
Oncologists predict that cancer mortality will fall by 30% in the EU by 2030
September 12, 2022Call for aid for Research Projects in Science and Technology applied to Physical Activity Beneficial to Health (AFBS) and Sports Medicine, funded by European funds from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan
September 13, 2022The ups and downs and daily difficulties in leading a normal life are the main obstacles that people who suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) must face, a pathology that affects between 2% and 3% of the Spanish population. To give visibility and raise awareness of the need for support for these patients by the entire society, Menchu Casamayor, surgeon at the Miguel Servet University Hospital and member of the Technological Innovation in Cancer group at the Aragón Health Research Institute (IIS Aragón), has undertaken an initiative: together with her husband Carlos, she has set out to complete the trans-Pyrenean route following the GR11 long-distance trail that connects Cape Higuer in the Cantabrian Sea and Cape Creus in the Mediterranean, with a total of 42 stages and 824 kilometers through the Basque Country, Navarra, Aragon, Andorra and Catalonia.
The couple, who began their journey on August 19, experiences the disease firsthand, since their daughter was diagnosed with OCD when she was 13 years old. They tell their adventure through the project website, www.42tipsxtoc.es, and two profiles on Instagram and Facebook (@42_tipsxtoc), where they publish photos and videos of the places they visit and motivational phrases that they have collected from healthcare workers, patients, relatives and those affected. “The initiative was created to raise awareness of obsessive-compulsive disorder, to focus on the mental health problems aggravated by the pandemic and to unite self-improvement and sport in a unique sporting and solidarity challenge,” explains Casamayor. “We compare the weight of the backpack to the difficulties of people with mental illness and the mountain climbs and valley descents to their ups and downs. OCD is underdiagnosed and affects a significant number of people. It can be very disabling in different aspects of life, but, although it has no cure, you can live with it with a certain normality as long as you have good treatment with a multidisciplinary team,” emphasizes this Aragonese healthcare provider and researcher.

Casamayor and his family are members of the TOC Zaragoza association, with which they invite you to collaborate through their website: https://toczaragoza.com. “Mental health is a problem that requires more health care resources and greater acceptance by society,” she adds.