«More important than understanding illness is understanding what health is»

–In his accession speech as an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Medicine and Surgery of Seville, he highlighted the need to unite technological and human progress in contemporary society.

–It is one of the most important challenges because technology is advancing too quickly, especially in the medical and cardiovascular field, but mortality continues to increase. It is a great paradox: despite technological improvement, the consumerist world is winning the battle. This tells us that we need a meaningful education system because technology is usurping or canceling out the creativity of young people. At Google they have everything they want and that is affecting the cognitive aspect of creativity and the human aspect. An example is medical students, for whom patient examination is no longer as important as data analysis. This has made us lose empathy. Although everyone speaks fantastically well about technology, it scares me.

–I understand that this fear of new technologies and the problem of the “cancellation of creativity” will be aggravated with the emergence of Artificial Intelligence.

–The prominence of Artificial Intelligence is already a reality. Although from a technical point of view it is fantastic, it can negate the humanistic and creative aspects that I have mentioned. Your real danger will be in a more sophisticated lack of control.

–He joins the distinguished group of Honor scholars, which includes Fleming, Jiménez Díaz, Gregorio Marañón, Teófilo Hernando and Ramón Castroviejo.

–Recognitions are important, but in our lives what counts are the facts. An act like this, with the names you have mentioned, has appeal, but it does not mean that you will be constantly living off of it.

–His research on the origin of cardiovascular accidents, which has contributed to improving the prevention and treatment of heart attacks, earned him the Prince of Asturias Research Award in 1996. Since then, what are the latest developments?

–I made a pretty important change ten years ago. I realized that more important than understanding illness is understanding health. With very modern technologies I have worked to understand what keeps a person healthy. By understanding this it is very likely that we can prevent the disease. Now I am in a much earlier field, working with children and in education.

–In order to carry out these early controls, it is essential that there be a culture of health in society.

–Yes, exactly: we have to create a culture of health. And this must start from below, because we always want to think that it is the responsibility of governments when it is a big mistake. The experience of the last ten years tells us that we must start in the schools, go to the families, look for the workers. It’s the only way this works. And when that happens we can go higher, towards governments. It would not be unreasonable to think that in a few years there will be a subject called health sciences. It is a slow process, but in life we ​​all contribute.

–Does society know healthy habits well?

–People know what the risk factors are. They know the danger of lack of exercise, obesity, high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, smoking… The problem is that people do not ask themselves if they want to have health and quality of life. life. They don’t ask themselves because they have a consumerist world around them that can do more than personal decision. We are seeing that the risk factors that I have mentioned at an early age can produce senile dementia and even progress to Alzheimer’s disease. It’s all a cultural problem.

–And what is the main recommendation?

-Decide. You make the decision whether you want to take care of yourself or not. Don’t ask me about your obesity or blood pressure, the problem is in the personal decision to take care of yourself. Most people don’t have time to think. I dedicate fifteen minutes of my day to thinking; I don’t do anything, I just think about what works or doesn’t work, what I should do… If there is no time to think, how do you make a decision about whether I am going to take care of myself when that requires a lot of effort? You have to decide if you are going to take care of yourself or not.

–If we change this consumerist world that you talk to me about, would cardiovascular disease stop being the most lethal in the world?

–Sure, but at the moment it is still the most lethal. People must realize. And we can only implement that in very young people and at very early ages. What we call sustainability: from three to six years, to ten, to fifteen… May everything increase exponentially. When you’re older everything is very different. Consider that we are working with 50,000 children in various parts of the world and in our studies half of them are treated aggressively to see how the body evolves with physical exercise, how they control emotions, the arrival of alcohol… The studies tell us that The environment is essential.

–You are a cardiologist who leads by example: they tell me that you have climbed the Tourmalet by bicycle five times and that you want to do it a sixth time.

–Sport, nature, naturalness… everything contributes.

–He had the best record of his promotion in 1967, which shows that success combines talent and effort.

–Effort is more important than talent. Resilience is a fundamental issue that must be taught and must start very early. If they don’t do it as children, it doesn’t anchor them as adults.

–Spanish researchers are up in arms against the Government for the regulation of the contribution of their time as a “scholarship”.

–I don’t know enough about this matter. I live in the United States and it is difficult to give an opinion, although there is an urgent need for research doctors who can work 50% clinically and in research. It is absolutely critical in Spain and it is one of the most important needs that this country has that hospitals accept to have individuals who work part-time so that at the same time they can have a research career. This has been my life from the beginning.

–When in your reception speech at the Royal Academy of Medicine you mentioned ethical values ​​and respect for human dignity, what exactly did you mean?

–Technology blinds and one can lose empathy. Today I was on a train and I saw that of the thirty people traveling in my car, twenty were on the phone and were not talking to each other. It is an obvious fact. I hope society realizes and changes because we are losing empathy.

–He is currently director of the National Center for Cardiovascular Research in Madrid, the Mount Sinai Fuster Cardiovascular Hospital in New York and the leading journal in the field of cardiology. How does he do it?

–You have to know how to organize. I have very simple ideas, but I am a very focused person. I think we are not going to change the world, but we can contribute with small things. The question is what is that little thing. You have to be well organized and have very specific objectives and be very focused.

–You who live and work between Spain and the United States, what health system do you demand?

–The United States is a young country that has been changing since Obama. Fifteen years from now I can predict that it will be radically changed. Consider that it is a country of survivors and that individualistic aspect has remained. Healthcare in the United States is not at all what one wants, but it is in the process of change.

–It is preferable to know what they want to be before who they want to be.

-I totally agree. People, when they reach a relatively high point, think that they can no longer have tutors or mentors. I have two that keep telling me where I should go.

–The Andalusian Health Service has just taken doctors up in arms after making public some rather questionable data on the salaries of family doctors. Do you think that the work of doctors is well paid?

–It’s just that I don’t know well and I don’t want to speak superficially. In general, it depends on where you work, but the doctor works a lot and there is a lot of burnout. [agotamiento por estrés laboral].

–What has been your greatest professional satisfaction?

–Train young people.