Wikimedia Commons If you wake up with a terrible toothache in Costa Rica, do you go to straight to your doctor or do you check with your dentist first? According to a recent study published in the British Journal of General Practice, going to a family doctor for a toothache is very likely to result in being sent home with a prescription for aspirin and antibiotics. Although this may be an a...

Nearly the entire length of the massive tuber, measured some 18 inches in length and more than 3 inches, was lodged inside the patient's anal cavity.  A 55-year-old Costa Rican man who had to have an 18-inch long yuca (also known as cassava root) removed from his anal cavity in an emergency surgery at Costa Rica’s public San Juan de Dios Hospital in the capital San Jose could potentially file ...

Caribbean News Service UPDATE: Costa Rica man who had 18-inch yuca surgically removed from anal cavity could file lawsuit (PHOTOS) Surgeons at the San Juan de Dios Hospital in the capital city of Costa Rica removed a yuca (cassava root or manioc) measuring 45 cm of length (about 18 inches) from the anal cavity of a 55-year old man, who is currently in stable condition. According to a rep...

Source: Marie Curie Marie Curie Press Release – 5 April 2016 - London - A driving instructor has swapping her car for her walking boots for a trek to support the Marie Curie Hospice that cared for her late husband. Helene Cook is one of 28 adventurers trekking through Costa Rica to raise more than £100,000 to support the work of the Marie Curie Hospice, Cardiff & the Vale, based in Pena...

(Wikimedia Commons) A 26-year-old Costa Rican woman is suing Costa Rica’s Ministry of Health, alleging she has been left partially paralyzed after receiving an injection of Gardasil, a vaccine which is intended to vaccinate against the human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus most responsible for cervical cancer in women, the daily La Nacion reports. According to the woman, Laura Navarro Calvo...

Wikimedia Commons Cloudy vision in patients 50 years of age or older is often a symptom of cataracts, which happens to be one of leading causes of blindness. According to the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, the combined number of patients with macular degeneration and glaucoma do not come close to the number of patients with cataracts on a global level. In the United St...

Pixabay Commons During a February speaking engagement at United Nations Association of New York, renowned author Sasha Issenberg offered a glimpse at the current state of medical tourism:   Some countries have found economic opportunity in turning healthcare into a global business. with insurance can expect to pay $90,000 for a heart bypass in the U.S., but only $12,000 if he or she ...

East Stroudsburg University News Release - About 175 people attended a talk by Anthony Drago, Ed.D., in Costa Rica, where he discussed suicide prevention, disorders of trauma and crises intervention, mood disorders, and anxiety in children and adolescents. Dr. Drago, psychologist and professor and chair of the psychology department in the College of Arts and Sciences at ESU in Pennsylvania, hosted...

Illustrative image. (Wikimedia Commons) Costa Rica’s infant mortality rate continues to fall, and reached its lowest level ever in 2015, according to a recent announcement by the country’s National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC). Infant mortality in the country last year was 7.8 deaths per 1,000 live births, the lowest level ever recorded, and down from 8.01 deaths per 1,000 live...

Wikimedia Commons By Carol Blair Vaughn Older adults who exercise regularly could buy an extra decade of good brain functioning, suggests a March 23, 2016 study by Dr. Clinton Wright, a neurologist at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Cool.  Jog your memory AND your body. The study found that seniors who got moderate to intense exercise retained more of their mental s...

Wikimedia Commons Aparecida, Brazil, Mar 28 (EFE).- Brazilian researchers have improved the delivery of a medication to fight Alzheimer's by using a nanofiber to regulate the compound's release, allowing long-term action in the fight against the disease. The project is being led by doctoral student Geisa Salles and professor Anderson Lobo, coordinator of Vale do Paraiba University's Researc...

Source: Wikimedia Commons A six-year old boy and an adult male are the latest victims of attacks by large reptiles in Costa Rica. The incidents took place during Holy Saturday in the communities of Parrita and Los Chiles. According to a news report filed by Tatiana Gutierrez of online news daily Costa Rica Hoy, a six-year old boy was rushed to the public hospital in Quepos after he was brut...

Source: Gisele Bunchen Instagram When it comes to eating during vacation, most tourists who arrive in Costa Rica have indulgence on their minds. Such is not that case for future NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady of the New England Patriots and his supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen. A recent article by Angelique Fiske of Patriots.com explains that the diets of Mr. Brady and his wife while...

