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Ailmemts & Remedies

Kidney transplant

Introduction:
A kidney transplant is an operation that places a healthy kidney in your body. The transplanted kidney takes over the work of the two kidneys that failed, and you no longer need dialysis.

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During a transplant, the surgeon places the new kidney in your lower abdomen and connects the artery and vein of the new kidney to your artery and vein. Often, the new kidney will start making urine as soon as your blood starts flowing through it. But sometimes it takes a few weeks to start working.

If you have advanced and permanent kidney failure, kidney transplantation may be the treatment option that allows you to live much like you lived before your kidneys failed. Since the 1950s, when the first kidney transplants were performed, much has been learned about how to prevent rejection and minimize the side effects of medicines.

But transplantation is not a cure; it’s an ongoing treatment that requires you to take medicines for the rest of your life. And the wait for a donated kidney can be years long.

Many transplanted kidneys come from donors who have died. Some come from a living family member. The wait for a new kidney can be long. People who have transplants must take drugs to keep their body from rejecting the new kidney for the rest of their lives.

A successful transplant takes a coordinated effort from your whole health care team, including your nephrologist, transplant surgeon, transplant coordinator, pharmacist, dietitian, and social worker. But the most important members of your health care team are you and your family. By learning about your treatment, you can work with your health care team to give yourself the best possible results, and you can lead a full, active life.

Around 40 per cent of patients with end-stage renal failure (ESRF) need a transplant which frees people from the need for dialysis treatments.

A successful kidney transplant has ten times the function of dialysis (for example ten times the ability to remove toxins and extra water from the blood). It means that transplant patients have a better quality of life, with more energy than they did on dialysis.

How transplants work:-
An assessment is necessary to determine whether your body will accept an available kidney. This may require several visits over four to six months, and all potential recipients must be healthy enough for surgery.

Although there is no age limit, few units will transplant patients over 70 years – unless very fit.

If a family member, partner or friend wants to donate a kidney, they will need to be evaluated for general health too.

If there is no potential living donor, you will need to register with hospital and be put on a national waiting list to receive a kidney from a deceased donor. but this varies considerably around the country. Kidneys can also be donated by strangers.

If there is a suitable living donor, the operation can be scheduled in advance, when it suits both sides. If you’re on a waiting list for a deceased donor kidney, as soon as it becomes available, you must go to the hospital quickly – where a test is carried out to check the kidney won’t be rejected. If it’s suitable, the transplant can proceed. The operation usually takes three to four hours.

A surgeon places the new kidney inside your lower abdomen and connects the artery and vein of the new kidney to your artery and vein. Your blood flows through the new kidney, which makes urine, just like your own kidneys did when they were healthy. Unless they are causing infection or high blood pressure, your own kidneys are left in place.

During the operation, the transplant kidney is inserted into the lower abdomen and connected to an artery and vein (to the leg). The blood flows through the new kidney, which makes urine, just like the old kidneys did when they were healthy. The old kidneys are usually left in place.

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Often the new kidney will start making urine as soon as blood starts flowing through it, but about one third of patients will require dialysis for around a week. Most patients leave hospital two weeks after the operation.

To prevent the immune system from seeing the new kidney as foreign and rejecting it, you’ll have to take drugs that turn off (or suppress) your immune response (immunosupressants). It’s important to understand the instructions for taking these medicines before leaving hospital, as missing the tablets for just 24 hours can cause rejection and the loss of the kidney.

Recovery From Surgery:-
As after any major surgery, you’ll probably feel sore and groggy when you wake up. However, many transplant recipients report feeling much better immediately after surgery. Even if you wake up feeling great, you’ll need to stay in the hospital for about a week to recover from surgery, and longer if you have any complications.

Posttransplant Care:-
Your body’s immune system is designed to keep you healthy by sensing “foreign invaders,” such as bacteria, and rejecting them. But your immune system will also sense that your new kidney is foreign. To keep your body from rejecting it, you’ll have to take drugs that turn off, or suppress, your immune response. You may have to take two or more of these immunosuppressant medicines, as well as medications to treat other health problems. Your health care team will help you learn what each pill is for and when to take it. Be sure that you understand the instructions for taking your medicines before you leave the hospital.

If you’ve been on hemodialysis, you’ll find that your posttransplant diet is much less restrictive. You can drink more fluids and eat many of the fruits and vegetables you were previously told to avoid. You may even need to gain a little weight, but be careful not to gain weight too quickly and avoid salty foods that can lead to high blood pressure

Rejection:-
You can help prevent rejection by taking your medicines and following your diet, but watching for signs of rejection—like fever or soreness in the area of the new kidney or a change in the amount of urine you make—is important. Report any such changes to your health care team.

