Tuberculosis

TB is caused by bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) and it most often affects the lungs. TB is spread through the air when people with lung TB cough, sneeze or spit. A person needs to inhale only a few germs to become infected.

Every year, 10 million people fall ill with tuberculosis (TB). Despite being a preventable and curable disease, 1.5 million people die from TB each year – making it the world’s top infectious killer.

TB is the leading cause of death of people with HIV and also a major contributor to antimicrobial resistance.

Most of the people who fall ill with TB live in low- and middle-income countries, but TB is present all over the world. About half of all people with TB can be found in 8 countries: Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines and South Africa.

About one-quarter of the world’s population is estimated to be infected by TB bacteria. Only 5-15% of these people will fall ill with active TB disease. The rest have TB infection but are not ill and cannot transmit the disease. Both TB infection and disease are curable using antibiotics.

What IS TB?

---

Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial disease that usually attacks the lungs. But it can also attack other parts of the body, including the kidneys, spine, and brain.

Not everyone infected with TB bacteria (germs) becomes sick. So, there are two types of TB conditions:

• Latent TB infection, where the TB germs live in your body but don’t make you sick.
• TB disease (active TB) where you get sick from the TB germs. TB disease can almost always be cured with antibiotics. But if it’s not treated properly, it can be fatal.

What causes tuberculosis (TB)?

---

TB is caused by bacteria (germs) called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The germs spread from person to person through the air. People who have TB disease in their throat or lungs spread the germs in the air when they cough, sneeze, talk, or sing. If you breathe in the air that has the germs, you can get TB. TB is not spread by touching, kissing, or sharing food or dishes.

You’re more likely to catch TB from people you live or work with than from people you see for shorter amounts of time.

Although tuberculosis is contagious, it’s not easy to catch. You’re much more likely to get tuberculosis from someone you live or work with than from a stranger. Most people with active TB who’ve had appropriate drug treatment for at least two weeks are no longer contagious.

HIV and TB

---

Since the 1980s, tuberculosis cases have increased dramatically because of the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. HIV suppresses the immune system, making it difficult for the body to control TB bacteria. As a result, people with HIV are much more likely to get TB and to progress from latent to active disease than are people who aren’t HIV positive.

Drug-resistant TB

---

Tuberculosis also remains a major killer because of the increase in drug-resistant strains. Over time, some TB germs have developed the ability to survive despite medications. This is partly because people don’t take their drugs as directed or don’t complete the course of treatment.

Drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis emerge when an antibiotic fails to kill all of the bacteria it targets. The surviving bacteria become resistant to that drug and often other antibiotics as well. Some TB bacteria have developed resistance to the most commonly used treatments, such as isoniazid and rifampin (Rifadin, Rimactane).

Some TB strains have also developed resistance to drugs less commonly used in TB treatment, such as the antibiotics known as fluoroquinolones, and injectable medications including amikacin and capreomycin (Capastat). These medications are often used to treat infections that are resistant to the more commonly used drugs.

What are the symptoms of tuberculosis (TB)?

---

Most people who have TB germs in their bodies don’t get sick with TB disease. Instead, they have latent TB infection. With a latent TB infection, you:

• Don’t have symptoms
• Can’t spread TB to others
• Could get sick with active TB disease in the future if your immune system becomes weak for another reason
• Need to take medicine to prevent getting sick with active TB disease in the future

If you have TB disease, the TB germs are active, meaning that they are growing (multiplying) inside your body and making you sick. If the TB is growing in your lungs or throat, you can spread the TB germs to other people. You can get sick with TB disease weeks to years after you’re infected with TB germs.

With TB disease, your symptoms will depend on where the TB is growing in your body

General symptoms may include:

• Chills and fever
• Night sweats (heavy sweating during sleep)
• Losing weight without trying
• Loss of appetite
• Weakness or fatigue

Symptoms from TB disease in your lungs may include:

• A coughthat lasts longer than 3 weeks
• Coughing up blood or sputum (a thick mucus from the lungs)
• Chest pain

What is the treatment for tuberculosis (TB)?

