Effects of a Gait Training Program on Spinal Cord Injury Patients: A Single-Group Prospective Cohort Study.

Introduction: Spinal cord injury is defined as the pathological process produced by any etiology affecting the spinal cord, which may alter motor, sensory, and/or autonomic function below the level of the lesion. The complexity of the neurological deficit and, therefore, the resulting clinical picture depends on the level of the lesion, the extent, and the affectation of the white or gray substance. This injury can totally or partially affect the ability to walk, and its highest priority with respect to mobility is to restore the ability to walk.

Effect of Exercise on Inflammation in Hemodialysis Patients: A Systematic Review.

Background: In recent years, physical exercise has been investigated for its potential as a therapeutic tool in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) undergoing hemodialysis maintenance treatment (HD). It has been shown that regular practice of moderate-intensity exercise can improve certain aspects of immune function and exert anti-inflammatory effects, having been associated with low levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and high levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines.

Purpose: The aim of this review is to examine the studies carried out in this population that analyzed the effect of intradialytic exercise on the inflammatory state and evaluate which exercise modality is most effective.

The prevalence, correlates and impact of dementia in Cuba. A 10/66 group population-based survey.

Background: We aimed to estimate the prevalence, correlates and impact of dementia in Havana and Matanzas, Cuba.

Methods: A 1-phase catchment area survey of all over 65-year-old residents of 7 catchment areas in Havana and 1 in Matanzas was conducted. Dementia diagnosis was established according to DSM-IV and our own, pre-validated 10/66 criteria.

Severe maternal morbidity in the intensive care unit of a havana teaching hospital,1998 to 2004.

Introduction In recent years, several reports have appeared in the international literature concerning evolution and prognosis for obstetric patients whose illnesses have led to admission to intensive care units (ICUs). The term severe maternal morbidity has been proposed to refer to life-threatening complications that occur during pregnancy, delivery or postpartum. Objective Characterize severe maternal morbidity in obstetric patients admitted to the ICU of the Enrique Cabrera General Teaching Hospital in Havana from 1998 to 2004.

Epidemiology of prenatal genetic and environmental factors of mental retardation in cuba.

Introduction: One of the most sensitive disabilities in human beings is intellectual disability. In April, 2003, a 10-month study was completed of all persons in Cuba with mental retardation (MR), producing results that included epidemiological variables on a national scale.

Objective: Through follow-up research, this paper describes and analyzes 4 prenatal factors associated with MR: Down syndrome (DS), fragile X syndrome (FXS), consanguinity, and maternal alcohol use during pregnancy, in order to provide recommendations for health system decision-makers on consolidating prevention strategies at the community level and improving individual attention to persons with MR.

The Virtual Health University: An eLearning Model within the Cuban Health System.

This paper describes Cuba's experience with the Virtual Health University (VHU) as a strategic project of INFOMED, promoting creation of an open teaching-learning environment for health sciences education, through intensive and creative use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and a network approach to learning. An analysis of the VHU's main antecedents in its different stages of development provides insight into the strategic reasons that led to the establishment of a virtual university in the national health system during Cuba's so-called Special Period of economic crisis. Using the general objectives of creating, sharing, and collaborating which define the VHU's conceptual-operative framework, the three essential components (subsystems) are described: pedagogical, technological, and managerial, as well as the operative stages of educational design, technological implementation, and teaching-administrative management system.

Reproductive behaviour of couples at risk for sickle cell disease in Cuba: a follow-up study.

Three hundred and forty-three Cuban women at risk of having children with sickle cell anaemia or sickle cell-haemoglobin C disease were interviewed 2-8 years after the index pregnancy (that in which their risk was detected). The aim was to collect information on their attitude towards prenatal diagnosis in subsequent pregnancies. Twenty-two per cent (75/343) had dissolved their marriage and 9 per cent of these (7/75) considered that their at-risk status had influenced the separation.

Discontinuity indices: a tool for epidemiological studies on breastfeeding.

Background: The Discontinuity Index (DI), which measures the percentage of infants who were exclusively breastfed (EBF) at the beginning of a given age interval and had abandoned this mode of feeding at its end, and the relative weight of this discontinuation, was introduced and employed in the National Survey on Breast Feeding and Infant Feeding Practices carried out in Cuba in 1990. The aim of this article is to illustrate, through a specific example, the quality of DI as a simple procedure for assessing breastfeeding trends.

Methods: The prevalence of EBF in the 14 provinces of Cuba at discharge from the maternity services and at 30, 60, 120, and 180 days of age, was obtained using data from a national sample of 6661 infants (4820 urban and 1791 rural) which were processed by means of a logistic regression model.

Frequency of delta-F508 mutation and XV2C/KM19 haplotypes in Cuban cystic fibrosis families.

We tested the frequency of the delta F508 mutation and haplotypes linked to the cystic fibrosis (CF) gene in Cuba. The delta F508 deletion was detected in 34.0% of the CF chromosomes.

Coronary atherosclerosis in sudden death: a comparative study applying an atherometric system.

Coronary arteries affected by atherosclerosis and its myocardial related damage in cardiac and non-cardiac sudden death subjects (152 and 98, respectively) including a low atherosclerosis group (250 subjects) were studied in autopsy material applying a new well standardized atherometric system. A high statistical significance of all variables of this system was found between the groups studied.