Why is blood required ?

Modern medical science is based on the availability of human blood. Blood is required by :

1. Patients of genetic disorders like Thalassaemia, Haemophilia andHuman Blood Bank Sickle Cell Anaemia.
2. Patients undergoing major surgeries.
3. Cancer patients.
4. Victims of major accidents or injuries.
5. Burn victims.

Women in childbirth.
In the city of Mumbai alone, everyday there are more than 600 people who are in need of life-saving blood for one of the above reasons.Thalassaemia Major is a serious genetic, blood disorder, which affects more than 1 lakh children in India. These children need blood transfusions regularly throughout their lives for their survival.
Child Blood Transfusions

Where will this blood come from ?
Blood is not manufactured in any factory. Artificial/synthetic blood is still in the research stage. Animal blood cannot be transfused to human beings.
Blood, is made in only one factory – the human body. Therefore, the only source of blood is voluntary blood donation by another human being.

Researchers from Osaka University examined eating habits of 3,000 people and reported it in the British Medical Journal whatever they found.

A UK nutrition expert says that problems in signaling systems that inform body to eat no more may play a role in obesity. He believes that deliberate slow down at mealtimes may affect on weight.

This new study examined the relation between eating speed, obesity and feelings of satiety. Almost half of the 3,000 people included in the study told researchers that they ate quickly.

The researchers found that people who ate quickly were 84% more likely to be overweight, and similarly women had almost a twofold risk of becoming obese.

Similarly, those who ate quickly and until satiety were three times more likely to become overweight.

According to a Professor from the University of Nottingham, there are many reasons that show why fast eating speed can be bad for the body weight.

“When you eat quickly, you fill your stomach before getting your gastric feedback and thus have chances to develop a habit of overfilling the things.”

He said that quick eating was a behaviour that one might adopt in infancy; however, it could be changed, but not easily.

Eating too much sodium is a big risk factor for high blood pressure, but now a new study says that consuming too little potassium is an equally big risk factor, especially for blacks.

A gene, which may influence potassium’s effects on blood pressure, has also been identified in the study.

These findings back previous studies that have drawn similar results about blood pressure and potassium. The study has been on a Texas heart study done on the urine samples of 3,300 people.

This new study has been presented at the American Society of Nephrology’s annual meeting, in Philadelphia.

Dr. Susan Hedayati, who led the study, says: “lower levels of potassium in the urine, means lower potassium in the diet and higher blood pressure and the effect was even stronger than the effect of sodium on blood pressure.”

Hedayati said, “The link between low potassium and high blood pressure is even stronger even when race, age and other cardiovascular risk factors like cholesterol, diabetes and smoking are included.

For this study, laboratory research suggests that WNKI gene may be liable for potassium’s effects on blood pressure. According to researchers, further research is needed to test blood pressure is affected by the fixed levels of potassium and gene’s activity.

A government panel has recommended vaccination especially for smokers, for the very first time. The panel decided that, smokers under 65 should get pneumococcal vaccine.

The shot is already recommended for adults aged 65 or older and provides protection against pneumonia, meningitis and other illnesses.

Studies have already proven that smokers higher degree than nonsmokers to suffer pneumococcal disease. Also, the number of cigarettes someone smokes each day is directly proportional to odds of developing illnesses.

The reason for, why smokers are highly susceptible is not exactly known. But some scientists believe, because smoking cause damage to lung which provide bacteria an atmosphere to attack lungs and trachea (windpipe).

Pneumococcal infections are top killer among vaccine-preventable diseases. It’s an advanced complication of influenza, specifically in the elderly. It is also responsible for, around 36,000 deaths per year.

The committee voted 11 to 3 to pass the suggestion. The panel also added a call for smoking cessation counseling.

Some members said, they should recommend vaccine for smoker who age 40 or above because pneumococcal infections are rare in young smoker. Others at the meeting made the same argument.

The virus of acute coryza (common cold) can activates immune system genes present in the inner lining of the nose, including some natural antiviral that might have any therapeutic use in future, researchers reported.

Of particular interest is a gene that controls a natural antiviral called viperin, said David Proud of the University of Calgary in Alberta, who led the study.

Viperin, which was discovered in the late nineties, has involvement in other viral infections than common cold, Proud said. “This had never been examined during rhinovirus infections,” he said.

Researchers gathered 35 people, who accept to be a part of study and agreed to be infected with a common cold virus called human rhinovirus 16.

