Costa Rica became the first non-European country to adhere to the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs, also known as Santiago de Compostela Treaty. This is the first international treaty against this type of crime and represents a big step towards battling trafficking of human organs in the world. The treaty’s objective is the prevention and penalization of traff...

Costa Rica is already positioned as one of the preferred choices for North Americans as a medical and dental tourism destination , it is known that the treatments most commonly sought in the country are esthetic procedures; however, an alliance between the San Rafael Arcangel Hospital in Liberia, Guanacaste and Centro de Radioterapia Siglo XXI, hope to position the country on the map as a medical ...

Its April 20 or “weed day” as many call it and the consumers of marijuana in Costa Rica celebrate this day by smoking of course. The theories on how 4/20 became a code for pot smoking are many and no one can say for sure which one is the true story, but the fact is that April 20 has become internationally known as weed day, events are held in many countries to advocate for the legalization of c...

In the last ten years the number of people infected with HIV in Costa Rica has raised a 68%, back in 2002 health centers would diagnose less than one new case per day, while by 2016 this number went to one new patient every 12 hours. Almost 80% of the new patients diagnosed are homosexual men. According to Costa Rican Health Authorities, between 2002 and 2016 there were a total of 9,197 diag...

42 days have passed since Samuel and Ezequiel Nuñez, former siamese brothers overwent their separation surgery at the National Children’s Hospital (HNN) in Costa Rica; both 2-year-olds finally left the intensive care unit and are evolving slowly. Ezequiel has been out of ICU for almost a month, while Samuel had left the ICU on March 23 but had to go back only five days later after suffering sev...

An increase in cases of measles was first reported last year in Europe and some areas of the United States, but recently, several countries in Latin America have also raised the alarm; for this reason, health authorities in Costa Rica are on alert and have began promoting a vaccination campaign that will take place in August. Maria Luisa Avila, specialists in the area of infectious diseases in...

Latin America, duly registered since January this year in the National Registry of Costa Rica. In Costa Rica the use of marijuana or cannabis for medicinal purposes is still not legalized, but a group of 10 friends decided to start paving the way by creating this association, which has the purpose of “studying the varieties of cannabis and their different scientific, cultural and therapeutic ap...

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases entity in charge of creating the Zika vaccine wll be recruiting as of April, 240 Costa Ricans of the metropolitan area and Santa Cruz, Guanacaste that have not been infected by the virus and are willing to try the experimental vaccine in a trial. The Zika virus, transmitted by a mosquito has affected people in over 50 countries, includi...

"Minutes to Die: Snakebite - The World's Ignored Health Crisis", is a documentary produced by the Lillian Lincoln Foundation, directed and written by James Reid and narrated by Mike Rowe which seeks to raise awareness on the snakebite crisis plaguing the rural poor in some areas of the world. The documentary also highlights the work done by the University of Costa Rica's Clodomiro Picado Institute...

Almost one month has passed since the complex surgery took place (February 23-24) to separate Costa Rican siamese twins Ezequiel and Samuel, the brothers remain in the National Children’s Hospital, Ezequiel in after-care while Samuel still hasn’t been able to leave the ICU. “Their evolution is slow, tough and complex”, stated Olga Arguedas, director of the National Children’s Hospital regarding...

An approximate $880 thousand that was seized by the Costa Rican police from drug trafficking operations will be given to the Social Security Service (C.C.S.S.) to help patients that are battling substance abuse problems. The Costa Rican Drug Institute (ICD) signed the agreement with the C.C.S.S. on Tuesday, March 20; the majority of the funds (approximately $600 thousand), will be used to remod...

Former siamese twin Ezequiel Nuñez was able to leave the Intensive Care Unit at the National Children’s Hospital in Costa Rica and was moved to an isolated room where he is able to be with his parents 24/7. Unfortunately, his brother Samuel still remains in the ICU since he continues to depend on a ventilator. “Ezequiel is not in an isolation room that has been made available for him to make hi...

Pole dance combines dance and acrobatics, it requires a lot of strength, coordination, flexibility and ability and besides being very sexy it is also a great exercise. The times when pole dancing was considered vulgar are behind us, and now pole dancing has gained a lot of popularity as a form of fitness, an exercise that will not only help build your muscles and stay fit, but will also do wond...

