What Is Plasma Therapy? And Is It a Cure For COVID -19!!
Different parts of India are now running Convalescent Plasma Therapy as a treatment for patients with severe COVID-19 cases. Although the treatment is still in a trial phase, it has started to show promising results. According to IANS report the Ministry of Science & Technology, the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), the top authorizing body in India, has also given its approval. In the states where plasma therapy was used the patients are also showing a positive result.
What is plasma therapy?
The method ‘Convalescent Serum Therapy’ dates to 1918; when it was used during the outbreak of the Spanish Flu. After which it has been used in 2005 during the SARS epidemic. According to the medical journal The Lancet, it was used to improve the survival rates of patients. In 2009 it was used for H1N1 patients, 2014 for those infected by Ebola in 2014 and in 2015 for MERS patients in different parts of the world.
Considering the number of positive cases, plasma therapy is being used even in the case of Covid-19. When our body is attacked by a pathogen it produces antibodies or immunoglobulin (Ig) to fight and these can help an infected patient. In convalescent plasma therapy, the liquid part of blood is collected from patients who are cured of infection as it contains antibodies that might help them fight the infection.
According to The Lancet, ‘Evidence shows that convalescent plasma from patients who have recovered from viral infections can be used as a treatment without the occurrence of severe adverse events.’ The antibodies from the recovered patients are injected into a critically ill patient to boost their fight against the virus.
How is plasma collected?
The blood is taken from the recovered patient and the plasma is separated. It is then tested for the antibodies and then administered to Covis-19 patients who is critically ill.
Plasma donors for COVID 19
Plasma donation is almost like a blood donation. Donors are hooked to a device that will separate the plasma from red blood cells and the entire process takes about an hour. According to reports for donating your plasma for COVID 19, you need to have been a patient before and should be completely symptom-free before donation.
One can donate for two weeks or 14 days after recovery. But donation is not so easy, one needs to be physically fit to qualify for plasma donation. As most of the survivors of COVID 19 are elderly or people with prior health problems finding an appropriate donor is difficult.
Treatments across the country
Several states in India are interested in trying plasma therapy as a treatment for Covid-19. India’s apex health research body, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has already given nod for plasma therapy across the country and Kerala was the first state to plan trails. Delhi which is one of the hotspots of coronavirus in the country has just recently completed round plasma therapy tests with four Covid-19 patients at the city-based Lok Nayak Hospital.
According to reports Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the initial results of the plasma therapy used on four coronavirus patients in the city were encouraging. The CM said that while plasms therapy cannot be considered as a cure for coronavirus, they will consider it as an option for serious patients. Gujarat has also used the therapy on two patients who according to the government showed positive results.
A PTI report also said that Maharashtra has also got approval to test plasma therapy which might be saving grace for the state which has become a hotspot. Plasma Therapy is showcasing promising results, and while medical researchers are working to look for a cure or vaccine for COVID-19 this therapy is so far helping on critically ill patients.
Source: https://news.abplive.com/news/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-plasma-therapy-1206297
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Colon Infection: Everything You Need to Know About It!!
Intestinal infections continue to be a cause of worry for many patients and their families. As per a June 2019 study published in Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, in a developing country like India, intestinal parasitic infections remain an important public health concern. “The infection remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality, especially among children. It is presumed that the prevalence is high in developing countries probably due to poor sanitary conditions and improper personal hygiene practices.”
Colon infection
Colitis is a chronic digestive disease characterised by inflammation of the inner lining of the colon, the long, coiled, tube-like organ, also known as the large intestine, that is known to remove water and salt from digested food. When the body is ready for bowel movement, the waste is dumped into the rectum. According to National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), “the colon is a common site of infection for a heterogeneous group of bacterial pathogens”.
As per Dr Vivek Vij, director, Fortis Hospital, Noida; Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram; Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, Okhla Road, “Colon infection or colitis is a broad term comprising any infection (bacterial, viral, amoebic etc.) of the large intestine. It can happen due to unhygienic food, water, etc.”
Symptoms
Inflamed colon symptoms include diarrhoea with or without blood, abdominal pain and cramping, fever, nausea, fatigue, weight loss and bloating, among others.