After sometime of induced infection, the researchers take some cells of the inner lining from inside the volunteers’ noses and examine gene expression, or activity, in the cells.

Every cell in the body carries all the genes, but certain genes become more or less active during various activities.

“I think that is the ideal approach to trying to treat these viral infections. If you can find out what are the body’s natural defenses, can you either boost them or supplement them?” Proud said.

“The findings are important because they provide us a blueprint for developing the ideal cold treatment: one that maintains the body’s natural antiviral response while normalizing the inflammatory response.”

“This was really the first study that looked at the entire human genome. We confirmed some of the things we knew, and we found an awful lot more that we weren’t aware of.” Researchers said.

A Danish study finds that patients who were hospitalized for pneumonia and taking statins at the time (cholesterol-lowering drugs) had one-third lower death rate than those not taking statins.

According to experts, the findings are preliminary and further research is needed to prescribe statins as infection fighters.

“Staists have an anti-inflammatory effect, and we have just begun to understand that systemic infections like pneumonia cause inflammation can possibly trigger many adverse reactions in human bodies.”

In the study, other drugs (for coronary conditions) like aspirin and beta blockers did not show any effect on pneumonia mortality.

In this study, Data on 29,900 adults, who were hospitalized with pneumonia between 1997 and 2004, was reviewed. The researchers noted that around 1,371 were taking statins at the time and the 30-day death rate of that group was 10.3 percent and 15.7 percent for those not taking statins at the time. Similarly, the 90-day death was noted as 16.8 percent for the statin group and 22.4 percent for those not taking it.

This research was fonded by the Economic and Social Research Council. In this study, it was noticed that those children whose mothers talked to them about what the people believed in, what there norms were, what were the intentions and what were the demands; developed really fine understanding of society and related feelings. In the research, some tasks were assigned to mothers of 3 years old kids.

They were provided with a series of pictures, portraying e.g. people waiting for their turn standing in a queue, or a kid coming out of the school after the school finished. The mothers were told to talk to their kids about those pictures and to make them understand those pictures well. What was noticed in this test was that those kids whose mothers talked to them about the feeling of people portrayed in the pictures performed really well on social understanding tasks.

This research was based on many years’ study including almost 57 families. It was also noticed that the socio-economic status of families and the mothers’ IQ levels were not very much related to the way kids behaved in later childhood. Mothers’ influence remains active on the kids till about the age of 9-10 years. Beyond this age, this effect gradually diminishes, perhaps because of the lesser amount of time spent at home with their moms by the children. It was observed that at the age of 12, children were able to perform as well as their mothers did, thus establishing that at 12, they can be as “socially sophisticated” as the adults.

This study began 14 years ago. Then, fathers were not involved as they spent lesser time with their kids, but it is possible to find such fathers these days, according to the researchers. They suggested that it was better to talk to children about the bad feelings of the kid from whom their kids snatched away a toy, instead of scolding him harshly and ordering him to give it back to him. So, watch out mothers; your slang will make your kids use it, too!

Heart patients with depression have a higher risk for recurring cardiovascular events like heart attack, stroke and heart failure, but the reason behind this link is not clear yet. Now U.S researchers find that behavior changes in these patients are a basic factor in recurring cardiovascular events.

To know about the symptoms of depression in heart disease patients, researchers, used a questionnaire and then they utilized different models to assess the link between depression and following cardiovascular events like heart attack, stroke and heart failure.

The researchers found that there was a 50% higher risk of cardiovascular events in the patients who had depression. After adjusting cardiac disease severity and other existing conditions, the researchers found a 31% higher risk for cardiovascular events in the patients with depression.

Then, the researchers adjusted some other health behaviors like physical inactivity in these patients and they noticed that there wasn’t a considerable link between cardiovascular events and depression. The researchers accounted physical inactivity for a 44% higher risk of cardiovascular events.

The study has been published in the Nov.26 issue of the American Medical Association Journal.

How do you neat stress? Do you hit the gym, meditate or play outdoors? Here’s happy alternative: Being with a loved one-physical intimacy between you and your partner – can wipe out stress and tension from your life. Researchers in Berlin beeped couples every three hours, to supply a saliva sample to measure cortisol and report how they were feeling and what they were doing. When they were physically intimate, their cortisol levels dropped significantly. When we engage in any pleasurable activity, there is a sudden release of endorphins : plus actions such as hand-holding, kissing, snuggling and sex, reduce cortisol levels. Happy relationship have a good effect on health, and physical intimacy leads to happiness. But too much of any thing can turn out to cause anti-effects. This is a fact and do not indulge in this activity when ever you feel stressed as you may get addicted to it.

