Obesity and cardio-metabolic risk factors among children and adolescents with cerebral palsy.

Background: obesity and associated cardiometabolic complications are increasing among adults with cerebral palsy (CP). Information in children is scarce, and there is no consensus definition of obesity. Objectives: to describe the frequency of obesity and metabolic complications in children and adolescents with CP.

[Successful oral desensitization to levothyroxine. Report of one case].

We report a 39-year-old female who underwent a total thyroidectomy as treatment for a thyroid papillary cancer. She suffered several episodes of mild angioedema in lips and tongue, after using different commercial Levothyroxine formulations, with and without excipients. Given the need to use this drug, the patient was admitted in our hospital and we proceeded to desensitize her with oral Levothyroxine.

Cancer control capacity in 50 low- and middle-income countries.

Within the World Health Organization-International Atomic Energy Agency (WHO-IAEA) collaboration for delivery of technical assistance to its Member States, the National Cancer Control Programme/Plan (NCCP) Core Capacity Self-Assessment Tool has been used to obtain a simple and quick qualitative overview of national cancer control planning and on-going activities. The NCCP tool was applied in 50 Member States, which were classified as low- and middle-income countries in 2012. Results show that half of these countries reported having officially endorsed an NCCP and 42% were in the process of preparing or updating one.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of breast cancer control interventions in Peru.

Objectives: In Peru, a country with constrained health resources, breast cancer control is characterized by late stage treatment and poor survival. To support breast cancer control in Peru, this study aims to determine the cost-effectiveness of different breast cancer control interventions relevant for the Peruvian context.

Methods: We performed a cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) according to WHO-CHOICE guidelines, from a healthcare perspective.

Costs, effects and cost-effectiveness of breast cancer control in Ghana.

Objective: Breast cancer control in Ghana is characterised by low awareness, late-stage treatment and poor survival. In settings with severely constrained health resources, there is a need to spend money wisely. To achieve this and to guide policy makers in their selection of interventions, this study systematically compares costs and effects of breast cancer control interventions in Ghana.

Prevention, screening and treatment of colorectal cancer: a global and regional generalized cost effectiveness analysis.

Background: Regional generalized cost-effectiveness estimates of prevention, screening and treatment interventions for colorectal cancer are presented.

Methods: Standardised WHO-CHOICE methodology was used. A colorectal cancer model was employed to provide estimates of screening and treatment effectiveness.

Screening, prevention and treatment of cervical cancer -- a global and regional generalized cost-effectiveness analysis.

The paper calculates regional generalized cost-effectiveness estimates of screening, prevention, treatment and combined interventions for cervical cancer. Using standardised WHO-CHOICE methodology, a cervical cancer model was employed to provide estimates of screening, vaccination and treatment effectiveness. Intervention effectiveness was determined via a population state-transition model (PopMod) that simulates the evolution of a sub-regional population accounting for births, deaths and disease epidemiology.

[Innate immunity restoration in patients with HIV/AIDS infection associated with antiretroviral therapy].

Background: Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in HIV/AIDS infection induces an important reduction of the viral load (VL) and an immune system reconstitution. CD4+ T lymphocyte count is the immunological measurement commonly used for the follow up of HIV/AIDS patients.

Aim: To study prospectively the restoration of the innate immune system in patients with HIV/AIDS infection during their first year on HAART.

Effective cervical cytology screening programmes in middle-income countries: the Chilean experience.

Objective: To demonstrate that an effective cervical cancer screening programme based on the Papanicolaou (Pap) smear can be organized in a middle-income country, such as Chile.

Methods: The cervical cytology screening programme in Chile is evaluated by comparing process measures and cervical cancer mortality before and after its reorganization in 1987.

Findings: Two decades of opportunistic annual screening for cervical cancer from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s did not reduce cervical cancer mortality in Chile.

Prevalence of antiphospholipid and antiplatelet antibodies in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected Chilean patients.

Antiphospholipid (aPL) and antiplatelet (aPlt) antibodies, found in patients with autoimmune diseases, are also detected in infectious diseases. The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of these antibodies in HIV patients and to evaluate an association of these antibodies with thrombocytopenia and/or thrombosis. Sixty-three HIV-seropositive patients and 52 normal controls were studied.

Quality care at the end of life in Africa.

Each year about 0.5% of the total population in Botswana, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe die from HIV/AIDS or cancer. The members of a WHO project to improve palliative care in these countries discuss their work.

Nutritional supplementation according to energy and protein requirements in malnourished HIV-infected patients.

To evaluate the effects of nutritional supplements on nitrogen and energy balances, body composition and immune parameters, HIV-infected malnourished adult outpatients were prospectively studied. Forty-six patients (4 females and 42 males; 37 +/- 12 y) were supplemented with a polymeric diet (PD) or regular foods (RF) on two consecutive 45-day periods on a crossover design. Weight, skinfold thicknesses, plasma albumin (PA), CD4 and CD8 lymphocyte counts (LC), resting energy expenditure (REE) and urinary nitrogen excretion were measured at baseline, 45 and 90-day.