---

The treatment for both latent TB infection and TB disease is antibiotics. To make sure you get rid of all the TB germs in your body, it’s very important to follow the directions for taking your medicine.

If you don’t follow the directions, the TB germs in your body could change and become antibiotic resistant. That means the medicine may stop working and your TB may become hard to cure.

• For latent TB infections, you usually take medicines for 3 to 9 months. Treatment helps make sure you don’t get TB disease in the future.
• For active TB disease, you usually need to take medicines for 6 to 12 months. Treatment will almost always cure you if you take your pills the right way.
• For TB disease in your lungs or throat, you’ll need to stay home for a few weeks, so you don’t spread disease to other people.

You can protect the people you live with by:

• Covering your nose and mouth.
• Opening windows when possible.
• Not getting too close to them.

Your blood, which accounts for about 8 percent of your normal body weight, plays an important role in how your body functions. As your blood circulates throughout your vascular system, it supplies all of your organs with oxygen, nutrients, hormones and antibodies. Blood is made of an almost equal mix of plasma (the liquid that transports cells, waste and nutrients, among other things) and blood cells (red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets).

When cancer occurs in the blood, it’s usually the result of an abnormal and excessive reproduction of white blood cells. Blood cancers account for about 10 percent of all diagnosed cancers in the U.S. each year. Blood cancers (including leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma) are more common in men than women. Childhood leukemia accounts for about 25 percent of all cancers in children.

Treatments for blood cancers also vary, ranging from active surveillance without cancer-directed therapy to standard cancer treatments including immunotherapies, chemotherapies and targeted agents. “With over 100 different types of blood cancers now recognized, it is important to have an accurate diagnosis prior to deciding on treatment

What is Blood ?

---

Your blood is made up of liquid and solids. The liquid part, called plasma, is made of water, salts, and protein. Over half of your blood is plasma. The solid part of your blood contains red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.

Red blood cells (RBC) deliver oxygen from your lungs to your tissues and organs. White blood cells (WBC) fight infection and are part of your immune system. Platelets help blood to clot when you have a cut or wound. Bone marrow, the spongy material inside your bones, makes new blood cells. Blood cells constantly die and your body makes new ones. Red blood cells live about 120 days, and platelets live about 6 days. Some white blood cells live less than a day, but others live much longer.

There are four blood types: A, B, AB, or O. Also, blood is either Rh-positive or Rh-negative. So if you have type A blood, it’s either A positive or A negative. Which type you are is important if you need a blood transfusion. And your Rh factor could be important if you become pregnant – an incompatibility between your type and the baby’s could create problems.

Types of blood cancer

---

The three main types of blood and bone marrow cancer are leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma:

• Leukemia is a blood cancer that originates in the blood and bone marrow. It occurs when the body creates too many abnormal white blood cells and interferes with the bone marrow’s ability to make red blood cells and platelets.
• Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is a blood cancer that develops in the lymphatic system from cells called lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell that helps the body fight infections.
• Hodgkin lymphoma is a blood cancer that develops in the lymphatic system from cells called lymphocytes. Hodgkin lymphoma is characterized by the presence of an abnormal lymphocyte called the Reed-Sternberg cell.
• Multiple myeloma is a blood cancer that begins in the blood’s plasma cells, a type of white blood cell made in the bone marrow. Also, learn about the stages of multiple myeloma.

There are also less common forms of blood and bone marrow cancers, or associated disorders, including:

• Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS): These are rare conditions that may result from damage to blood-forming cells in the bone marrow.
• Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs): These rare blood cancers occur when the body overproduces white blood cells, red blood cells or platelets. The three main subcategories are essential thrombocythemia (ET), myelofibrosis (MF) and polycythemia vera (PV).
• Amyloidosis: This rare disorder, characterized by the buildup of an abnormal protein called amyloid, is not a form of cancer. But it is closely associated with multiple myeloma.
• Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia: This is a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma that starts in B cells.
• Aplastic anemia: This rare condition occurs when key stem cells are damaged and can only be treated with a bone marrow transplant.

