Health and wellbeing

Health and well-being have a central role in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) endorsed by the United Nations, emphasizing the integral part they play in building a sustainable future. The third SDG explicitly calls for ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages. This goal encompasses a wide range of health objectives, from reducing maternal and child mortality rates, combatting disease epidemics, to improving mental health and well-being. But beyond SDG 3, health is intrinsically linked with almost all the other goals.

When addressing SDG 1, which aims to end poverty, one cannot neglect the social determinants of health. Economic hardship often translates into poor nutrition, inadequate housing, and limited access to health care, leading to a vicious cycle of poverty and poor health. Similarly, achieving SDG 2, ending hunger, also contributes to better health through adequate nutrition, essential for physical and mental development and the prevention of various diseases.

Conversely, the repercussions of climate change, encapsulated in SDG 13, profoundly impact health. Rising global temperatures can lead to increased spread of infectious diseases, compromised food and water supplies, and increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, all posing severe health risks. Conversely, the promotion of good health can also mitigate climate change through the reduction of carbon-intensive lifestyles and adoption of healthier, more sustainable behaviors.

SDG 5, advocating for gender equality, also has substantial health implications. Ensuring women's access to sexual and reproductive health services not only improves their health outcomes, but also contributes to societal and economic development. Furthermore, achieving SDG 4, quality education, is also critical for health promotion. Education fosters health literacy, empowering individuals to make informed health decisions, hence improving overall community health.

Lastly, SDG 17 underlines the importance of partnerships for achieving these goals. Multi-sector collaboration is vital to integrate health considerations into all policies and practices. Stakeholders from various sectors, including health, education, agriculture, finance, and urban planning, need to align their efforts in creating sustainable environments that foster health and well-being.

Hence, the relationship between health, well-being, and the SDGs is reciprocal. Improving health and well-being helps in achieving sustainable development, and vice versa. In this context, health and well-being are not just outcomes but are also powerful enablers of sustainable development. For the world to truly thrive, it must recognize and act upon these interconnections.

This book chapter addresses goals 3, 12, and 15 by exploring the ability of African medicinal spices and vegetables to tackle malignant diseases.
Elsevier,

The Psychology of Gender and Health, Conceptual and Applied Global Concerns, 2017, Pages 343-361

This book chapter explains how we must transform understandings of, and responses to, mental health for women, helping to advance goal 5.
This book chapter advances SDG #3 and #10 by reviewing neural regeneration–based therapeutic approaches as it represents a highly promising therapeutic strategy for AD, including research that CNTF small-molecule peptide mimetic has demonstrated that neural regeneration–based strategy can also be disease modifying for AD.
Rationale Much of the data on the acceptability of HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) is based on willingness to take PrEP (i.e., hypothetical receptivity) rather than actual intentions (i.e., planned behavioral action) to do so. Objective We sought to examine differences between hypothetical willingness and behavioral intentions to begin PrEP in a national sample of gay and bisexual men (GBM) across the U.S.
To test the hypothesis that sleep can reverse cognitive impairment during Alzheimer's disease, we enhanced sleep in flies either co-expressing human amyloid precursor protein and Beta-secretase (APP:BACE), or in flies expressing human tau. The ubiquitous expression of APP:BACE or human tau disrupted sleep. The sleep deficits could be reversed and sleep could be enhanced when flies were administered the GABA-A agonist 4,5,6,7-tetrahydroisoxazolo-[5,4-c]pyridine-3-ol (THIP).
Elsevier, Neurobiology of Sleep and Circadian Rhythms, Volume 2, 2017
Sleep disorders are prevalent in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and a major cause of institutionalization. Like AD pathology, sleep abnormalities can appear years before cognitive decline and may be predictive of dementia. A bidirectional relationship between sleep and amyloid β (Aβ) has been well established with disturbed sleep and increased wakefulness leading to increased Aβ production and decreased Aβ clearance; whereas Aβ deposition is associated with increased wakefulness and sleep disturbances. Aβ fluctuates with the sleep-wake cycle and is higher during wakefulness and lower during sleep.
This content aligns with Goal 3: Good Health as well as Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities by discussing insights into the regulation and induction of bnAbs based on the use of KI models.
Elsevier,

The Psychology of Gender and Health: Conceptual and Applied Global Concerns, 2017, Pages 199-229

Violence against women is a growing area of study in development because it is directly related to the health and psychological consequences associated with victims. Contributing to SDGs 3 and 5, this chapter provides a summary of the main strategies that have been proposed to combat this problem by different international and European organizations, with particular attention to the specific application that has been carried out in Spain.
Elsevier,

The Psychology of Gender and Health: Conceptual and Applied Global Concerns, 2017, Pages 343-361

This chapter advances SDG 5 on gender equality by considering the origins of mainstreaming as a national policy initiative in England, describing the initiatives promoted and reflecting on both the progress that was made and its limitations.
Elsevier,

Physical Activity and the Aging Brain, Effects of Exercise on Neurological Function, 2017, Pages 141-150

This chapter addresses goal 3 by examining the role that exercise and physical activity play on Alzheimer’s Disease.

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