18/02/2021 - Covid-19
The Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), Hospital del Mar, the University of California-Davis and the University of Texas have launched a clinical trial to analyse how useful a food supplement can be for preventing the worst side effects of COVID-19. The study is looking at bovine-derived immunoglobulins, which have been shown in animal models to reduce the inflammation caused by infection, progression to more severe forms of the disease, and post-COVID syndrome. The first patients participating in the Randomized Open-Label Clinical Study Evaluating the Impact of EnteraGam, a Nutritional Intervention containing Bovine Plasma-Derived Immunoglobulin CoNcentrate, on Clinical Outcomes In People with COVID19 (PICNIC Study) are already taking two daily doses of this supplement. Dr Robert Güerri, principal investigator in the trial, member of the Infectious Pathology and Antimicrobial Research Group at the IMIM-Hospital del Mar, and section head of the Infectious Diseases Service at Hospital del Mar, explains that "The aim of the treatment is to sequester and help eliminate the virus from one of its main reservoirs in the body, the gut."
Més informació "Immunoglobulin clinical trial launched to prevent COVID-19 side effects"
02/02/2021 - Covid-19
The effects of the lockdown decreed to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of elderly people in pre-dementia stages were protracted during the de-escalation phase. This is highlighted by a study published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, led by researchers from the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) and doctors from Hospital del Mar, as well as researchers from the CIBER on the Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBEROBN) and the CIBER on Fragility and Healthy Ageing (CIBERFES). The work was carried out in collaboration with the Barcelona βeta Brain Research Center (BBRC). The study involved monitoring sixteen people, between 60 and 80 years old, who are participants in the PIENSA study on the prevention of cognitive deterioration in the stages prior to the onset of dementia. None of them suffered COVID-19. Their activity was exhaustively monitored on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis for two months, which made it possible to compare their progression before, during and after lockdown.
12/01/2021 - Covid-19
Almost half of Spain's healthcare professionals have a high risk of suffering a mental disorder after the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, 3.5% are experiencing suicidal thoughts (presence of a death wish and persistent thoughts of wanting to die). This is the conclusion of two studies (MINDCOVID project) that surveyed staff in eighteen hospitals across six autonomous regions of Spain (Andalusia, the Basque Country, Castile and Leon, Catalonia, Madrid and the Community of Valencia), led by researchers from the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), the CIBER in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), and the CIBER in Mental Health (CIBERSAM), in addition to doctors from the Hospital del Mar. The data has been published by the Revista de Psiquiatría y Salud Mental and the journal Depression & Anxiety.
17/12/2020 - Covid-19
The lockdown declared on 13th March to halt the spread of COVID-19 had a particular impact on people with cognitive impairment, as revealed by a study published in the journal Frontiers in Neurology, carried out by doctors from the Neurology Service at Hospital del Mar and researchers from the Neurofunctionality and Language Research Group in the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM-Hospital del Mar). Six out of every ten patients analysed suffered a worsening of their pre-pandemic condition, according to their caregivers. The study followed 60 patients from the Neurology Service, with an average age of 75, together with their caregivers. A telephone survey was used to assess the functional and neuropsychiatric changes suffered by the patients, in addition to the extra workload put on the caregivers due to the restrictions caused by the pandemic. Their adaptation to lockdown and the safety measures implemented, possible changes in their place of residence, the medical support they received, falls, interruption of cognitive stimulation programmes, and the loss of daily routines were analysed.
27/11/2020 - Covid-19
The MAPBM (Maturity Assessment Model for Patient Blood Management) project is a useful tool that helps hospitals evaluate and develop their programmes for managing the blood of each patient (better known as PBM or patient blood management). This has been highlighted in an article published in the journal Blood Transfusion, led by doctors from Hospital del Mar and researchers from the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM). PBM programmes are a set of therapeutic strategies, based on scientific evidence, aimed at improving the patient's condition prior to the surgical procedure, with particular focus on anaemia, minimising bleeding during surgery, and preventing or avoiding blood over-transfusion. They also have a direct impact by reducing the use of hospital blood reserves.