Blood cancer symptoms

---

Some common bone marrow and blood cancer symptoms include:

• Fever, chills
• Persistent fatigue, weakness
• Loss of appetite, nausea
• Unexplained weight loss
• Night sweats
• Bone/joint pain
• Abdominal discomfort
• Headaches
• Shortness of breath
• Frequent infections
• Itchy skin or skin rash
• Swollen lymph nodes in the neck, underarms or groin

Who is at risk for blood cancer?

---

The risk factors for blood cancer are not fully understood, though it is believed that blood cancers develop from a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Smoking, radiation exposure, and exposure to certain chemicals have all been linked to increased risk of some types of blood cancers. Epstein-Barr virus, HIV and human T-cell lymphoma/leukemia virus infections are also risk factors for developing lymphomas and leukemias.

How is blood cancer diagnosed?

---

• Leukemia: Your doctor will obtain a complete blood count (CBC) test, which can identify abnormal levels of white blood cells relative to red blood cells and platelets.
• Lymphoma: Your doctor will need to perform a biopsy, which removes a small portion of tissue to be examined under a microscope. In some cases, your doctor may also order an X-ray, CT or PET scan to detect swollen lymph nodes.
• Myeloma: Your doctor will order a CBC, or other blood or urine tests to detect chemicals or proteins produced as a function of myeloma development. In some cases, bone marrow biopsy, X-ray, MRI, PET, and CT scans can be used to confirm the presence and extent of the spread of myeloma.

What are the treatments for blood cancer?

---

Treatment will depend on several factors. These include the type of blood cancer you have, your age, how fast the cancer is progressing, and whether the cancer has spread to other parts of your body.

Because treatments for blood cancer have vastly improved over the last several decades, many types of blood cancers are now highly treatable. Common treatments include the following:

• Chemotherapy: Anticancer drugs are introduced to the body (via injection into the vein or sometimes by taking a pill) to kill and halt the production of cancer cells.
• Radiation therapy: This form of cancer treatment uses high-energy rays to kill cancer cells.
• Targeted therapies: This form of cancer treatment uses drugs that specifically kill malignant blood cells, without harming normal cells. Targeted therapies are most commonly used to treat leukemia.
• Stem cell transplantation: Healthy stem cells can be infused into your body to help resume healthy blood production following therapy to destroy malignant blood cells.
• Cancer Surgery: This treatment involves removing the affected lymph nodes to treat some lymphomas.
• Immunotherapy: This treatment activates the immune system to specifically kill cancer cells.

Blood cancer treatment and therapy options

---

Treatment for blood and bone marrow cancers depends on the type of cancer, your age, how fast the cancer is progressing, where the cancer has spread and other factors. Some common blood cancer treatments for leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma include:

Stem cell transplantation: A stem cell transplant infuses healthy blood-forming stem cells into the body. Stem cells may be collected from the bone marrow, circulating blood and umbilical cord blood.

Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy uses anticancer drugs to interfere with and stop the growth of cancer cells in the body. Chemotherapy for blood cancer sometimes involves giving several drugs together in a set regimen. This treatment may also be given before a stem cell transplant.

Radiation therapy: Radiation therapy may be used to destroy cancer cells or to relieve pain or discomfort. It may also be given before a stem cell transplant.

What is Diabetes?

---

Diabetes is a chronic (long-lasting) health condition that affects how your body turns food into energy.

Your body breaks down most of the food you eat into sugar (glucose) and releases it into your bloodstream. When your blood sugar goes up, it signals your pancreas to release insulin. Insulin acts like a key to let the blood sugar into your body’s cells for use as energy.

With diabetes, your body doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use it as well as it should. When there isn’t enough insulin or cells stop responding to insulin, too much blood sugar stays in your bloodstream. Over time, that can cause serious health problems, such as heart disease, vision loss, and kidney disease.

What are the different types of diabetes?