Causes of colon inflammation
Infection is one of the causes of colon inflammation. Colitis can be caused by viruses, bacteria and parasites. Infection colitis can be contracted from contaminated water, foodborne illnesses or poor hygiene.
Other causes include Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), ischemic colitis and diarrhea and abdominal pain.
Prevention
It can also occur spontaneously in some patients with decreased immunity. It can be prevented by ensuring consumption of hygienic food and clean water. Patients with decreased immunity should be in regular touch with their physicians, advised Dr Vij.
Detection
Some common tests for colitis include X-rays of the colon, testing the stool for blood and pus, sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy. Additional tests include stool cultures and blood tests, including blood chemistry tests.
Treatment
As per NCBI, “The presentation of disease in the colon is generally in the form of distinct syndromes, and it is important for physicians to recognise the causative organisms, because specific treatment is highly effective.”
The treatment depends on what is causing colitis. Many cases require a little more than symptomatic care, including clear fluids to rest the bowel and medications to control pain. Patients who have are acutely ill often need intravenous fluids among other interventions.
While colon infection caused by diarrhoea and colitis may potentially require antibiotics, depending on the cause, viral infections require fluids and time. Some bacterial infections, such as salmonella, do not need antibiotic therapy as the body is able to get rid of the infection on its own. Other bacterial infections, such as Clostridium difficile, require antibiotic treatment.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
Medications are often used to control IBD. Anti-inflammatory medications may be used initially and medications that suppress the immune system can be added, if necessary. Surgery may be an option in severe cases, including removal of the colon and small intestine.
Ischemic colitis
Intravenous fluids are given to rest the bowel and prevent dehydration. If sufficient blood supply is not restored, surgery may be needed to remove parts of the bowel that lost blood supply.
Diarrhea and abdominal pain
Initial treatment at home may include a clear fluid diet for 24 hours and rest. If symptoms resolve quickly, no further care is needed.
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How to Detect Symptoms of Leukemia at an Early Stage!!
Rishi Kapoor passed away yesterday, at the age of 67, after losing a two-year battle against leukemia. He was diagnosed with cancer back in 2018 and was being treated for the disease since then. Leukemia is basically a type of cancer which affects blood-forming tissues, including bone marrow, hindering the body’s ability to fight any kind of infection. It is caused due to the rise in the number of white blood cells in our body. The white blood cells then crowd out red blood cells and platelets, affecting their production, which is required for a healthy body.
Here are a few symptoms of leukemia, which will help you detect the disease at an early stage:
Unexplained weight loss
Loss of appetite and continuous weight loss is the first warning sign of leukemia. You might feel tired all the time and won’t feel like eating anything. Feeling of nausea might become constant. If you feel yourself losing weight without exercise or dieting, make sure you contact your doctor and get yourself tested.
Discomfort under the lower rib
Due to an enlarged liver or spleen, there might be a constant discomfort under the lower rib. Leukemia patients usually suffer from swollen nodes, which is the reason why this symptom is a unique one. It is better to get yourself tested if you detect this symptom, accompanied with any other symptoms that follow.
Tiny red spots on skin
Another unique symptom that people with leukemia might notice is tiny red spots on their skin. These spots are usually caused by tiny broken blood vessels, called capillaries, under the skin. You might notice these red spots on your arms, legs and back.
Easy bruises
People suffering from leukemia are more susceptible to bruising, than other people. They might get severe bruises or bleeding, even from small knocks. As there aren’t enough platelets in the blood of leukemia patients, the body cannot prevent blood vessels from bleeding under the skin upon injury.
Frequent infections
If you get infections from time to time, then you must get yourself checked immediately. Recurrent infections can occur because the patient’s body is not able to produce enough white blood cells to keep the immune system working. This means that the body is not able to efficiently destroy viruses, bacteria or fungi that have made their way into the body.
Excessive sweating at night
Do you wake up at night drenched with sweat, even when the room is not that hot? This is a warning sign of leukemia and can occur frequently. Though, it is not the only symptom. Get yourself checked, if you notice night sweats, which are accompanied by the above given symptoms.
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Timely Cancer Specialist Opinion Saves Life of Cancer Patient!!