Even if you do everything you’re supposed to do, your body may still reject the new kidney and you may need to go back on dialysis. Unless your health care team determines that you’re no longer a good candidate for transplantation, you can go back on the waiting list for another kidney.

Side Effects of Immunosuppressants:
Immunosuppressants can weaken your immune system, which can lead to infections. Some drugs may also change your appearance. Your face may get fuller; you may gain weight or develop acne or facial hair. Not all patients have these problems, though, and diet and makeup can help.

Immunosuppressants work by diminishing the ability of immune cells to function. In some patients, over long periods of time, this diminished immunity can increase the risk of developing cancer. Some immunosuppressants cause cataracts, diabetes, extra stomach acid, high blood pressure, and bone disease. When used over time, these drugs may also cause liver or kidney damage in a few patients.

Hope through Research:-
The NIDDK, through its Division of Kidney, Urologic, and Hematologic Diseases, supports several programs and studies devoted to improving treatment for patients with progressive kidney disease and permanent kidney failure, including patients who receive a transplanted kidney.

•The End-Stage Renal Disease Program promotes research to reduce medical problems from bone, blood, nervous system, metabolic, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and endocrine abnormalities in kidney failure and to improve the effectiveness of dialysis and transplantation. The program seeks to increase kidney graft and patient survival and to maximize quality of life.

•The NIH Organ/Tissue Transplant Center, located at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD, is a collaborative project of NIH, the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the Naval Medical Research Center, and the Diabetes Research Institute at the University of Miami. The site includes a state-of-the-art clinical transplant ward, operating facility, and outpatient clinic designed for the study of new drugs or techniques that may improve the success of organ and tissue transplants.

•The U.S. Renal Data System (USRDS) collects, analyzes, and distributes information about the use of dialysis and transplantation to treat kidney failure in the United States. The USRDS is funded directly by NIDDK in conjunction with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The USRDS publishes an Annual Data Report, which characterizes the total population of people being treated for kidney failure; reports on incidence, prevalence, mortality rates, and trends over time; and develops data on the effects of various treatment modalities. The report also helps identify problems and opportunities for more focused special studies of renal research issues.

Disclaimer: This information is not meant to be a substitute for professional medical advise or help. It is always best to consult with a Physician about serious health concerns. This information is in no way intended to diagnose or prescribe remedies.This is purely for educational purpose

Resources:
http://www.topnews.in/health/kidney-transplant-patients-low-physical-activity-likely-die-early-211177
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/kidneytransplantation.html
http://www.kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/transplant/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/physical_health/conditions/in_depth/kidneys/kidneys_transplant.shtml

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News on Health & Science

Bug That Causes Bad Breath Nailed

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Solobacterium moorei is the organism largely responsible for chronic bad breath, or halitosis, biologists reported at the annual meeting of the American Association for Dental Research in Dallas.

Persistent bad breath, which can be very embarrassing, is often caused by the breakdown of bacteria in the mouth, producing foul-smelling sulphur compounds that reside on the surface of the tongue.

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“Tongue bacteria produce malodorous compounds and fatty acids, and account for 80 to 90% of all cases of bad breath,” said Betsy Clark, a student at the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine.

Some cases of bad breath originate in the lungs or sinuses.

In a study of 21 people with chronic bad breath and 36 subjects without this problem, Clark and colleagues found S moorei in every patient that had halitosis compared with only four comparison subjects. The four people without halitosis infected with S moorei all had periodontitis, an infection of the gums that can also lead to chronically bad breath.

In a previous study of eight patients with halitosis and five without, S moorei was “always found in patients with halitosis and never in patients who did not have this problem,” Dr Violet I Haraszthy, who was involved in both studies, noted. “A number of other studies have also found this bacterium in halitosis patients.”

Sources: The Times Of India

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Ailmemts & Remedies

Nongonococcal Urethritis and Chlamydial Cervicitis

Nongonococcal urethritis and chlamydial cervicitis are sexually transmitted diseases caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis and various other microorganisms that produce inflammation of the urethra and cervix.

Several different microorganisms cause diseases that resemble gonorrhea. These microorganisms include Chlamydia trachomatis, Trichomonas vaginalis, and several different types of Mycoplasma. In the past, these microorganisms were hard for laboratories to identify, so the infections they caused were simply called “nongonococcal” to indicate that they were not caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacterium that causes gonorrhea.

Chlamydia trachomatis infection (chlamydia) is very common, with 659,000 reported cases in the United States in 1999. Because the infection sometimes produces no symptoms, even more people may be affected. In men, chlamydia causes about half of the
urethral infections not caused by gonorrhea. Most of the remaining male urethral infections are caused by Ureaplasma urealyticum. In women, chlamydia accounts for virtually all of the pus-forming cervical infections not caused by gonorrhea. Both sexes may acquire gonorrhea and chlamydia at the same time.

