Discover Emma's scientific side
-Hippocrates.
There is no excuse for me not to move, but you have to do it sensibly. Hence, both because of the activity I do and because of the concern that I have in knowing the why of things, I have found in research the pillar to acquire that knowledge that can make the sport we practice as healthy as possible. To do this, it is essential to take into account the four basic pillars: an adequate diet and correct hydration, restorative rest, personalized training and, above all, a medical check-up preferably with a sports specialist.
All this I have learned from experience as a runner and as a scientist.
I graduated in Biochemistry from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (1996) and then I did the Master in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology with the dissertation: "Effect of Mutations associated with Retinitis Pigmentosa on the transmembrane domain on the folding of rhodopsin" (1998). 23 years after graduating I have finished my PhD in Biomedical Engineering at the UPC (2019),
it is never too late!
Along the way, I have worked as an associate professor at the UAB Faculty of Medicine during the years after the degree while studying the Biochemistry thesis in the Biophysics laboratory (1996-1999), and later as a professor at the Fundació Universitària del Bages in Manresa teaching Biochemistry and Biophysics (1999-2006).
For years I helped to organize the Mountain Lifeguard course that, led by Dr. Subirats, was held every year in Cerdanya, and it was precisely him and my father who encouraged me to decide to do a doctoral thesis at age 38 on a topic that motivated me: the impact of running long distances.
The UPC and the Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital in Badalona. I am an external researcher at the Electronic and Biomedical Instrumentation Group (IEB) at the UPC and at the future Sports and Health Research Group at the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP). But on the way to reach this destination, many more institutions and hospitals have helped me for which I am very grateful.
All the work that I have been doing so far must serve both for sedentary, active or extremely active and for sport to be as healthy as possible at all times.
What really kills us is being sedentary!
We have to do physical activity, but wisely!
- Mae West, American actress (1892-1980).
Strenuous exercise such as a marathon in amateur or non-elite runners can cause changesin biomarkers associated with the pathology of several tissues such as skeletal and cardiac muscle, as well as impairing renal function and immunity. Concentration and activity of creatine kinase, C-reactive protein, creatinine, urea, sodium, mineral and lipid profile, cardiac high-sensitive troponin T, amino-terminal pro-B type natriuretic peptide and ST2 in blood, or IgA, antimicrobial proteins, anti-inflammatory proteins and chemokines in saliva, are all altered in response to a bout of prolonged exercise. Such changes are transient and in most cases, full recovery occurs within 48 h, without any apparent long-term adverse consequences. But a sum of acute effects can become chronic, especially when you do not run a single marathon a year.
We hypothesized that non-elite marathon runners, who experienced changes in these biomarkers would be more prone to tissue damage, injury, inflammation, cardiac, and renal impairment, infection and depressed performance, especially caused by inappropriate body weight and a poor training plan, recovery time, and diet.
The main objective of this doctoral thesis is to analyze the impact of running in non-elite runners over different metabolic systems, and how this is affected by previous training hours, race time, recovery time, body weight, diet, and specific supplementation.
Through a diet, health and anthropometry questionnaire, an analysis of bioimpedance vectors and saliva, blood and urine samples were taken at different time intervals (pre-race, post-race and 48 h post-race), evaluate the changes related to:
Quantifying creatine kinase (CK) and C-reactive protein (CRP).
Quantifying high sensitivity cardiac troponin T (Hs-TNT), pro-B type B natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), tumorigenicity suppressor 2 (ST2), and lipid profile (triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoproteins and cholesterol).
Quantifying salivary immunoglobulin A (sIgA), anti- inflammatory proteins (angiogenin, adipokine, sialic acid-binding Ig-like lectin 5), pro-inflammatory chemokines (growth-regulated oncogene-alpha, growth- regulated oncogene-beta, monocyte chemoattractant protein 1), and antimicrobial proteins (lactoferrin, lysozyme).
Quantifying creatinine, urea and sodium, and analyzing the bioelectrical impedance vector (BIVA).
The SUMMIT study (Health in ultramarathons and its limits) was born from the interest of deepening the knowledge and future prevention tools on the impact of running on people who, without being sufficiently prepared, pose challenges that go beyond their limits.
This project can help coaches, sports doctors, researchers and especially athletes to better understand some physiological changes associated with running and establish guidelines for better performance, recovery and general health. But above all it must serve to determine the long-term negative effects on the acute metabolic changes that occur in each race that is participated.
