greater health education. "In the same way that recycling and road safety education are promoted, healthy habits should also be taught in schools. It would be a low-cost measure with a great impact," highlights this expert cardiologist. If Dr. del Ramón y Cajal proposes health education in schools, Rodríguez Padial suggests extending it to the media, as occurs with traffic campaigns to prevent accidents. "We must teach people to follow a balanced diet, exercise and avoid obesity. Spain has a high rate of childhood obesity; children no longer jump, do not run, do not go out to play..., and excess fat abdomen produces substances that affect the arteries, the heart and the kidneys," he points out.
Along with prevention, early diagnosis is another extremely effective and relatively simple measure to implement. "Screening programs are a very useful tool to achieve early detection of diseases," says Dr. Carles. "Early diagnosis is key in any type of pathology, but especially in cardiovascular and oncological problems, since it allows effective treatments to be started quickly, thus increasing the chances of cure and survival of patients," adds Dr. Ana Ramos, head of Neuroradiology section of the 12 de Octubre Hospital in Madrid.
Technological innovations, which facilitate precision medicine, represent a significant improvement in treatments and a reduction in mortality. Currently, "in Catalonia we have genetic tests to detect mutations that we know respond better to a certain treatment," says Antonio Alcaraz.
Furthermore, thanks to technological development in radiological imaging, "we are able to effectively screen tumors, especially breast, lung or metastases, when they are small and have a better prognosis for treatment," explains Ana Ramos, who also mentions the cerebral vascular disease: "Both non-invasive diagnosis and endovascular treatment of stroke have experienced a relevant change in recent years. Now we can detect the location of the cerebral arterial obstruction with an angio-CT and perform the extraction of the thrombus to recover the brain function, avoiding death or serious neurological sequelae of the patient.
Dr. Ramos highlights the importance of multidisciplinary treatment in diseases such as prostate cancer and heart failure. He considers that, due to the significant advance of medicine, "currently, it is not possible to correctly address complex diseases without a multidisciplinary perspective. With this strategy, each specialist contributes the most cutting-edge of their discipline, but integrating it into a global vision of the patient, which translates into more personalized, precise and effective therapies.
This opinion is shared by Dr. Alcaraz, who positively values the opportunity to collaborate with a multidisciplinary committee where decisions are made in a collegial manner.
Artificial intelligence (AI) portends good news for the health sector, since it does not represent a threat, quite the opposite. Professionals see this new technology as additional help to improve both diagnosis and data collection and analysis to obtain better evidence.
AI will allow "more precise diagnoses to be made, such as the detection of lesions that may go unnoticed by the human eye," points out Joan Carles, who also highlights the benefits of another digital innovation, the metaverse, "which can facilitate the surgical approach to cancer tumors." difficult access before applying it to the patient. In the radiological specialty, AI is necessary: “We are already using artificial intelligence in multiple programs. It is convenient that this tool helps us detect simple lesions, such as lung nodules, demyelinating plaques in multiple sclerosis or even interpret routine mammograms,” says Ramos. "Although the 'clinical eye', natural intelligence, is essential, artificial intelligence will make us better doctors," concludes Dr. Alcaraz.