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Symptoms:
Many women remain symptom-free. if symptoms do occur, they may include:
·abnormal vaginal discharge.
·frequent urge to urinate.
·pain in the lower abdomen.
·pain on deep penetration during sex.

If left untreated, chlamydial cervicitis can sometimes lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, which is a major cause of infertility in women. If the infection enters the bloodstream, the disorder may lead to a form of arthritis.

Between 4 and 28 days after intercourse with an infected person, an infected man typically has a mild burning sensation in his urethra while urinating. A clear or cloudy discharge from the penis may be evident. The discharge is usually less thick than the discharge that occurs in gonorrhea. Early in the morning, the opening of the penis is often red and stuck together with dried secretions. Occasionally, the disease begins more dramatically. The man needs to urinate frequently, finds urinating painful, and has discharge of pus from the urethra.

Although most women infected with Chlamydia have few or no symptoms, some experience frequent urges to urinate and pain while urinating, pain in the lower abdomen, pain during sexual intercourse, and secretions of yellow mucus and pus from the vagina.
Anal infections may cause pain and a yellow discharge of pus and mucus.

Diagnosis:

In most cases, a doctor can diagnose chlamydia by examining discharge from the penis or cervix in a laboratory. Newer tests that amplify DNA or RNA, such as the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), enable a doctor to diagnose chlamydia or gonorrhea from a urine sample. These tests are recommended for screening of sexually active women between the ages of 15 and 25. Genital infections with Ureaplasma and Mycoplasma are not diagnosed specifically in routine medical settings, because culturing of these microorganisms is difficult and other techniques for diagnosis are expensive. The diagnosis of nongonococcal infections is often presumed if the person has characteristic symptoms and no evidence of gonorrhea.

If chlamydia is not treated, symptoms usually disappear in 4 weeks. However, an untreated infection can cause a number of complications. Untreated chlamydial cervicitis often ascends to the fallopian tubes (tubes that connect the ovaries to the uterus), where inflammation may cause pain and scarring. The scarring can cause infertility and ectopic pregnancy (see Pregnancy at High-Risk :Risk Factors That Develop During Pregnancy). These complications can occur in women without symptoms and result in considerable suffering and medical costs. In men, chlamydia may cause epididymitis, which produces painful swelling of the scrotum on one or both sides (see Penile and Testicular Disorders: Epididymitis and Epididymo-orchitis).

Whether Ureaplasma has a role in these complications is unclear.

Treatment:

Chlamydial and ureaplasmal infections are usually treated with tetracyclineSome Trade Names:

ACHROMYCIN V

TETRACYN

SUMYCIN

, doxycyclineSome Trade Names:

VIBRAMYCIN

, or levofloxacinSome Trade Names:

QUIXIN

LEVAQUIN

taken by mouth for at least 7 days or with a single dose of azithromycinSome Trade Names:

ZITHROMAX

taken by mouth. Because the symptoms are so similar to those of gonorrhea, doctors usually give an antibiotic such as:

ceftriaxoneSome Trade Names:

ROCEPHIN

to treat gonorrhea at the same time. Pregnant women are given erythromycinSome Trade Names:

E-MYCIN

ERYTHROCIN

ILOSONE

instead of tetracyclineSome Trade Names:

ACHROMYCIN V

TETRACYN

SUMYCIN

or doxycyclineSome Trade Names:

VIBRAMYCIN

. If symptoms persist or return, treatment is then repeated for a longer period.

Complications of Chlamydial and Ureaplasmal Infections :

In men  ……..   Infection of the epididymis

In women:………Narrowing (stricture) of the urethra

Infection of the fallopian tubes and linings of the pelvic cavity

Infection of the surface of the liver

In men and women:

Infection of the membranes of the eyes (conjunctivitis)
In newborns

Conjunctivitis

Pneumonia

Prevention & Precautions:

Infected people who have sexual intercourse before completing treatment may infect their partners. Also, partners who are infected may re-infect the treated person. Thus, sex partners are treated simultaneously if possible. The risk of a repeat infection of chlamydia or another STD within 3 to 4 months is high enough that screening may be repeated at that time.

Click to learn more about Chlamydia infection

Disclaimer: This information is not meant to be a substitute for professional medical advise or help. It is always best to consult with a Physician about serious health concerns. This information is in no way intended to diagnose or prescribe remedies.This is purely for educational purpose.

