[Cardiovascular risk among Spanish seafarers].

Objective: Working at sea makes it difficult to receive proper medical attention. Moreover, the prognosis of an acute cardiovascular event often depends on the measures taken in the first few hours after the onset of symptoms, but are often delayed in seamen. Thus, it is very important to detect cardiovascular risk factors in these workers as early as possible.

Improving cardiovascular health in Spanish seafarers.

Background And Aim: There is a high prevalence in the Spanish general population of some cardiovascular risk factors like overweight, obesity and hypercholesterolaemia. But there is lack of research on Spanish seafarers. On the other hand, there is strong evidence of the cardiovascular risk predictive value of some biomarkers.

[Cardiovascular risk prediction and its relationship with metabolic syndrome and emerging serum makers in occupational health surveillance].

Objectives: To calculate cardiovascular risk according to the American Framingham Coronary Risk Score (FCRS) and the European Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation (SCORE) methods. To correlate the results with the presence of meta-bolic syndrome (glycemia, triglyceridemia, cholesterolemia, abdominal circumference and blood pressure) and with serum levels of three emerging biomarkers [ultrasensitive reactive C protein (PCRus), homocysteine (Hcy) and lipoproteín (a) (lp (a)].

Methods: Data were gathered during routine medical surveillance of mostly white collar workers in FREMAP Alcobendas from 2004 to 2006 (n=248).

Adjusting the dose of tamoxifen in patients with early breast cancer and CYP2D6 poor metabolizer phenotype.

Background: CYP2D6 is a key enzyme in tamoxifen metabolism, transforming it into its main active metabolite, endoxifen. Poor CYP2D6 metabolizers (PM) have lower endoxifen plasma concentrations and possibly benefit less from treatment with tamoxifen. We evaluated tamoxifen dose adjustment in CYP2D6 PM patients in order to obtain plasma concentrations of endoxifen comparable to patients with extensive CYP2D6 metabolism (EM).

Case-control study of semicircular lipoatrophy, a new occupational disease in office workers.

Objectives: Semicircular lipoatrophy (SL) is an emerging occupational pathology. Its etiology is poorly understood. We intend to establish the probable risk factors and estimate the relative risk.

CYP2D6*4 allele and breast cancer risk: is there any association?

Background: CYP2D6 is an important cytochrome P450 enzyme. These enzymes catalyse the oxidative biotransformation of about 25% of clinically important drugs as well as the metabolism of numerous environmental chemical carcinogens. The most frequent null allele of CYP2D6 in European populations, CYP2D6*4, has been studied here in order to elucidate whether a relationship exists between this allele and the risk of developing breast cancer in a Spanish population.

[Ethical and legal implications of biomedical research].

The major advances in biomedical research pose ethical and legal problems for the researchers, institutions and companies responsible for these advances. This new vision of their professional task results from the necessary protection of patients' rights and responsibilities, reflected in international documents and specific legislation in distinct countries, which are globally being adopted by transnational research, linked -in turn- to translational research. The pluridisciplinary nature of current biomedical research is reflected in the field of the rights and responsibilities to be protected.