Protective effects of Surfacen® in allergen-induced asthma mice model.

Airway obstruction with increased airway resistance in asthma, commonly caused by smooth muscle constriction, mucosal edema and fluid secretion into the airway lumen, may partly be due to a poor function of pulmonary surfactant. Surfacen®, a clinical pulmonary surfactant, has anti-inflammatory action, but its effect on asthma has not been studied. This work aimed to evaluate the effect of Surfacen® in a murine allergen-induced acute asthma model, using house dust mite allergens.

Smoking prevalence in Cienfuegos City, Cuba.

INTRODUCTION Over the last 40 years, high smoking prevalence has been reported throughout Cuba, including in Cienfuegos city in the central part of the island. OBJECTIVES Determine smoking prevalence and potential associated risk factors in Cienfuegos city for 2010-2011. METHODS A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Cienfuegos city in the context of CARMEN (Collaborative Action for Risk Factor Prevention & Effective Management of Non-communicable Diseases), a PAHO multi-country initiative for a multidimensional approach to chronic non-communicable diseases.

Population-wide weight loss and regain in relation to diabetes burden and cardiovascular mortality in Cuba 1980-2010: repeated cross sectional surveys and ecological comparison of secular trends.

Objective: To evaluate the associations between population-wide loss and gain in weight with diabetes prevalence, incidence, and mortality, as well as cardiovascular and cancer mortality trends, in Cuba over a 30 year interval.

Design: Repeated cross sectional surveys and ecological comparison of secular trends.

Setting: Cuba and the province of Cienfuegos, from 1980 to 2010.

Blacks and Whites in the Cuba have equal prevalence of hypertension: confirmation from a new population survey.

Background: The excess burden of hypertension among blacks has been a prominent feature of the heath disparities literature, and many scientists presume it to be a stable and inevitable phenomenon. The underlying causes of this disparity can only be disentangled in a setting in which the population does not experience racial stratification of socioeconomic opportunities. While such conditions of racial equality remain uncommon, they may be approximated in Cuba, a country with a persistent policy of social inclusion over the last 5 decades.

An efficient sampling approach to surveillance of non-communicable disease risk factors in Cienfuegos, Cuba.

One of the most common shortcomings in non-communicable disease risk factor surveillance, especially in prevalence studies, is sampling procedures, which can and do compromise accuracy and reliability of derived estimates. Moreover, sampling consumes significant time and resources. Since the early 1990s, risk factor surveys in Cienfuegos province, Cuba have paid particular attention to careful sampling methods.