Resources:
http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec17/ch200/ch200d.html
http://www.charak.com/DiseasePage.asp?thx=1&id=340

Categories
Ailmemts & Remedies

Flu & influenza

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Flue is a viral fever.Symptoms of flu includes: fever (usually high), headache, extreme tiredness, dry cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, and muscle aches. Symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea are more common among children than adults.Symptoms usually start four days after becoming infected with the virus. There are three types of influenza, A, B and C each with different symptoms but all treated basically the same. Fever, nasal congestion, deep chest cough, malaise, fatigue, sweating, diarrhea, vomiting, cramping, muscle aches and pains, weakness, dizziness, swollen glands, loss of appetite are just to name a few. The list expands depending on the severity of the illness.

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Over the counter remedies are also suggested since this is a virus and viral infections do not respond to antibiotics it is very doubtful they would help at all. There is a medication that can be given if caught within the first three days of the illness. Contact your physician and let them know if you feel you have the flu. They often perform a test that lets them know what type of influenza has hit their area.

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If you think you have the flu, visit your doctor as soon as symptoms start.When flue strikes the lungs, the lining of the respiratory tract gets damaged.So,immediately avoid using tobacco and exposure to second hand smoke. Also, stay away from alcohol while using prescription and over the counter medications.

Rest is important to help you get better. The flu continues to be contagious for 3 or 4 days after symptoms appear, so stay home. Get well an lessen risk of passing the flu on to others, but very difficult, since it is an airborne pathogen.

Dehydration is one of the major problems with flus, so,drink lots of fluids, like water, fruit juice, and other fluids. Hot liquids, like clear soup and tea may help relieve the feeling of congestion that often accompanies the flu.

Common medications are used to tract fever, aches, and pains. Take medication to relieve the symptoms of flu.

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PREVENTION
Flu Vaccine

The main way to keep from getting flu is to get a yearly flu vaccine. You can get the vaccine at your doctor’s office or a local clinic, and in many communities at workplaces, supermarkets, and drugstores. You must get the vaccine every year because it changes.

Scientists make a different vaccine every year because the strains of flu viruses change from year to year. Nine to 10 months before the flu season begins, they prepare a new vaccine made from inactivated (killed) flu viruses. Because the viruses have been killed, they cannot cause infection. The vaccine preparation is based on the strains of the flu viruses that are in circulation at the time. It includes those A and B viruses expected to circulate the following winter.

Sometimes, an unpredicted new strain may appear after the vaccine has been made and distributed to doctor’s offices and clinics. Because of this, even if you do get the flu vaccine, you still may get infected. If you do get infected, however, the disease usually is milder because the vaccine will still give you some protection.

Until recently, you could get the flu vaccine only as an injection (shot). In 2003, however, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a nasal spray flu vaccine called FluMist that you can get from your health care provider. The FDA approved it for use in healthy people aged 5 to 49 years.

You should not use FluMist if

* You have certain lung conditions, including asthma, or heart conditions
* You have metabolic disorders such as diabetes or kidney dysfunction
* You have an immunodeficiency disease or are on immunosuppressive treatment
* You have had Guillain-Barré syndrome
* You are pregnant
* You have a history of allergy or hypersensitivity, including anaphylaxis, to any of the parts of FluMist or to eggs

Children or teenagers who regularly take aspirin or products containing aspirin also should not take FluMist.

Your immune system takes time to respond to the flu vaccine. Therefore, you should get vaccinated 6 to 8 weeks before flu season begins in November to prevent getting infected or reduce the severity of flu if you do get it. Because the flu season usually lasts until March, however, it’s not too late to get it after the season has begun. The vaccine itself cannot cause the flu, but you could become exposed to the virus by someone else and get infected soon after you are vaccinated.

Possible side effects

You should be aware that the flu vaccine can cause side effects. The most common side effect in children and adults is soreness at the site of the vaccination. Other side effects, especially in children who previously have not been exposed to the flu virus, include fever, tiredness, and sore muscles. These side effects may begin 6 to 12 hours after vaccination and may last for up to 2 days.

Viruses for producing the vaccine are grown in chicken eggs and then killed with a chemical so that they can no longer cause an infection. The flu vaccine may contain some egg protein, which can cause an allergic reaction. Therefore, if you are allergic to eggs or have ever had a serious allergic reaction to the flu vaccine, CDC recommends that you consult with your health care provider before getting vaccinated.

Vaccine recommendations
* You are 50 years of age or older
* You have chronic diseases of your heart, lungs, or kidneys
* You have diabetes
* Your immune system does not function properly
* You have a severe form of anemia
* You will be more than 3 months pregnant during the flu season
* You live in a nursing home or other chronic-care housing facility
* You are in close contact with children 0 to 23 months of age

Herbal medication of flu is good.

Some people believe that Urotherapy is a very good way to develop immunity against this type of disease.

Disclaimer: This information is not meant to be a substitute for professional medical advise or help. It is always best to consult with a Physician about serious health concerns. This information is in no way intended to diagnose or prescribe remedies.This is purely for educational purpose.

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