And its objective has been to bring together the knowledge of different institutions, universities and hospitals, and to deepen a broad knowledge of the limits of a runner. The UPC, the Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital and the Hospital de Santa Creu i Sant Pau have participated, analyzing different variables of blood and saliva together with bioimpedance measurements and with an analysis of dietary intake.
We are currently forming a research group made up of researchers and doctors from the UPC and Can Ruti to continue researching health and sport. We want to deepen our understanding of the changes in the physiological, articular, renal, biochemical and cardiological fields that occur as a result of an endurance sporting event. Provide knowledge on the pathophysiological bases in the sports environment, to establish new prevention strategies and avoid undesirable consequences such as cardiovascular problems, kidney problems, muscle injury, joint injury and other derivatives in the short and long term.
Department of Cardiology, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol. Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Research Program, Fundació Institut d'Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol
Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol. Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Department of Nephrology. Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol
Department of Electronic Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
Department of Electronic Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
Department of Electronic Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Summit 2014 S.L, Centelles, Barcelona
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- Isabel Allende (1942).
From the Emma Roca book “EL LÍMITE ES TU SALUD" (The limit is your health):
THE 5 COMMANDMENTS OFHEALTH AND SPORTS
1. Reduce stress.
2. Rest. You have to sleep well, sufficiently and on a regular schedule.
3. Play sports, but avoid overtraining and chronic fatigue.
4. Avoid sudden weight loss, which is associated with decreased immunity.
5. Avoid touching your eyes and nose, the main routes of viral autoinoculation.
6. Before major competitions, avoid contact with sick people and crowds.
7. Rest in febrile episodes or in case of presenting symptoms of infection. With gastroenteritis or cystitis, intense exercise should be avoided.
8. Maintain a balanced diet adapted to the training or competition phase in which we find ourselves.
9. Along with proper nutrition, carbohydrate supplementation is recommended before, during, and up to an hour and a half after intense resistance exercise (especially to boost the immune system).
10. Undergo a medical review with a doctor specialized in sports medicine, especially if you intend to compete or at least train with a notable weekly volume.
In this section we will talk about 6 of the main health pillars mentioned.
Perhaps the best argument in favor of incorporating sport in our lives is to highlight the damage that sedentary lifestyle implies on the body. The latest statistics indicate one of the most wide spread epidemics on the entire planet. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), sedentary lifestyle is the fourth leading cause of death (6% of all deaths), surpassed by high blood pressure (13%), tobacco (9%) or high sugar levels in blood (6%). In fact, lack of physical activity has been directly related to 21-25% of breast and colorectal tumors; 27% of the cases of diabetes and 30% of ischemic heart disease.
The exponential increase in noncommunicable diseases indicates that it is no longer about fighting obesity (the great workhorse of public health policies in recent years), but about taking advantage of the benefits of physical activity to combat diseases and deaths premature. In this sense, the Spanish study Aniba (Anthropometry, Intake and Energy Balance in Spain) has provided a first decisive conclusion: we consume much fewer calories than a few decades ago, but we gain more weight. Specifically, our diet has decreased by 39.5% in caloric intake since 1964. However, overweight rates have continued to grow (49.2% of adults in 2003 and 53.7% in 2012) . The conclusion is therefore clear: you have to spend more calories because we do not burn enough.
Nutrition is an essential tool for sports life and, although the basis is always a healthy and well-balanced diet, it is true that the science of food has taken giant steps in its relationship with sports and adaptation to each individual. Currently, hundreds of studies circulate that analyze how caloric intake contributes to sports performance, which nutrients are most decisive for each stage of training and, above all, which diets are more appropriate. Regarding the latter, countless schools have also emerged that defend or attack the role of carbohydrates, extol or revile proteins, or advocate fasting forcertain types of exercises.
Within nutrition we can find different types according to the objectives.
Some examples are:
Training, pre-competition, during competition, post-competition, regeneration, injury prevention, autophagy, HC axis, microbiota, etc.
Macronutrients /micronutrients, weight loss, disease prevention, immunity, microbiota, vegetarian / vegan, etc.
Correct recovery, regeneration, modulation of stress, circadian rhythm, microbiota, etc.
Autophagy, circadianrhythm, telomeres, DHA, D3, depression, stress, microbiota, NRF2, etc.
Autophagy, NRF2, microbiota, ressoliòmics, stress, homocysteine, cholesterol, DHA, BDNF, adaptogens, , microbiota-brain-gut axis, etc.