A large population in India lives far from metro cities whereas cancer centers are established mainly in the metro cities. Since cancer affects elderly population more and it makes the access even tougher for patients with other comorbid conditions to reach out to the oncologist care in timely manner. The current shortage scenario of 2400 oncologist managing 15 lac new cancer cases in India with vast geography needs advance solutions such as remote monitoring and Online Second Opinions to diagnose better and intervene faster.
Cancer is a deadly disease that prevails around the world. India is one of such countries wherein the vast demography of people is not spared from the clutches of this disease. Currently, it has been speculated that there are around 2.25 million people in India who live with the disease and seek for medical attention and care, while battling hard against it to survive as well.
All came under a baffling halt for Mrs. Abha Roy, when she was diagnosed with blood cancer as well. However, this did not seem to deter her from fighting for her life and she made it certain to do everything that she could, in order to survive. However, it was not easy as she had previously ascertained.
Early diagnosis of the early cancer stages can help patients take the right step towards avoiding the spread of the deadly disease from benign to malignant stages. However, the biggest challenge that most health professionals face is the late stage diagnosis of the disease. Mrs. Roy’s family tried to seek out all the help that they could avail, as soon as she was diagnosed with cancer. However, time was running out and each moment was crucial in order to take the right step towards recovery. When all hopes were lost, the last ray of hope shined on Mrs. Abha Roy when her son Prantosh found on the internet about Cancer Second Opinion Program helpline number which was an initiative by a Cancer Hospital.
Mrs. Abha Roy belongs to a middle class family and hails from a remotely located village in Tripura, near Agartala. Given the nature of healthcare infrastructure and its availability, Mrs. Roy was in dire need of professional help and that too, in a very short period of time. Unfortunately, her condition had deteriorated to a level that made it even more difficult for her to relocate herself to the nearest healthcare facility.
The Cancer Hospital with the Second Opinion Program had been interacting with patients just like Mrs. Abha Roy, for quite sometime now. One of the foremost challenges in the step towards recovery is lifting up the spirits of patients and convincing them that all hope is still not gone! And that’s how it lifted up the spirits of a 53 year old Mrs. Roy, by conducting exclusive counselling sessions with a well renowned psychiatrist.
The next set of advice provided was to take a few blood tests as advised by the expert team headed by Dr Rahul Bhargava. These blood tests were taken at her home in her own village as suggested by Dr Rahul Bhargava, who is an eminent and established blood cancer care specialist or hematologist and is also the Director of pediatric and adult Bone Marrow Transplants. The foremost step that Dr. Bhargava took was to review Mrs. Roy’s case and constituted a team that was to be deployed personally for her aid.
A team was formed in just about 2 hours since Mrs. Roy contacted the Cancer Hospital For Opinion. The team was briefed about the condition of Mrs. Roy, her ailment as well the next set of directives as instructed by Dr. Bhargava. The core team included Dr. Bhargava himself, a local physician, a pathology team from Agartala and case manager from the Cancer Hospital to help coordination between every one. The team along with the patient’s son was available right at the reach of Mrs. Abha and was ready for her help in a very short period of notice.
Mrs. Roy was immediately shifted to a local hospital in order to stabilize her case since her Haemoglobin content had fallen to fatal levels. However, in about 12 days since the point of contact, Mrs. Roy showed signs of great improvement in her condition – she could now walk and thus, could get admitted at a better facility for further treatment. A biopsy investigation suggested some medication for Mrs. Roy that could prolong her life for many years. The patient is now put under a remote monitoring program which allows the patient to report the symptoms and track changes during the course of treatment. Patients who seek help early when the disease is developing can benefit by getting the right test done specially in cases of aplastic anemia and lymphoma said Dr. Rahul Bhargava.
The story only confirms the belief on how comprehensive cancer care can save lives and help patients lead a quality life as well. In India, cancer care is getting evolved and The Second Opinion Program of the Cancer Hospital has taken the lead by building a virtual comprehensive cancer care hospital by solving the gaps in cancer care delivery. However, a major challenge that lies in this process is the easy availability of the same infrastructure and healthcare personnel around the entire stretch of this vast country. This is where the Cancer Hospital comes to the picture to provide comprehensive care.
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Second Opinion Saves Man From Double Amputation!!