Source: Northwest Dental ROCHESTER, MN--(Marketwired - March 25, 2016) - Staff members of Northwest Dental Group, a Rochester family dental practice, recently completed a week-long dental mission trip in one of Costa Rica's poorest areas. This month, Drs. Katie Post and Rob Vander Broek traveled to the La Carpio neighborhood in San José -- the country's capital -- joined by dental hygienist...

Illustrative photo. / Wikimedia Commons A medical marijuana bill being debated in Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly since 2014 now has the necessary support to pass plenary by May 1st, according to Rep. Marvin Delgado Atencio, the PAC lawmaker who first presented the bill. The bill, which now has the approval of lawmakers from almost all caucuses, seeks to legalize and regulate the cultivat...

Pixabay Commons WASHINGTON, March 15th, 2016 – The World Bank (WB) Board of Executive Directors approved a US$420 million loan today to support the Costa Rican Social Security Administration’s (CCSS or La Caja, in Spanish) Strategic Agenda to Strengthen Health Insurance (SASHI), with the goal of improving the timeliness and quality of health care and strengthening institutional efficiency. ...

Wikimedia Commons By Carol Blair Vaughn March 20th is International Day of Happiness; as adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2011 this day promotes, preserves, and observes happiness as a universal right and goal, and has been celebrated every year since. “Happiness is your birthright,” said singer Pharrell Williams on Happiness Day 2015. “Happiness is a fundamental huma...

Stem cells. Wikimedia Commons (PRWEB) MARCH 18, 2016 - Bioscience Americas, LLC (http://www.bioscienceamericas.com), a leading international developer of autologous stem cell therapy centers for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, is pleased to announce that its lead scientific researcher, Dr. Anand Srivastava, has been invited to speak at the Fifth Annual European Biosimilar Conference to be ...

(ICR-CRS archive/stock) Marijuana use in Costa Rica has increased 400 percent in the last decade, according to preliminary data released this week by the Institute on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (IAFA). According to the IAFA, which conducts the study every five years, 4.1 percent of the Costa Rican population were marijuana users in 2015, compared to just 2.6 percent in 2010 and 1 percen...

Dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika are spread by the Aedes aegyptie mosquito (Wikimedia Commons) An additional 443 cases of dengue were reported during the first week of this month, bringing to 4,865 the number of those who have fallen ill with dengue fever in Costa Rica as of the first week of March, according to Costa Rica’s Ministry of Health. With 1,779 cases, Alajuela stands out as the prov...

A municipal health worker fumigates the restroom area of a shopping mall as part of the city's effort to prevent the spread of Zika virus' vector, the Aedes aegypti mosquito, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, in this January 26, 2016 file photo. REUTERS/Jorge Cabrera/Files By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - As the world focuses on Zika's rapid advance in the Americas, experts warn the virus that o...

Zika is spread by the Aedes aegyptie mosquito (Wikimedia Commons) Two people who traveled to Nicaragua have returned to Costa Rica infected with the Zika virus, health authorities said Wednesday, bringing to 12 the number of people with Zika infections in Costa Rica. Of the total, there have been eight indigenous cases, all of which where contracted in the canton of Nicoya, specifically in ...

Wikimedia Commons The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) has certified Costa Rica as being free of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, the director general of Costa Rica’s National Animal Health Service (SENASA) told reporters this week. “ Costa Rica has a solid basis for further growth in exports of beef and ensuring the health safety of consu...

BALTIMORE, MD (PRWEB) MARCH 07, 2016 - Many factors come into play when considering a retirement abroad. Cost of living, prices of rents and real estate, and healthcare options are main concerns. But as more and more expats consider moving abroad for a healthier lifestyle, InternationalLiving.com added an important Healthy Lifestyle category to its 2016 Global Retirement Index. In these countries...

Main Line Health Press Release - Prior to embarking on a humanitarian trip to Costa Rica, Villa Maria Academy High School juniors, seniors and their parents received advice from Main Line Health’s Chief of Infectious Diseases, who helped separate fact from fiction regarding the Zika virus epidemic. “Traveling to areas affected by the Zika Virus, such as Central America, does pose a risk” said D...

Zika is spread by the Aedes aegyptie mosquito (Wikimedia Commons) Santiago, Feb 29 (EFE).- With an unusual mixture of organic ingredients that "were not in its plans," the Chilean company Grupo Avance says it has discovered an innovative formula that acts as a repellent of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, carrier of the Zika virus, dengue fever and other diseases. "We got to this by merging seve...

