The good use that José Rodríguez makes of technology, coupled with his knowledge, has allowed many pediatric patients to gain life and good respiratory health.
Dr. José Rodríguez Santana, pediatric pulmonologist. Photo: Journal of Medicine and Public Health. Martha Velez.
Originally from the town of CaguasPuerto Rico, the Dr. Jose Rodriguez Santana, pediatric pulmonologisthas dedicated itself to children’s health in order to give infants a good quality of life and, best of all, it does so with little or no invasive techniques.
After studying biology and natural sciences at the University of Puerto Rico, Rodríguez discovered that his true vocation was medicine, so he studied it at the Pedro Henríquez Ureña University, in the Dominican Republic; She studied her specialty in pediatrics in Puerto Rico. Her interest was oriented towards pediatric critical care and respiratory diseases.
Evolution of asthma at a scientific level
Rodríguez recalls that the management of patients with asthma was done in a very rudimentary way, without computing or all the sophistication that is currently available, which represented a challenge for the consecrated doctor.
Previously, other pathologies were also observed that are not present today thanks to the advancement of science. “Diseases have changed a lot due to the intervention that has been done, with technology,” says the specialist, who was the first to use a computer system in the hospital, something that led him to learn programming. “More than the pathologies, the treatment given to these patients has changed,” he reflects.
Something similar happened in the area of pulmonology when they began to use the technology. In the past, Rodríguez was one of the doctors who developed one of the machines used to manage lung function in infants. At that time, few places in the world used this type of technology and, thanks to Dr. José Rodríguez, many pediatric patients in Puerto Rico were able to benefit.
This is how medical science evolved, until it was possible to make use of non-invasive practices such as, for example, being able to measure a patient’s oxygenation by placing a device on their finger.
Much of Rodríguez’s medical career has been in the field of asthma. Since 2000, some research projects began, known as the genetic analysis of Latinos with asthma, which was done in collaboration with the University of California, San Francisco and other entities. The interest in studying this population is due to the fact that it is the most prone, especially when there is exposure to a certain type of environment.
Asthma has been around for thousands of years, but there has been a high incidence, perhaps caused by lifestyle. Industrialization, especially, has brought multiple allergies. Both in the past and now, the disease behaves in the same way, but today it is known, specifically since the 1990s, that the most important medication to manage asthma is steroids and bronchodilator treatment.
Then they realized that these patients who should be in chronic treatment were treated with steroids. All these discoveries made the patients gain a good quality of life.
Death from asthma, in Latinos and Puerto Ricans, was higher than what was described in the Caucasian race in Puerto Rico, even higher than other races called Hispanics, such as Mexicans.
The response to albuterol, in Mexicans and Puerto Ricans, was different. Puerto Ricans did not respond as well. This suggested that there was something genetic in the population of Puerto Rico. These were the first studies that clarified many doubts regarding the condition of asthma.
Rodríguez and his team cultured nasal cells and how they respond to viral infections to learn regarding the relationship between asthma and viral infections. Today, they monitor children every time they are exposed to a viral infection, they do this in specialized laboratories, analyzing not only environmental factors, but also genetic ones. Invasive tests are no longer needed to treat children.
You recently observed a 10-year-old cystic fibrosis patient who has lived with complications. The medications that she requires are expensive and the insurance does not cover them, nor do the insurers cover the tests that are warranted, so the doctor classifies this as a barrier.
A moving story along the way
Rodríguez has had successes and has also faced death. Remember a patient who was in several hospitals in the United States, regarding to die. When the patient is transferred to Puerto Rico, he was hospitalized for a year, dependent on a mechanical ventilator, with a respiratory condition that prevented him from living normally.
After a year, they realized there was no alternative but to send him home on a ventilator. There they built a ventilator, in their home, developing the home care system for dependent children for the first time. Eventually it was progressing. She was a girl, the only female in a family group in which there were only boys, and today she is a woman who lives well and takes care of her brothers.
This makes Rodríguez reflect on the importance of providing access to all patients so that they can have a long life.