It started with a blister on his big toe. Unbeknownst to Reynaldo Reyna, it was the sign of something bigger. But Reyna is a roof inspector. He spends his days walking buildings and warehouses in North Texas and across the country.
To him it was just a blister that wouldn’t go away, he said.
“I’ve had a lot of problems with my legs for a long time,” he said, “I just worked until I got tired, then I would get right up again. I thought I could just work around it.”
After about a month of discomfort, he went to the doctor, who referred him to a specialist in Fort Worth. After undergoing an angiogram, an X-ray of blood flow, the doctor said they would have to amputate his leg. At that point, Reynes was poorly controlling his diabetes and his chronic myopathy. This neglect resulted in total artery blockage in his right leg arteries, from his knee down to his right foot.
An amputation meant the end of Reyna’s career, his livelihood, his quality of life.
At this point, Reyna’s blister had escalated into an open wound. He was referred to the Wound Care Center at Texas Health Plano, where he was referred to Dr. Vijay Ramanath for Second Opinion.
As an intraventricular cardiologist, Ramanath’s specialty is clearing clogged arteries. In his career, he’s seen patients just like Reyna with 100 percent blockages in their arteries, and his solution wasn’t amputation.
“He was willing to take the risk,” Reyna said.
To fix a blocked artery, doctors must carefully drill through the plaque built up to create a pathway for blood to flow.
“We basically had to recreate the whole artery for him, which, fortunately, we were able to do and restore blood flow to his heel,” he said.
To Ramanath, it was simply a challenge he’d faced before and conquered. Thanks to Reyna’s young age – anything below 75 in the medical world is young – Ramanath said his arteries were in solid shape for surgery.
“Fortunately for Reyna, since he’s south of 60, he hasn’t had as much time for all this blockage to form,” he said. “So because of that, it didn’t put up as much of a fight.”
It took two procedures, but Ramanath was able to clear the blockages. The blockage did cost Reyna his big toe, but he’s still able to walk his roofs and do his work.
As the leader of the hospital’s Limb Salvage Program, Ramanath said he and doctors like him work to help cases like Reyna, “to get back people’s lives, especially those who have young families, that have full-time jobs. We want them to get back to their way of life.”
Since the surgery, Reyna said he’s completely turn around his lifestyle. He eats better and exercises regularly and he’s keeping his diabetes under control.
“The biggest lesson here was that diabetes is serious,” he said. “You need to take care of yourself. The bottom line: If you do what the doctor says, you exercise and eat right, live right, then you’ll be alright.”
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Second Opinion Shifts Film School Graduate’s Outlook !!
As a young girl growing up in Buffalo, New York, Devan Brady’s bedtime story selection was more a survey of American literature than preschool perennials. She remembers her father reading Moby-Dick to her when she was just 3 years old.
“My dad went for the big guns,” Devan says. “The bigger the book, the better.” These adventures unleashed Devan’s imagination. As she grew older, she saw some of her favorite books, such as the Harry Potter series, leap from the page to the big screen. Devan knew there was only one path forward for her: creating magical worlds for kids who love to escape through books and film, just like she did.
But after graduating from college in 2016 with a degree in media production, a medical scare threatened to steal this dream from Devan.
An avid traveler, Devan was on a flight to Japan in January when her legs kept falling asleep, which she knew was common, but the frequency and severity were still puzzling. Several months later in August, Devan was working three part-time jobs: production assistant on a local film crew, wedding photographer and restaurant server. While on her feet for a restaurant shift, Devan felt her legs go numb again. She didn’t regain full sensation for several hours.
Worried, Devan called her local primary care provider, who ran some blood and imaging tests. The results were normal, but her doctor referred Devan to a neurologist for further evaluation.
In the weeks between appointments, Devan didn’t experience any additional episodes and started thinking she was in the clear. After completing a more rigorous set of tests with the neurologist, Devan expected to hear that she had something relatively simple like a pinched nerve. She didn’t expect to leave his office with a diagnosis of the autoimmune disease neuromyelitis optica, more commonly known as NMO.
NMO occurs when the body’s immune system produces a molecule called an antibody that mistakenly targets healthy tissue. Antibodies normally attack targets such as cancer or infection so that the immune system can clear those damaged cells out of the body. But with NMO, these antibodies attach to healthy tissue in the central nervous system, mainly in the optic nerves and spinal cord, but sometimes in the brain, too. As a result, people can experience blindness, weakness or paralysis in the legs or arms, and painful spasms.