---

Type 1 diabetes

If you have type 1 diabetes, your body does not make insulin. Your immune system attacks and destroys the cells in your pancreas that make insulin. Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults, although it can appear at any age. People with type 1 diabetes need to take insulin every day to stay alive.

Type 2 Diabetes

With type 2 diabetes, your body doesn’t use insulin well and can’t keep blood sugar at normal levels. About 90-95% of people with diabetes have type 2. It develops over many years and is usually diagnosed in adults (but more and more in children, teens, and young adults). You may not notice any symptoms, so it’s important to get your blood sugar tested if you’re at risk. Type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed with healthy lifestyle changes,

Gestational Diabetes

Gestational diabetes develops in pregnant women who have never had diabetes. If you have gestational diabetes, your baby could be at higher risk for health problems. Gestational diabetes usually goes away after your baby is born. However, it increases your risk for type 2 diabetes later in life. Your baby is more likely to have obesity as a child or teen and develop type 2 diabetes later in life.

How common is diabetes?

---

As of 2015, 30.3 million people in the United States, or 9.4 percent of the population, had diabetes. More than 1 in 4 of them didn’t know they had the disease. Diabetes affects 1 in 4 people over the age of 65. About 90-95 percent of cases in adults are type 2 diabetes.1

Who is more likely to develop type 2 diabetes?

---

You are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes if you are age 45 or older, have a family history of diabetes, or are overweight. Physical inactivity, race, and certain health problems such as high blood pressure also affect your chance of developing type 2 diabetes. You are also more likely to develop type 2 diabetes if you have prediabetes or had gestational diabetes when you were pregnant. Learn more about risk factors for type 2 diabetes.

Symptoms

---

 

Diabetes symptoms depend on how high your blood sugar is. Some people, especially if they have prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, may not have symptoms. In type 1 diabetes, symptoms tend to come on quickly and be more severe.

Some of the symptoms of type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes are:

• Feeling more thirsty than usual.
• Urinating often.
• Losing weight without trying.
• Presence of ketones in the urine. Ketones are a byproduct of the breakdown of muscle and fat that happens when there’s not enough available insulin.
• Feeling tired and weak.
• Feeling irritable or having other mood changes.
• Having blurry vision.
• Having slow-healing sores.
• Getting a lot of infections, such as gum, skin and vaginal infections.

What is the Internet of Things (IoT)?

---

The internet of things (IoT) is a catch-all term for the growing number of electronics that aren’t traditional computing devices, but are connected to the internet to send data, receive instructions or both.

There’s an incredibly broad range of ‘things’ that fall under the IoT umbrella: Internet-connected ‘smart’ versions of traditional appliances such as refrigerators and light bulbs; gadgets that could only exist in an internet-enabled world such as Alexa-style digital assistants; and internet-enabled sensors that are transforming factories, healthcare, transportation, distribution centers and farms.

The term IoT, or Internet of Things, refers to the collective network of connected devices and the technology that facilitates communication between devices and the cloud, as well as between the devices themselves. Thanks to the advent of inexpensive computer chips and high bandwidth telecommunication, we now have billions of devices connected to the internet. This means everyday devices like toothbrushes, vacuums, cars, and machines can use sensors to collect data and respond intelligently to users.

The Internet of Things integrates everyday “things” with the internet. Computer Engineers have been adding sensors and processors to everyday objects since the 90s. However, progress was initially slow because the chips were big and bulky. Low power computer chips called RFID tags were first used to track expensive equipment. As computing devices shrank in size, these chips also became smaller, faster, and smarter over time.

How does the IoT work?

---

The first element of an IoT system is the device that gathers data. Broadly speaking, these are internet-connected devices, so they each have an IP address. They range in complexity from autonomous mobile robots and forklifts that move products around factory floors and warehouses, to simple sensors that monitor the temperature or scan for gas leaks in buildings.

They also include personal devices such as fitness trackers that monitor the number of steps individuals take each day.

