Publications by authors named "Juan A Ortega Garcia"

Introduction: Soils contaminated by heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, and arsenic represent a significant health risk. The Sierra Minera of Cartagena (Spain) is an area historically contaminated by mining activities. This study evaluates the exposure to heavy metals and proposes a clinical screening model for its management in primary care.

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Background: Substance abuse is a global problem that cuts across all sectors of society and requires innovative solutions that go beyond conventional treatments. Contact with nature could be a complementary tool to address drug-related problems. This review aimed to assess the impact of natural environments on drug-related outcomes.

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Objectives: To compare the environmental health results in women trying to get pregnant or pregnant using a mobile health application (Green Page) through healthcare professionals or self-completed by women, and to explore the relationship between the subjective well-being of these women with their lifestyles and environmental factors.

Methods: A descriptive study with mixed methods was conducted in 2018. A mobile health survey was used in two phases.

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Today more than half of the world's population lives in urban areas. Children spend about 40 h a week in the school environment. Knowing the influence of school exposure to green/blue spaces could improve the children's health, creating healthier environments and preventing exposure to legal/illegal drugs.

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Background: Several environmental factors seem to be involved in childhood leukaemia incidence. Traffic exposure could increase the risk while urban green spaces (UGS) exposure could reduce it. However, there is no evidence how these two factors interact on this infant pathology.

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Childhood and adolescent cancer survivors (CACS) are a high-risk population for non-communicable diseases and secondary carcinogenesis. The Environmental and Community Health Program for Longitudinal Follow-up of CACS in the region of Murcia, Spain, is an ongoing pioneering program that constitutes a model for social innovation. This study aims to present the program tools and protocol as a whole, as well as a profile of the incidence, survival, and spatiotemporal distribution of childhood cancer in the region of Murcia, Spain, using 822 sample cases of cancer diagnosed in children under 15 years of age (1998-2020).

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Radiant catalytic ionization (RCI) is a novel technology that uses the appropriate wavelength (240-260 nm) and the phenomenon of photo-oxidation leading to permanent removal of viruses, bacteria, and fungi. Here, two analyses were performed. The first of them was a complete analysis of environmental biosecurity in a hospital environment.

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Background: Blue spaces have been a key part of human evolution, providing resources and helping economies develop. To date, no studies have been carried out to explore how they may be linked to paediatric oncological diseases.

Objectives: To explore the possible relationship of residential proximity to natural and urban blue spaces on childhood leukaemia.

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Alcohol consumption during pregnancy is a leading cause of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Maternal reporting in childbearing women or pregnant women is the standard for the early detection of alcohol consumption. The Green Page (GP) is a screening questionnaire of environmental health which includes the alcohol intake record during pregnancy and/or lactation period.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the potential link between soil levels of heavy metals cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) and the incidence of childhood leukemias in Spain, where 2,897 cases were examined from a total population of over 5 million children.
  • Researchers used data from the Geochemical Atlas of Spain and employed logistic regression models to assess the data, taking into account factors like sex, rurality, employment rate, and socioeconomic status.
  • Results indicate that higher levels of Cd and Pb in topsoil correspond to increased probabilities of childhood leukemias, suggesting a possible 20% higher risk for kids living in areas with the highest concentrations of these metals.
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The pollution of the planet also reaches the breastfeeding ecosystem, one of the most intimate and inviolable that links us as an animal species to the rest of mammals. Nursing mothers may be concerned about whether the quality of their milk will be adequate for their baby and whether environmental pollutants through work, diet, and storing may adversely affect their child. Breast milk is a source of exposure to environmental pollutants, and at the same time it counteracts much of the effects of these exposures.

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The impact of COVID-19 outbreak has been unequal across Spanish regions. The epidemic wave has been smoother in the Region of Murcia (RM) (6 deaths/100,000 residents). Physical distance from health centers from day 0 is an additional social distancing measure that confers an advantageous starting position in the fight against COVID-19.

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Background: Childhood cancer is a chronic disease with high survival rates. Childhood cancer survivors (CCS) can still face health effects later in their lives. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and the factors that modify it allow CCS and their families to improve care in the long-term follow-up.

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Introduction: Urban air pollution is a major threat to child and adolescent health. Children are more vulnerable to its effects, being associated with higher morbidity and mortality due to acute and chronic diseases, especially respiratory ones. A study is performed on the relationship between urban air pollution and the rate of hospital admissions due to acute respiratory diseases.

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Maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy is responsible for negative health outcomes. The literature shows that socio-economic and lifestyle factors are both related with alcohol consumption during pregnancy; nevertheless, the role of other factors is unclear. The objective of this study is to assess the role that partners' alcohol consumption plays, that played by accessibility to alcohol, and by social influence - when considering pregnant women's behaviour as regards alcohol.

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Aims: In current clinical practice, prenatal alcohol exposure is usually assessed by interviewing the pregnant woman by applying questionnaires. An alternative method for detecting alcohol use is to measure the biomarker carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT). However, few studies measure CDT during pregnancy.

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Background: The 5-year overall survival (OS) in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has reached 90% in high-income countries, levels that can no be longer overcome with strategies based on intensification of treatment. Other approaches in the search for new and modifiable prognostic factors are necessary to continue to improve these rates. The importance of environmental factors in the etiopathogenesis of childhood ALL has been regaining interest but its role in the prognosis and survival of this disease is not well explored.

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Objective: To contribute in closing the current gap in literature that holistically examines sociocultural influences on perinatal drug dependency. This article draws from social network theory and structural violence to qualitatively consider the contextual components of addiction and substance use during pregnancy, which purposefully moves away from situating this issue from solely being within the contexts of pathologized disorders or products of social inequalities.

Design: Face-to-face semi-structured interviews with drug-dependent pregnant women identified during a reproductive environmental health consultation.

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In a world that is increasingly technological and interconnected, but also more violent, overexploited and polluted, Paediatric Environmental Health (PEH) is one of the best contributions to improve global health. Few areas of the planet have a high affinity with common values and interests, such as the European Union (EU), Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The investments and actions of the PEH in pre- and postnatal periods during the first two decades of life will generate countless benefits in the health and well-being during the human life span.

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Background: Obesity is a major public health crisis among both children and adults and contributes to significant physical, psychological, and economic burden. We aim to investigate the effect of duration of breastfeeding on excessive weight and obesity at 6 years of age.

Subjects/methods: Data on breastfeeding and child anthropometric measurements were collected in a birth-cohort study in Murcia, Spain (n = 350).

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