An Uncertain Future
“For the whole month of October, I was on edge, nervous,” says Devan. “NMO is a serious disease, and to tell a 22-year-old girl that you could lose your eyesight or use of your legs, that’s scary. What is my life going to be like? I’m going to live in constant fear of losing the ability to do what I love.”
While the neurologist couldn’t confirm the diagnosis through an MRI, Devan tested positive for the NMO antibody in two blood tests, so he prescribed an immune system-suppressing drug to inactivate the circulating antibodies and stop their production, which in turn could prevent further attacks.
A lifetime of taking powerful drugs was just as startling to Devan as the diagnosis. Because her local neurologist had only seen a handful of patients with NMO in the last decade, Devan and her father, a nurse with the Veterans Health Administration, began researching options for a Second Opinion. Through friends and her father’s colleagues, Devan learned about Mayo Clinic’s Department of Neurology and its expertise in NMO.
For at least the last 75 years, what is now known as a spectrum of NMO disorders — sometimes called Devic’s disease — was commonly misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis (MS). Because MS is treated with medication that boosts immune system action, these therapies could be ineffective and even harmful in the case of NMO. In 2005, physician-scientists and basic researchers at Mayo Clinic discovered a unique antibody specific to NMO. This breakthrough allowed for the development of a diagnostic test, ensuring that NMO patients get the right treatment right away.
“Especially since the test for NMO was created at Mayo Clinic, we thought if anyone would know about this, they would,” Devan says.
Scene Two
Devan and her father made the trip to Rochester, Minnesota, in November and met with neurologists B. Mark Keegan, M.D., and Natalie Parks, M.D., a former Mayo Clinic fellow now at Dalhousie University in Canada. As a provider in Mayo’s Division of Multiple Sclerosis and Autoimmune Neurology, Dr. Keegan regularly sees patients seeking second opinions for diagnoses ranging from multiple sclerosis to NMO and a variety of rare inflammatory diseases affecting the central nervous system.
The team explained that Dr. Parks would do an in-depth examination with Devan and discuss the results with Dr. Keegan. Then, Dr. Keegan would do a second examination.
After comparing their notes on Devan’s medical history and physical tests, Dr. Keegan shared the team’s conclusion.
“He said, ‘If you would have come here after that first day that you had issues and told me your symptoms, I never would have even thought to test for NMO. But because your doctor did, and the result was positive, now we have to deal with it,'” Devan recalls.
The first step was to repeat Devan’s bloodwork, but this time using a much more sophisticated version of the NMO test, which Mayo Clinic has continuously refined over the past decade. If the test came back positive, Dr. Keegan would perform an MRI to look for lesions on her spine. If it came back negative, he would be reasonably confident that Devan did not have NMO. Because getting the blood test results would take a few days, Devan and her father returned to Buffalo to await the news.
A week later, Devan was back at work on a film set when she got a call from Mayo Clinic. It was Dr. Parks with her test results: Devan did not have NMO.
Listening to Dr. Parks explain that the local test results were false positives, Devan started crying tears of relief. She immediately called her father, who interpreted the emotion in Devan’s voice as a bad sign.
“He was like, ‘It’s OK, it’s OK. We’ll book a flight to Rochester.’ And I was saying, ‘No, Dad, the test was negative.’ And I just heard him go, ‘Woo-hoo!’ Like, screaming on the phone.”
Dr. Keegan called a few days later to reassure Devan of the results. In his opinion, Devan’s local neurologist likely relied too heavily on the less sophisticated blood test to make a diagnosis and didn’t factor in the complete picture — Devan’s normal medical history, evaluations and MRI test, plus the fact that Devan’s symptoms were nonspecific to NMO.
Devan has been in good health since then, which she credits to staying active and sticking to her workout routine. She now says her only fear for the future is the same as any post-college graduate’s: finding a job.
But armed with the same boundless imagination that fueled her childhood dreams, she knows the possibilities are limitless.
Source: https://www.mayoclinic.org/giving-to-mayo-clinic/philanthropy-in-action/features-stories/take-two
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