Projects
Project 1 - Ici Plant (Cytostatic-Plant Interactions)
Research interactions between cytostatics and bioactive molecules of natural origin (herb extracts) with affinity to the same CYP 450’s isoenzymes.
Description/Objectives:
Interactions between drugs and herbal constituents are becoming serious and frequent events, given the abusive consumption of the latest. The main goals of the Observatory are: Identify this kind of situations, study them and ultimately to inform health professions, and general population, about its risks.
The project is focused on the oncologic population, which is very exposed to this type of interactions, and consequently being one that will intensely benefit from the disclosed data.
In this project we will follow-up cases where herb-drug interactions are suspected, monitorizing simultaneously the anti-neoplastic therapy, the herbal-based products used and its metabolites, as well as their side effects. This way we can help those who use this medication and, at the same time, collect information in order to evaluate the risk for future situations, similar to the ones in study. Besides, we may extrapolate this information to patients with identical interaction profiles, avoiding accidents and their cost, in human lives and economic terms.
Population target: oncologic patients
This project runs in collaboration with some elements of IPOCFG, E.P.E. (Approved on the 6th of May, 2009)
Project 2 - Health Learning Between Plants and Drugs
Production of Materials to Science and Technology Dissemination in the Media
Objective:
This project is destined to produce contents to broadcast through the media and the press to raise the awareness of the interactions that can occur while a concurrent administration of medicines and herbal extracts (teas), or other type of herbal extract, that are often purchased despite the lack of quality control.
The amount of accidents that occur due to the concomitant intake of drugs and herbs is growing and the costs inherent to these accidents “eat” a slice of the budget allocated to the Health System. This can be avoided if the population is educated and therefore capable of a rational use of such products.
In parallel, it will be written a book with the discovery stories of drugs with natural provenience and others that are still extracted from plants. Information about the risks of acquiring these natural products by internet will be disclosed as well.
Addressed to the general public, without commercial ends, this project aims to educate and to protect the populations against everything that may be sold without sufficient information and quality control, avoiding potential health risks.
Targets
- Geriatrics
- Teenagers
- Adults
Project resultant contents:
- television broadcasting, including, transmission through mobile platforms and Internet;
- broadcasting;
- press, daily or periodical, including online media, addressed to the general public.
Commitment declaration with media entities
- RTP, SIC, TVI, LUSA; express
Agencies involved:
- FFUC (MGCampos - Project Coordinator); FMUC; IPO, University of Coimbra Press
Project 3 - Herbs and Drugs Interactions
Production of Content for Scientific and Technological Dissemination on the Apple Itunes U Platform
Objective:
This project aims to produce content for dissemination through the iTunesU platform in order to raise awareness among the population about the interactions that occur when medicines and plant extracts are administered jointly, whether in the form of teas or other types of extracts. Often purchased without any type of quality control.
The accidents that often occur with these mixtures and that lead people to be rescued in the emergency room, in addition to often putting their lives at risk, especially those undergoing oncological therapy, consume a portion of the health budget that would otherwise be eliminated if there was information available to the population for the rational consumption of this type of associations.
With these episodes available on the platform and easy to download, the aim is to create among populations a culture of health that allows them to have an objective and simple analysis of what they can and cannot do together, in addition to demystifying the idea that "what is natural does not hurt", since the biggest poisons are of natural origin.
Aimed at the general public and of a non-commercial nature, it aims to educate populations about their health and protect what can be sold to them without sufficient information to protect them from the risks that may arise from it.
Population target
- geriatrics
- teenagers
- adults
Work developed within the scope of the "Knowledge for All" Project at the University of Coimbra - Coordinated by Joaquim Ramos de Carvalho and Sofia Tavares