She studied Veterinary Medicine, but Guadalupe Sabio (Extremadura, 1977) was clear from a very early age that what she really wanted was to understand why diseases appear and how we can fight them. From his laboratory at the National Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC) he directs a team that, since 2011, is trying to find out the ins and outs of obesity and its relationship with problems such as cardiovascular disease , diabetes or cancer .
There are many questions that must be answered, he acknowledges. But this multi-award-winning scientist doesn't get rid easily. He knows that "science only brings progress", although research in this country has become, he says, a career that has more and more obstacles and "threatens to leave out the next generation . "
One of its objectives is to learn to intervene in the role that fat plays in the cascade of disorders associated with obesity. «Before it was thought that fat was an inert tissue that all it did was accumulate lipids. A kind of warehouse without functions, ”said Sage, whose office is upholstered with drawings of his children.
However, he continues, "today we know that it plays an important role as an endocrine organ" and, through leptin, communicates directly with the central nervous system. «We want to know how fat behaves in a thin person and how it does in an obese person. Because understanding these differences can lead us to identify a therapeutic target to point to, ”he emphasizes.
Either way, Sage is clear that the fight against obesity - "a problem that can be harder to cure than cancer" - should not only start with laboratories. “Just as the institutions faced tobacco because it was a serious public health problem, we must also take more drastic measures against obesity , which has a lot of side effects on people's lives and also a great economic and economic impact. sanitary".
It is inconceivable, the researcher continues, that eating poorly is simpler - and cheaper - than doing well. Or that the population will receive conflicting messages about what is healthy and what is not. « Nutrition education in schools is also necessary. Because that child will not only know the rest of his life what it means to have healthy living habits, but he will also tell his parents, ”he remarks.
In overweight, recalls the researcher, not only influences what you eat, but also "your way of life, how and how much you sleep, the exercise you do, the type of food you eat ...". And, when it develops, "obesity is a real problem, a disease" that does not have to do - nor is it the fault - of the patient's will, he notes.
While finalizing with his collaborators the details of the following paper that they will publish, Sabio regrets the difficulties faced by those who intend to do science today in Spain. "Since 2009, budgets have been declining. And this is no longer solved with a small effort. We need a real investment," he says.
"Science is slow, it is a long-term investment," he continues. "Because scientists cannot give results on a day-to-day basis. We need support with a view to the future. And a real bet, because otherwise, nothing can be done. But the money used in science is an investment in productivity, in the future ".
"A change is necessary now," warns the researcher, who notes that what happened with the house of Ramón y Cajal, recently dismantled to build luxury apartments is "a metaphor" for the treatment that science receives in Spain.
"Or we put the accelerator, as they have done in Germany or England, and we take advantage of the critical mass of scientists so good that we have or the next generation will abandon, because it will no longer have hope. And when you lose hope you have lost everything," he recalls. . And he launches a final request: "We are not asking for the moon. In the end what we need means a few kilometers of AVE ."
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