What are fibrocystic breasts?
Fibrocystic breasts are characterized by lumpiness and discomfort in one or both breasts. The condition is very common, but benign and not malignant (cancerous).
How to detect fibrocystic breast condition?
The diagnosis of fibrocystic breasts is complicated, since the condition can vary in its severity. In some women, the symptoms can be mild, with minimal tenderness or pain. Sometime no lumps may be felt at all. In some women though, there is constant pain and tenderness, and many nodular areas can be felt through both breasts.
Who is likely to develop them?
It primarily affects women between the ages of 30 and 50 and tends to become less of a problem after menopause. This condition usually results from ca cumulative process of repeated monthly hormonal cycles and the accumulation of fluid, cells, and cellular debris within the breasts.
How is the condition diagnosed?
A Common indicator of fibrocystic breast condition is breast pain or discomfort. The primary method of diagnosing the condition is by physically examining (palpation) the lumpy areas in the breasts, either by yourself or or by the physician. For breasts that are extremely fibrocystic, specialized breast ultrasound exams and other tests may be needed.

German scientists have discovered from routine biopsies that men’s TESTICLES are a source of STEM CELLS.The cup can collect up to 30 ml of menstrual blood. It forms an integral part of Lifecell’s menstrual blood collection kit. The fluid is poured into a tube, which has anti-coagulants so that the blood does not clot. A shipping box is also provided with thekit, which maintains a required temperature to keep the viral load low. Since the collection is done in non-sterile environments, contamination cannot be ruled out. Once it is taken to the lab, they remove the red blood cells, extract only the tissue-based stem cells and do a through antibiotic treatment to condirm sterility. The process does not cause reduction in the potency of the blood. All they require is 7-10 ml of collection that can be collected in two hours, depending on the flow. While contamination is not an issue, the efficacy of long-time storage is yet to be determined. Studies are yet to determine whether tissue based stem cells can be used on recipients. Preliminary research suggests that in addition to possible use by the donor, these stem cells may also be used to benefit other family members who are genetically related to the donor, such as a parent, sibling or child.
Though still in the clinical trial stages, LifeCell is excited about the possibilities menstrual blood stem cells will open up in the field of regenerative medicine and that future is not too far when women can avail themselves of personalized treatments derived from their own menstrual blood. Meanwhile, men too have a reason to rejoice.

Listening to your favorite music can have the same heart benefits of exercise and medicines. A US study showed that when people listened to their favorite music, their blood vessels opened up, and letting blood flow freely, which in turn reduced blood clots that could cause heart attack and stroke. Researchers made 10 healthy persons listen to either music of their choice or music that made them anxious, and measured the blood flow in their peripheral arteries. Listening to joyful music they disliked decreased it by 26 per cent, while listening to music they disliked decreased it by 6 per cent.

Parent’s diet influence children’s food choices, says a study in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Researchers observed 120 children, aged 2-6, as they bought food and beverages from a play grocery store. They gathered data on their parents’ grocery shopping preferences. It was seen that children assimilated and mimicked their parents’ food choices at a very young age, even before they were able to fully appreciate the implications of these choices. While more than 70 per cent of the children bought food that were least healthy (along with an equal number of healthy items), only 10.8 per cent made the healthiest choices.

So parents should eat in sake of their children, Parents may be one of the inspiration to their childrens so please avoid non-hygenic food and also try to avoid diet control.

WALK TO BEAT SWEET TOOTH :
The urge to eat sweets can be curbed by a 15-minute walk, reports journal Appetite. Chocolate cravings are often induced by stress, boredom, or to boost mood or alertness, and can lead to weight gain. Researchers made 25 regular chocolate eaters abstain from chocolates for three days and asked them to either walk briskly or sit quietly for 15 minutes. They were then asked to perform a mentally challenging task and given chocolates, which they were told not eat. The brisk walking reduced their chocolate cravings even when it was available.

GERMS LOVE WOMEN :

Humans carry more germs on their palms than previously thought, and women house 50 per cent more bacteria on their hands than men, says a US study. The discrepancy could be because men have more acidic skin than women. Other reasons could be gender differences in sweat, oil gland, hormones, skin thickness and use of moisturizers and cosmetics. Of more than 4,700 specials were shared by all the hands. A typical hand housed about 150 species of bacteria, a majority of them harmless and even beneficial.