12/11/2020 - Covid-19
Offering comprehensive and multidisciplinary care to frail older patients admitted for COVID-19 makes it possible to reduce the impact hospitalisation and isolation have on their functional capacity. This has been demonstrated in a study by doctors and nurses at Hospital del Mar, which validates the usefulness of this comprehensive care model, ACE (Acute Care for Elders). The work has been published in the magazine Geriatric Nursing. The study followed 51 patients admitted during the first wave of COVID-19 to the Dr. Emili Mira Centre, a facility at the Mar Health Park that specialises in the care of psychiatric diseases and geriatric patients. The functional deterioration that appears in older adults during a hospital stay for acute illness (30-80% of geriatric patients admitted to hospital suffer a reduction in their capacities as a result of a hospital stay), is even more important in the case of COVID-19 because of the restrictions applied to the isolation units. To avoid this situation, a comprehensive care model, ACE, was implemented.
03/11/2020 - Covid-19
Some of the principal treatments for osteoporosis, denosumab, zoledronate and calcium, could have a protective effect against COVID-19 in patients who take them, specifically a 30 to 40% reduction in the rate of infection, according to the results of a joint study by Hospital del Mar, the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), Pompeu Fabra University and the Pere Virgili Health Park. The study, the first of its kind in the world, has just been published the journal Aging. The last author of the study, Dr. Jordi Monfort, head of Rheumatology at Hospital del Mar and coordinator of the Cell Research on Inflammation and Cartilage research group at Hospital del Mar-IMIM, explains that "there are indications to allow hypothesizing that certain drugs used to treat rheumatic diseases could interfere positively in the natural history of COVID-19, either by decreasing its incidence or by decreasing its progression to more serious cases". The study analysed data from more than 2,000 patients with osteoporosis, osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia and their relationship with COVID-19 infection who are being followed up at Hospital del Mar and in the Mar Health Park healthcare sphere of influence.
07/10/2020 - Covid-19
Doctors from the Cardiology Service at Hospital del Mar together with researchers from the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) and CIBERESP have identified two cardiac damage markers as elements for diagnosing risk in patients suffering from COVID-19. 1 in 3 patients analysed in the study had at least one of these indicators in their blood. Mortality and the need for mechanical ventilation was higher in these patients than in those who did not have it, almost 40% compared to less than 10%. 80% of the patients who died had elevated indicators of cardiac damage. This is the most extensive study published on the subject so far, with 872 patients analysed. The article has been published in the Revista Española de Cardiología. Two cardiac damage markers can be used as predictors for the risk of complications in patients diagnosed with COVID-19. This has been revealed by the most ambitious study carried out to date in this field, led by doctors and researchers from the Hospital del Mar and the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), as well as CIBER Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP). The paper has just been published by the Revista Española de Cardiología.
Més informació "Two cardiac damage markers identified as predictors of risk in COVID-19 patients"
10/08/2020 - Covid-19
The COVID-19 pandemic that, according to data from the Ministry of Health, has caused nearly 30,000 deaths in Spain, is hitting the most impoverished neighbourhoods the hardest, as confirmed by a study recently published in the Journal of Public Health and led by researchers from the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) and IDIAPJGol. The work reveals that, during the peak of the epidemic in the city of Barcelona, the district with the lowest average income, Nou Barris, recorded an incidence of cases 2.5 times higher than that of the district with the highest income, Sarrià-Sant Gervasi. The work took into account the incidence of cases recorded by age between 26 February and 19 April, one of the peak periods of the disease in Barcelona, and compared this with the average income data by district. In total, almost 9,000 cases were analysed. The results highlight a direct relationship between lower income and a higher number of COVID-19 cases.
Més informació "COVID-19 hits hardest in the poorest areas of Barcelona"
10/08/2020 - Covid-19
The project is one of 12 selected by the evaluation committee and will receive the second highest amount of money, 250,000 euros. The study, which involves the University of Girona, the University of Vic-Central-University of Catalonia and the Foundation for Higher Studies in Health Sciences, the Trueta and Santa Caterina hospitals and the University Institute for Primary Health Care Research (IDIAP-Jordi Gol), with the company Gen inCode and several healthcare centres in the United States also showing an interest, will analyse genetic predisposition to coronary risk as a prognostic element of severity in the event of contracting COVID-19. The CARGENCORS study, or CARdiovascular GENetic risk score for Risk Stratification of patients positive for the SARS-CoV-2 (COvid19) virus, was selected by the FONDO SUPERA COVID-19 (Beat COVID-19 Fund) evaluation committee, organised by the association of Spanish Universities (CRUE), the CSIC, and Santander Bank. With a pot of 8.5 million euros, the fund will finance projects in various fields with the aim of minimising the impact of the current pandemic, focusing on three priority areas: applied research, projects with social impact and profitability, and strengthening the ICT capacity of the state university system.
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