In the next step in the IoT process, collected data is transmitted from the devices to a gathering point. Moving the data can be done wirelessly using a range of technologies or over wired networks. Data can be sent over the internet to a data center or the cloud. Or the transfer can be performed in phases, with intermediary devices aggregating the data, formatting it, filtering it, discarding irrelevant or duplicative data, then sending the important data along for further analysis.

The final step, data processing and analytics, can take place in data centres or the cloud, but sometimes that’s not an option. In the case of critical devices such as shutoffs in industrial settings, the delay of sending data from the device to a remote data centre is too great. The round-trip time for sending data, processing it, analysing it and returning instructions (close that valve before the pipes burst) can take too long.

In such cases edge computing can come into play, where a smart edge device can aggregate data, analyse it and fashion responses, if necessary, all within relatively close physical distance, thereby reducing delay. Edge devices also have upstream connectivity for sending data to be further processed and stored.

A growing number of edge computing use cases, such as autonomous vehicles that need to make split-second decisions, is accelerating the development of edge technologies that can process and analyse data immediately without going to the cloud.

Why Healthcare Needs IoT?

---

To Enhance Patient Satisfaction & Engagement: IoT can increase patient satisfaction by optimizing surgical workflow. E.g., informing about patient’s discharge from surgery to their families. It can increase patient engagement by allowing patients to spend more time interacting with their physicians as it reduces the need for direct patient-physician interaction as devices connected to the internet are delivering valuable data.

To Advance Population Health Management: IoT enables providers to integrate devices to observe the growth of wearables as data captured by the device will fill in the data that is otherwise missed out in EHR. Care teams can receive insight driven prioritization and use IoT for home monitoring of chronic diseases. This is another way that caregivers can make their presence felt in daily lives of the patients.

To Promote Preventive Care: Prevention has become a primary area of focus as health care expenses are projected to grow unmanageable in the future. The widespread access to real-time, high fidelity data on each individual’s health will reform health care by helping people live healthier lives and prevent disease.

To Advance Care Management: It can enable care teams to collect and connect millions of data points on personal fitness from wearables like heart-rate, sleep, perspiration, temperature, and activity. Consequently, sensor-fed information can send out alerts to patients and caregivers in real-time so they get event-triggered messaging like alerts and triggers for elevated heart-rate etc. This will not just massively improve workflow optimization but also, ensure that all care is managed from the comfort of home.

To Improve Patient Health: What if the wearable device connected to a patient tells you when his heart-rate is going haywire or if he has lagged behind in taking good care of himself and shared that information on other devices that you used while working? By updating personal health data of patients on the cloud and eliminating the need to feed it into the EMRs, IoT ensures that every tiny detail is taken into consideration to make the most advantageous decisions for patients. Moreover, it can be used as a medical adherence and home monitoring tool.

To Turn Data Into Actions: Quantified health is going to be future of healthcare because health that is measurable can be better improved. Therefore, it is wise to take advantage of quantified health technology. We also know that data affects performance so, an object measurement and tracking of health for better outcomes is why we need IoT.

IoT for Hospitals

---

Apart from monitoring patients’ health, there are many other areas where IoT devices are very useful in hospitals. IoT devices tagged with sensors are used for tracking real time location of medical equipment like wheelchairs, defibrillators, nebulizers, oxygen pumps and other monitoring equipment. Deployment of medical staff at different locations can also be analyzed real time.

The spread of infections is a major concern for patients in hospitals. IoT-enabled hygiene monitoring devices help in preventing patients from getting infected. IoT devices also help in asset management like pharmacy inventory control, and environmental monitoring, for instance, checking refrigerator temperature, and humidity and temperature control.

IoT for Health Insurance Companies

---

There are numerous opportunities for health insurers with IoT-connected intelligent devices. Insurance companies can leverage data captured through health monitoring devices for their underwriting and claims operations. This data will enable them to detect fraud claims and identify prospects for underwriting. IoT devices bring transparency between insurers and customers in the underwriting, pricing, claims handling, and risk assessment processes. In the light of IoT-captured data-driven decisions in all operation processes, customers will have adequate visibility into underlying thought behind every decision made and process outcomes.

