Training activity for Health Sciences students at the University of Almería in which Carmen Ruiz, Francisco Javier Muñoz, Mario Land and Carmen Jiménez explain the relationship between environmental factors and quality of life
The commitment of the University of Almería to Environmental Health is not new, and from the Vice-Rector’s Office for Sustainability, Health and Sports, in fact, it is very present with a future projection. So much so that the latest initiative to be carried out has been to train students of Health Sciences degrees in this subject, as a key step in the commitment to achieve social awareness. On the occasion of World Environmental Health Day, which is celebrated every year on September 26, an online round table has been organized with top-level speakers.
It has been used to reflect on the relationship between our environment and human health, on how environmental factors affect people’s well-being and quality of life, and on the need to create global awareness about this. Gabriel Aguilera, vice-rector for Sustainability, Health and Sports, has made it clear precisely that “Environmental Health is a branch of public health that focuses on the analysis and control of factors external to human beings that can influence their well-being”, adding that “the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we consume and the spaces where we live and work have a direct impact on our health.”
Aguilera expressed the purpose of that day, “offering an opportunity to reinforce the University of Almería’s commitment to sustainability”, along with “adopting sustainable habits” and “supporting environmental policies”, all of which is “a long-term investment in the well-being of both people and the planet.” Finally, he stated that “the UAL wants to work to ensure a healthier and more sustainable future.” In this way, it has introduced the participants in the round table, prestigious experts each in their respective professional fields, who have managed to capture the interest of the students as future public health prescribers.
María del Carmen Ruiz, specialist in Family and Community Medicine, expert in Environmental Medicine from the American Academy of Environmental Medicine and president of the Catalan Society of Environmental Health, is currently working at the Sabadell-Centre Primary Care Center in Barcelona. During his speech, he described the influence of the environment on ecosystems and human health and also how they influence international politics. He has also described the evolution of Environmental Medicine and the working groups, as well as its future projection in the face of the increase in cases of environmental pathologies in both adults and children.
It has also reported the existence of Central Awareness and Environmental Pediatrics units in several hospitals in the public network, as well as the need for training of the personnel who are part of the multidisciplinary team that cares for them, an aspect directly related to the Life Sciences students. Health, which is made up of future professionals. The same tone has been used by Francisco Javier Muñoz, specialist in Clinical Immunology, member of the first promotion of the Inter-university Clinical Course in Environmental Medicine of InterAct Salud. As an immunologist at the Torrecárdenas University Hospital, precisely in his turn he has explained how genetics and epigenetics influence Central Sensitization Syndromes (CSS).
Likewise, he has explained what Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) and Electrohypersensitivity (EHS) consist of, without forgetting other pathologies such as fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), irritable bowel syndrome or interstitial cystitis, among others. others, and how they overlap with each other. He was followed in order of intervention by Mario Land, a specialist in Family and Community Medicine, also from the first promotion of the Inter-University Clinical Course in Environmental Medicine of InterAct Salud, in his case, currently working in the Emergency Department of the Western District. It has been his responsibility to present concepts such as Clinical Ecology and Environmental Medicine, this being a transversal science that, according to the European Parliament, in 2008 emerged not as a specialty in itself, but to enrich the rest of the scientific specialties, both health and other areas. of knowledge.
Land has added a description of how in these clinical syndromes, an exposure, whether chemical or electromagnetic, tolerated by the majority of people, causes a series of symptoms, dysfunctions and multi-organ effects, which cause the neurological, endocrine and immunological axes to be affected. are affected until reaching a multisystemic condition that is difficult to manage. One of the speakers, Carmen María Jiménez, nurse, specializing in Geriatric Nursing, and member of the Catalan Society of Environmental Medicine, as well as a member of the Academy of Medical and Health Sciences of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, was able to testify to this. and affected by SSC, MCS, EHS, CFS and fibromyalgia.
It was up to her to explain in first person the reality of a patient. In fact, he has stated that the reason for using the online system to intervene from his home and not in person is to not be able to expose himself even minimally to low doses of chemicals, such as perfumes, nail or hair varnish, cleaning products. , air fresheners or other compounds, for example, that are present in the furniture, in addition to electromagnetic fields, typical of general daily life such as WIFI, mobile phones, digital whiteboard, smart watches, lighting or Bluetooth. Through her story it has become clear that this is a common situation in patients like her, which is extrapolated to other environments such as a supermarket, an office, a school or a hospital.
These pathologies greatly limit the quality of life of the affected person, their independence and their personal, family and work autonomy, and in many cases they even lead to losing their job. It has detailed how these pathologies should be treated by a multidisciplinary team, with a comprehensive vision of the person and their environment, with the family unit being a fundamental pillar in the self-care of these patients. This comprehensive vision and the effect produced by the environment has already been described by Florence Nightingale in the 19th century, and later by Virginia Henderson or Majory Gordon in their models and theories. Hence the need to train the new promotions of health professionals and, specifically, nurses, to safely care for these patients, educate their environment and act in both a therapeutic and preventive field, adding health promotion through healthy interventions, behaviors and lifestyles for people and the planet.