Central America and the Dominican Republic at Crossroads: The Importance of Regional Cooperation and Health Economic Research to Address Current Health Challenges.

Objectives: We discuss key health challenges currently faced by countries in the Central America and Dominican Republic region after the COVID-19 pandemic. We highlight the influence of socioeconomic determinants for the challenging public health dynamics observed and the crucial roles that regional cooperation and health economic research can have for tackling such challenges.

Methods: We present a descriptive overview of the current situation of public finances and its effect on government capacity to improve social expenditure.

Changes in symptoms, lipid and hormone levels after the administration of a cream with phytoestrogens in the Climacteric--preliminary report.

Objective: To establish the changes in lipid and hormone levels, as well as in symptoms, after topical application of a cream with phytoestrogens in postmenopausal women.

Methods: 30 postmenopausal women were studied. At baseline and 1 month after the beginning of treatment, levels of FSH, estradiol, estrone, testosterone, androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone, total cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL-C, and triglycerides were measured.

Burning wood in the kitchen increases the risk of cervical neoplasia in HPV-infected women in Honduras.

There is suggestive evidence that the use of wood for cooking increases the risk of invasive cervical cancer. We investigated this association in women with cervical neoplasia in Honduras. Women aged 20-64 years with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) grade I (n = 44), CIN II (n = 36) or CIN III (n = 45) were recruited from screening programs in Tegucigalpa City and each was matched by age and clinic to 2 controls (241 total) without cervical abnormalities.

Co-factors related to the causal relationship between human papillomavirus and invasive cervical cancer in Honduras.

Background: A case-control study was conducted in Honduras to identify co-factors in the carcinogenic pathway by which human papillomavirus (HPV) causes invasive cervical cancer.

Methods: Ninety-nine cases aged 23-65 (median 47) years participated. Two controls were matched to each case by age and clinic where they first presented for cytological screening; controls had no cervical abnormalities.

Human papillomavirus infection, cervical dysplasia and invasive cervical cancer in Honduras: a case-control study.

A substantial body of evidence has confirmed human papillomavirus (HPV) infection as the central etiological agent in human cervical carcinogenesis. In Honduras, cervical cancer is the most common cancer among women, with a high annual incidence. We conducted a population-based, case-control study of 229 patients with different grades of CIN and invasive cervical cancer and 438 matched controls.