Insurers may offer incentives to their customers for using and sharing health data generated by IoT devices. They can reward customers for using IoT devices to keep track of their routine activities and adherence to treatment plans and precautionary health measures. This will help insurers to reduce claims significantly. IoT devices can also enable insurance companies to validate claims through the data captured by these devices.

Benefits in health care

---

Simultaneous reporting and monitoring

Remote health monitoring monitoring via connected devices can save lives in event of a medical emergency like heart failure, diabetes, asthma attacks, etc.

With real-time monitoring of the health condition in place by means of a smart medical device connected to a smartphone app, connected medical devices can collect medical and other required health data and use the data connection of the smartphone to transfer collected information to a physician or to a cloud platform.

Center of Connected Health Policy conducted a study that indicates that there was a 50% reduction in 30-day readmission rate because of remote patient monitoring on heart failure patients.

The IoT device collects and transfers health data: blood pressure, oxygen and blood sugar levels, weight, and ECGs.

These data are stored in the cloud and can be shared with an authorized person, who could be a physician, your insurance company, a participating health firm or an external consultant, to allow them to look at the collected data regardless of their place, time, or device.

End-to-end connectivity and affordability

IoT can automate patient care workflow with the help healthcare mobility solution and other new IoT technologies, and next-gen healthcare facilities.

IoT in healthcare enables interoperability, artificial intelligence machine-to-machine communication, information exchange, and data movement that makes healthcare service delivery effective.

Connectivity protocols: Bluetooth LE, Wi-Fi, Z-wave, ZigBee, and other modern protocols, healthcare personnel can change the way they spot illness and ailments in patients and can also innovate revolutionary ways of treating across different healthcare fields.

Consequently, technology-driven setup brings down the healthcare cost, by cutting down unnecessary visits, utilizing better quality resources, and improving the allocation and planning.

Data assortment and analysis

Vast amount of data that a healthcare device sends in a very short time owing to their real-time application is hard to store and manage if the access to cloud is unavailable.

Even for healthcare professionals to acquire data originating from multiple devices and sources and analyze it manually is a tough bet.

IoT devices can collect, report and analyses the real time information and cut the need to store the raw data.

This all can happen overcloud with the providers only getting access to final reports with graphs.

Moreover, healthcare operations allow organizations to get vital healthcare analytics and data-driven insights which speed up decision-making and is less prone to errors.

Tracking and alerts

On-time alert is critical in chronic condition. Medical IoT devices gather vital signs of any disease and transfer that data to doctors for real-time tracking, while dropping notifications to people about critical parts via mobile apps and smart sensors.

Reports and alerts give a firm opinion about a patient’s condition, irrespective of place and time.

It also helps healthcare providers to make well-versed decisions and provide on-time treatment.

Thus, IoT enables real-time alerting, tracking, and monitoring, which permits hands-on treatments, better accuracy, apt intervention by doctors and improve complete patient care delivery results.

Remote medical assistance

In event of an emergency, patients can contact a doctor who is many kilometers away with a smart mobile apps.

With mobility solutions in healthcare, the medics can instantly check the patients and identify the ailments on-the-go.

Also, numerous IoT-based healthcare delivery chains that are forecasting to build machines that can distribute drugs on the basis of patient’s prescription and ailment-related data available via linked devices.

IoT will Improve the patient’s care In hospital. This in turn, will cut on people’s expense on healthcare

What is Organ Donation?

---

Organ donation is the process of surgically removing an organ or tissue from one person (the organ donor) and placing it into another person (the recipient). Transplantation is necessary because the recipient’s organ has failed or has been damaged by disease or injury.

Organ transplantation is one of the great advances in modern medicine. Unfortunately, the need for organ donors is much greater than the number of people who actually donate.

Why is donation important?

---

At any one time, there are around many peoples  on the organ transplant waiting list. Unfortunately, there are fewer donor organs available than there are people waiting. Some people die waiting for a transplant. Some spend weeks or months in hospital, while others make several trips to hospital every week for treatment.