We have all heard it, diet, an exercise routine and enough sleep will keep you from having to visit the doctor or having a serious health crisis. Exercise helps you keep stress under control, it helps you get in shape and get rid of the extra weight or build that lack of muscular tone that you may have noticed recently. Physical activity is in vogue, this is certainly a good thing, and we shoul...

Are you aware of the power of a beautiful smile? Many people overlook this important detail in their appearance, while others refuse to smile to hide misaligned teeth, or stained or damaged pieces. The fact is, that having a beautiful smile can do wonders for your professional and social life, and nowadays dentists have many ways of correcting problems in a simple and fast way with the use of t...

The surgery to separate siamese twins Ezequiel and Samuel concluded at 2 a.m. this Saturday and the children are in critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit of the National Children’s Hospital in Costa Rica. The complex procedure to separate the 2 year-old twins that were joined at the head began at 7:30 a.m. on Friday, February 23 with a team of 20 professionals in different areas. Accord...

Photo Credit: Jeffrey Zamora/La Nacion Two surgical teams are taking part in the complex surgery that involves separating Costa Rican siemese twins Ezequiel and Samuel, born in 2015 and who are joined at the head. The babies were taken into the surgery room at 7:30 a.m. Friday, February 23 and almost 11 hours later the surgery was still in progress. The Social Security Service (CCSS) confirm...

Andrea Miralles is only 13 years old, but she is already forced to face a big and difficult battle, she was diagnosed with an aggressive type of cancer that is allocated in her left thighbone (femur), now she fights to save her leg and her life. The young Costa Rican is the youngest of three sisters and is passionate about dancing, reading and singing. It was actually after participating in a...

Since this past February 2, the Turrialba Volcano in Cartago, Costa Rica has continued the emission of ash in a passive and constant way and in moderate quantities. The column of ashes, aerosol and gases elevates close to 300 meters above the west crater, and the wind is directing the column towards the southwest-west and northwest. Communities in Cartago; San Jose (specially Coronado, Goicoe...

The University of Costa Rica is building an innovative lab for minimally invasive surgery and cancer diagnosis. The laboratory will be dedicated to the training on minimally invasive surgery techniques, and will also offer Costa Ricans the opportunities to get tested for the early diagnose of different types of cancer, the ones of biggest incidence in the country such as breast cancer, prostat...

Doctors of the Hospital Mexico in Costa Rica removed a 34 kilogram tumor from the abdomen of a female patient. The amazingly large tumor, which could be the biggest recorded so far in the world was located in the abdomen of Sonia Lopez, a woman that resides in the area of Tibas, San Jose, Costa Rica. “The life of Sonia changed forever. A giant tumor of 34 kg in her ovaries was removed Monday...

There are two main reasons that people list when asked why they don’t go to the dentist as often as they should: 1. Costs: the majority of people especially in North America feel that dental treatments are too expensive 2. Fear: Fear of being in pain, of the instruments used, or even the sounds or smells of a dental clinic. Most people don’t look forward to dental appointments, just like...

The umbilical cord blood is stem-cell rich blood, stem cells which represent a hope for people who suffer blood illnesses (like leukemia or lymphomas) or those patients that require a stem cell transplant, among others. The San Juan de Dios Hospital in Costa Rica has now opened and equipped a public stem cell bank with everything necessary, thanks to a donation of $109 thousand from the Japan ...

The Strategy of Elimination of Malaria in Mesoamerica and Hispaniola Island (EMMIE) recognized the achievements of Costa Rica in the process of eradication of malaria in the country by awarding a prize of US $1.2 million to support these efforts. The Strategy of Elimination of Malaria in Mesoamerica and Hispaniola Island is a regional initiative financed by The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuber...

The Hospital Metropolitano (Metropolitan Hospital) in Costa Rica continues its growth and announced the opening of between 15-20 service centers in 2018; it also signed a collaborative agreement with Sanford Health. The Metropolitan Hospital was born in 2010, and Grupo Montecristo is the majority owner, currently it has more than 30 service centers between clinics, hospitals and corporate docto...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff. California came on-line with legal recreational-use of marijuana on Jan. 1 -- following the lead of Alaska, Washington, Colorado and other states. Costa Rica is not far behind with possibly approving legal-medical marijuana soon, so recreational weed is inevita...