Modulators of cortisol (adaptogens), serotonin, gaba, microbiota, etc.
One of the sometimes forgotten pillars of health is emotional balance. It is very important to be well with oneself and with the environment that surrounds us. There are many ways to minimize a hostile, energetic negative environment, excessive oxidative stress, or simply a low emotional state.
One of the options is physical exercise with which we release endorphins, which are natural opiates in the body 20 times more powerful than pain relievers. They have a fundamental role in recovery and in essential functions for health: they calm you, create a state of well-being, improve mood, delay aging, reduce pain, enhance the functions of the immune system, reduce blood pressure, counteract elevated levels of adrenaline associated with anxiety, and others. But apart from physical exercise we also have meditation, nutrition and / or supplementation.
You have to consider the hours of sleep as a repair, restoration and memorization workshop. All the energy we expend during the day is replenished with night rest. And if the body does not have enough time, it is easy to enter a spiral of fatigue and overtraining that is harmful to health. In fact, the quality and quantity of sleep are directly related to aspects such as: cognitive performance, learning capacity, attention, mood, resistance to stress, physical performance, metabolic regulation of glucose, cortisol or growth hormone.
Therefore, much emphasis must be placed on aspects of sleep such as: hours of sleep, quality of sleep, regeneration-recovery, the circadian cycle, being able to relax or meditate, the hormonal aspect (HPA axis, tryptophan-serotonin-melatonin, gut microbiota), adaptogens or emotions.
It is very important in our lifestyle to avoid a series of aspects that can tip the balance from an optimal quality of life to a bad one. Therefore it is in our hands to avoid:
1. Chemicals, toxic (tobacco, inks, hygiene products, makeup etc...).
2. Herbicides, pesticides, endocrine disruptors, radiation, etc.
3. Ultra processed foods.
4. Malnutrition.
5. Unnecessary medication.
6. Stress.
7. Overweight-obesity.
8. Sedentary lifestyle.
9. Depression, social isolation.
10. Others.
- Martina Navratilova, Czech tennis playerand writer (1957).
Roca E, Nescolarde L, Lupón J, Barallat J, Januzzi JL, Liu P, Cruz Pastor M, Bayes-Genis A.
J Cardiovasc Transl Res 2017;10:206-8.
Cantó E, Roca E, Perea L, Rodrigo-Troyano A, Suarez-Cuartin G, Giner J, Feliu A, Sora JM, Nescolarde L, Vidal S, Sibila O.
PloS One 2018;13(11): e0206059.
Roca E, Cantó E, Nescolarde L, Perea L, Bayes-Genis A, Sibila O, Vidal S.
Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 2019;16(14):1-8.
Carmona G, Roca E, Guerrero M, Cusso R, Cadefau JA (2018).
Int J Sports Med 39:1-10.
Vallverdú M, Ruiz-Muñoz A, Roca E, Caminal P, Rodriguez F, Irurtia A, Perera A (2017).
Entropy 19, 658:1–17.
Maqueda M, Roca E, Brotons D, Soria JM, Perera A (2017).
PLoS ONE 12 (10):e0180322.
Faoro V, Deboeck G, Vicenzi M, Gaston AF, Simaga B, Doucende G, Hapkova I, Roca E, Subirats E, Durand F, Naeije R (2017)
Med Sci Sports Exerc 49 (10):2131-2138.
Messier F, Le Moyec L, Santi C, Gaston AF, Triba M, Roca E, Durand F (2017).
Appl Physiol Nutr Metab 42(11):1135-1141.
Sanz de la Garza M, Grazioli G, Bijnens BH, Pajuelo C, Brotons D, Subirats E, Roca E, Sitges M (2016).
Eur J Prev Cardiol 23(10):1114–1124.
Gaston AF, Roca E, Doucende G, Hapkova I, Subirats E, Durand F (2016).
Science & Sports 31(1): 6–12.
Carmona G, Roca E, Guerrero M, Cussó R, Irurtia A, Nescolarde L, Brotons D, Bedini JR, Cadefau JA (2015).
Int J Sports Physiol & Performance 10:1041– 1047.
Sanz de la Garza M, Grazioli G, Bijnens BH, Sarvari SI, Guasch E, Pajuelo C, Brotons D, Subirats E, Brugada R, Roca E, Sitges M (2016).
JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging, 9(12):1380–1388.
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© 2020 EMMA ROCA. all rights reserved.