People who need an organ transplant are usually very sick or dying, because one or more of their organs is failing.

Many on the organ transplant waiting list have a congenital or genetic condition, illness or sudden organ failure that will make them very sick and in need of a transplant.

We never know when illness could affect a family member, friend or colleague who may need a transplant.

What Tissue Donation?

---

Tissue Donation is the process of retrieving or procuring tissues from a living or decreased persons, called a Donor, and transplanted into the Recipient who need it.

Medical Science has made tremendous progress in recent times in the field of organ donation and transplantation, with organ donation from one person capable of saving up to 9 lives and improving the lives if many others.

However, due to the prevalence of myths about organ donation, and the lack of awareness about the topic in india, majority of people do not take up this noble cause for the benefits of others.

Which Organs Can Be Donated ?

---

Let’s take a closer look at the different organs that can be donated by a person after death and while the person is still alive. There are 8 organs that can be donated and transplanted:

Kidneys: Both Kidneys can be donated by a deceased donor. On average the lifespan of a transplanted Kidney is around nine years. But it varies for individual to individual. Of all organs in the human body, the demand for kidneys is the highest, and kidneys are the most frequently donated organs. A kidney disease most likely affects both kidneys at the same time. A living donor can easily donate one kidney to someone and function well for their lives.

Liver: The Liver is an important organ with primary function of bile production & excretion; excetion of bilirubin, cholesterol, Hormens, and drugs; metabolism of fats, proteins and carbohydrates: enzyme activation: storage of glycogen, vitamins and minerals; synthesis of plasma proties; blood detoxification and purification. The Liver is the only organ in the human body that can grow cells and regenerate. A donated liver from someone who has died ( a deceased donor) can further be split into 2 pieces and transplanted into 2 different people to save their lives. A Living donor can have a portion of her/his liver removed ti donate to someone and the remaining protion will regenerate to almost its full previous sie.

Heart: A heart is a muscular organ which pumps blood through the human body. In a person’s life. The heart will beat around 2.5 billion times on average and keep the blood running in the body. After being retrieved from the donor, a heart can survive for 4-6 hr only.

Lungs: Single or double-lung transplants can be performed from deceased donors. Additionally, living donors can donate a single lobe from the lungs, through it will not regenerate.

Pancreas: A deceased donor pancreas can be transplanted into an ailing Patient. A living donor can also donate a portion of the pancreas and still retain pancreas functionality.

Intestine: After death, a donor can donate tissues such as corneas, skin, bones ligaments, heart valves etc.

Which Tissues Can be Donated?

---

Layers of cells that function together to serve a specific purpose are called Tissues. Should be donated within 6 hr of the donor’s death.

Cornea: Cornea donation or eye donation is the most common tissue donation. The cornea is a transparent covering over the eye. It is also they eye’s primary focusing element. Recipients who suffer from corneal blindness can gain their sight again after a corneal transplant. These patients are those who may have been blinded by an accident, infection or disease. Either the entire cornea can be transplanted or it can be transplanted in parts. A Corneal Transplant is does not need any anti-rejection drugs in the recipient. Corneas from all ages of recipients are effective as long as the doctors as they are healthy.

Bones: Bones from deceased donor are used to replace bones of recipients whose bones are cancerous. A Bone transplant can be done instead of amputating the cancerous arm.

Skin: Skin can be used as grafting for burn victims, acid attack victims or for post-mastectomy breast reconstruction, among other things.

Veins: Donated veins are commonly used in surgeries for cardiac bypass.

Types of Organ Donation

---

Living Organ Donation: This is when you retrieve an organ from a health living person and transplant it into the body of someone who is suffering from end-stage organ failure. This is commonly done in the case of a liver or a kidney failure.

Living donors are classified as either a near relative or a distant relative/ friend etc.

A near-relative is spouse, son/daughter, brother/sister, parents, grandparents and grandchildren.