The holiday celebrations sometimes help us reflect on our life, our self-destructing “habits” that have perhaps gotten out of control and taken over our life. A new year is also the perfect time to get help and change our life for the best. If you are dealing with substance abuse problems make the decision to take your life in a different direction, perhaps the guide you seek can be found in Costa...

There is certainly a lot to be said with regards to health insurance in the United States and what it covers, we are not getting into this subject except to say that it is not uncommon for health plans to not include dental coverage; and even when you choose a plan that does include dental or opt for a separate dental insurance the majority of times the coverage only applies for needed or basic tr...

The Hospital Mexico in Costa Rica has been applying a new oral treatment to patients of promyelocytic leukemia with positive results. The treatment involves oral doses of arsenic trioxide which is used in a few countries in Latin America and orally in less than ten countries worldwide. According to Dr. Willem Bujan, so far they have treated 7 patients with this treatment all of which have had a...

A group of students of the University of Costa Rica created a deodorant that slows down the growth of underarm hair. The product, which they named Nuvelo, has a natural component which helps in the long term weaken the hair follicle. The deodorant comes in roll-on presentation and it also moisturizes the skin leaving it soft, it was created by Pharmacy students, Maria Fernanda Chacon, Gabriela...

Back in September this year the Costa Rica Health Minister had declared a sanitary alert due to an outbreak of malaria in the neighboring Nicaragua. The alarm in Costa Rica has increased as the number of cases of this disease in Nicaragua has increased to close to 7000 cases. The large numbers of Nicaraguans who travel this time a year to visit their families raise the risk in Costa Rica. ...

No, you are not reading that wrong, the National Geriatric Hospital in Costa Rica carried out a study with the participation of 31 patients who had cases of diarrhea caused by the bacteria Clostridium Difficile. The patients were treated  with an infusion of feces dissolved in saline solution. The study, carried out between 2015 and 2016 and which had an effectivity of 90% in a first and second...

Among the many medical services that are offered in Costa Rica cosmetic surgeries are one of the procedures that attracts more medical tourists; now a new service is added to the offer with the opening of the first clinic for vaginal redesign and rejuvenation. Vaginoplasty or vaginal rejuvenation is a procedure that helps correct vaginal relaxation, tightening the vagina to enhance sexual gra...

If you have hit bottom, don’t hesitate,  don’t think twice, seek help now!  Therapists always emphasize the importance for an addict to actually hit bottom and realize on their own that it is time to get help before any further damage is done. The World Health Organization defines substance abuse as the harmful and hazardous use of psychoactive substances, including alcohol and illicit drugs, w...

As we reported in our article of November 17, foreigners seeking dental care in Costa Rica account for 40% of the total number of medical tourists; this is not a coincidence, dentists in the country are highly trained professionals who have made it a point to offer a great level of services with a balance of excellent quality and reasonable prices. The country has all necessary qualities to est...

A total of 979 Costa Ricans were diagnosed with HIV in 2016, the number of new patients has continued to grow in the last years, back in 2011 the number of cases was of approximately 700. According to Costa Rican Health Authorities, between 2002 and 2016 there were a total of 9,197 diagnosed patients, out of which 7,478 are male and 1,719 female. This December 1st is the World Aids Day, an ...

The World Meeting of Blue Zones will take place in Nicoya, Guanacaste, Costa Rica, from November 16 to the 18 and will have the presence of national and international guests that will be able to enjoy an agenda full of activities. Blue zones are geographic regions with an unusually high longevity. “A part of Costa Rica stands out worldwide as a "Blue Zone," which is characterized by the long...

The first mistake we all make when we think about drug and alcohol abuse is to see it as a “problem” that only affects “other people”, we erroneously think only those of low socioeconomic status or dysfunctional families could fall victim of this epidemic. The scary reality may be too much for some to accept, the fact that as with cancer or diabetes, drug and alcohol abuse could affect anyone reg...

Taking adequate care of our teeth is important to our overall health, but not only is it important to make sure we have no cavities, gum disease or any other conditions, it is also necessary that we care for the appearance of our smile, since this plays an important role in our self-confidence. Years back, going to the dentist was not considered of importance, some would only go when a toothach...

In Costa Rica, the Foundation Pro Palliative Care Unit looks after an average of 1,600 children both in and outpatients and has expenses that add up to close to 42 million colones (Approximately $74,000) a month that includes attention to at least 48 inpatients every month, payroll, medicine, food, conferences to provide support for the families, funeral expenses, among others. This Foundation...