By Alexis Barrera (Al Bar) of Oaktown Crack Comics.http://pixolid.com/Home/About/http://oaktowncrack.com/bios/index.html - http://oaktowncrack.com/Smoking_Crack/index.html, http://pixolid.com/Home/Archives/See , for additional information., CC BY-SA 3.0At any given time, someone in Costa Rica might be getting high by smoking crack, the freebase form of cocaine. Popular wisdom would suggest that ...

Source: Oral-B At the recent GSMA Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2016 in Barcelona, Oral-B unveiled its latest innovation that sets a new oral care standard: Oral-B GENIUS, the first of its kind and Oral-B’s most intelligent brushing system available to-date.   With this new smart toothbrush, dental tourists who return home after getting procedures in Costa Rica can closely follow the ...

When you see someone flashing a smile at you, are you able to tell if crowns or porcelain veneers are part of their smile? Unless you are a dental professional examining a patient in a clinic, chances are that you will not be able to tell the difference. At the Flikier Dental Institute, a renowned dental tourism practice located near the capital city of Costa Rica, patients are counselled about...

Zika map. Source: CDC Washington, Feb 23 (EFE).- Two Texas hospitals announced Tuesday that they have created the first rapid detection test for the Zika virus, for which there is neither vaccine nor cure. The new test can detect Zika in the blood and urine, in the amniotic fluid that protects the embryo and in spinal fluid, a joint communique from the Texas Children's Hospital and the Hous...

Wikimedia Commons Tooth extractions are not the first option considered at clinics that cater to dental tourists in Costa Rica. In general, most dental professionals will only consider extractions when they evaluate teeth that are infected to the point of creating a systemic health risk, or that are fractured beneath the gum line, or when they are extremely loose. The dentistry specialists ...

Zika is spread by the Aedes aegyptie mosquito (Wikimedia Commons) Costa Rica’s Ministry of Health has declared a health emergency in the canton of Nicoya, Guanacaste and is considering declaring a national health emergency after two fully confirmed cases of Zika were detected in two women in Samara, the ministry announced at a press conference late Monday afternoon. One of the women is pregnan...

Wikimedia Commons Havana, Feb 22 (EFE).- Cuba announced Monday a plan of action to deal with the Zika virus, dengue and Chikungunya, which includes mobilizing 9,000 members of the armed forces and 200 police officers to combat the mosquito that transmits these diseases. In a statement published in official media, President Raul Castro urged Cubans to make the fight against the Aedes aegypti...

Wikimedia Commons OAS Media Release - Washington, D.C. - The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) filed an application with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Case 12.798, Gómez Murillo and others, with regard to Costa Rica. The case has to do with the violations of the rights to humane treatment, personal liberty, private and family life, to raise a family and to equa...

Caracas, Feb 20 (EFE).- The majority of the approximately 3 million inhabitants of Caracas are without drinking water this weekend, after several weeks of partial suspensions due to the maintenance work currently underway, state-run Hidrocapital said Saturday. "The maintenance work being done on the principal pipelines of the Tuy II drinking water production system" is part of "the action being...

Wikimedia Commons The United States Embassy in San Jose, Costa Rica, informs U.S. citizens that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a travel notice for Costa Rica regarding the Zika virus.  There is evidence that Zika is linked to birth defects in the fetuses of infected pregnant women and Guillain-Barré syndrome in infected individuals of any age or gender.  Zika i...

(Archive/stock image. For illustrative purposes only). For a month, doctors at the Max Peralta Hospital in the city of Cartago, located east of Costa Rica’s capital San Jose, had been keeping a brain-dead woman on artificial life support in hopes of allowing her unborn child a chance at life. On February 8th, doctors and family received their wish, as a team of more than a dozen specialists...

Zika is spread by the Aedes aegyptie mosquito (Wikimedia Commons) Lab tests continue to rule out the presence of the Zika virus in Costa Rica, according to health officials, including a suspected case in a pregnant Canadian woman in Playa Potrero in the northwestern province of Guanacaste. Lab tests conducted on the woman came back negative for the virus, Minister of Health, Dr. Fernando Llorc...

Wikimedia Commons PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla., Feb. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- As the cost of hip and knee replacement continues to vary across the United States and international borders, consumers – insurance carriers, employers and patients – are comparing the cost and quality of doctors and hospitals abroad to find the best options for care based on a new poll, the Medical Tourism Association® ...

Wikimedia Commons Fresh breath is a popular concern among most people in Costa Rica; this much is evident by the retail displays of mint candy and chewing gum that can be seen next to cash registers at supermarkets, pulperias (convenience stores), sodas (cafeterias), restaurants, bookstores, drugstores, and even cell phone repair shops. Normally, an obsession over fresh breath could be deem...