Those other than near-relative can be distant relatives and friends who will need the permission of the state authorization committee to donate organs. If the hospital refuses to entertain such cases. The patient may send a legal notice to the hospital for not following the transplant act.

Deceased Organ Donation: When we talk about pledging your organs for donation or about organ donation after death, we are talking about deceased organ donation. This is an organ donation from a person who has been declared brain stem dead when there is an irreversible loss of consciousness, absence of brain stem reflexes and irreversible loss of the capacity to breath.

A lot of people think that whenever and however they die. Their organs can be donated. That is not true. In India, organ donation after death is only possible in the case of brain stem death.

Donation after cardiac death is common in the west, but in india it is rare for donations to take place after cardiac death.

Although it is possible for organs such as the liver and the kidney to be easily donated from a living donor to a recipient, we should work towards an environment where everyone donates their organs after their deaths, so no living person should have to donate an organ to another.

What Is Breast Cancer?

---

Breast cancer is a disease in which cells in the breast grow out of control. There are different kinds of breast cancer. The kind of breast cancer depends on which cells in the breast turn into cancer.

Breast cancer can begin in different parts of the breast. A breast is made up of three main parts: lobules, ducts, and connective tissue. The lobules are the glands that produce milk. The ducts are tubes that carry milk to the nipple. The connective tissue (which consists of fibrous and fatty tissue) surrounds and holds everything together. Most breast cancers begin in the ducts or lobules.

Breast cancer can spread outside the breast through blood vessels and lymph vessels. When breast cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it is said to have metastasized.

Where breast cancer starts?

---

Breast cancers can start from different parts of the breast. The breast is an organ that sits on top of the upper ribs and chest muscles. There is a left and right breast and each one has mainly glands, ducts, and fatty tissue. In women, the breast makes and delivers milk to feed newborns and infants. The amount of fatty tissue in the breast determines the size of each breast.

The breast has different parts:

• Lobules are the glands that make breast milk. Cancers that start here are called lobular cancers.
• Ducts are small canals that come out from the lobules and carry the milk to the nipple. This is the most common place for breast cancer to start. Cancers that start here are called ductal cancers.
• The nipple is the opening in the skin of the breast where the ducts come together and turn into larger ducts so the milk can leave the breast. The nipple is surrounded by slightly darker thicker skin called the areola. A less common type of breast cancer called Paget disease of the breast can start in the nipple.
• The fat and connective tissue (stroma) surround the ducts and lobules and help keep them in place. A less common type of breast cancer called phyllodes tumor can start in the stroma.
• Blood vessels and lymph vessels are also found in each breast. Angiosarcoma is a less common type of breast cancer that can start in the lining of these vessels. The lymph system is described below.

A small number of cancers start in other tissues in the breast. These cancers are called sarcomas and lymphomas and are not really thought of as breast cancers.

How breast cancer spreads?

---

Breast cancer can spread when the cancer cells get into the blood or lymph system and then are carried to other parts of the body.

The lymph (or lymphatic) system is a part of your body’s immune system. It is a network of lymph nodes (small, bean-sized glands), ducts or vessels, and organs that work together to collect and carry clear lymph fluid through the body tissues to the blood. The clear lymph fluid inside the lymph vessels contains tissue by-products and waste material, as well as immune system cells.

The lymph vessels carry lymph fluid away from the breast. In the case of breast cancer, cancer cells can enter those lymph vessels and start to grow in lymph nodes. Most of the lymph vessels of the breast drain into:

• Lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes)
• Lymph nodes inside the chest near the breastbone (internal mammary lymph nodes)
• Lymph nodes around the collar bone (supraclavicular [above the collar bone] and infraclavicular [below the collar bone] lymph nodes)

If cancer cells have spread to your lymph nodes, there is a higher chance that the cells could have traveled through the lymph system and spread (metastasized) to other parts of your body. Still, not all women with cancer cells in their lymph nodes develop metastases, and some women with no cancer cells in their lymph nodes might develop metastases later.

Types of breast cancer

---

There are several different types of breast cancer, including:

• Infiltrating (invasive) ductal carcinoma. Starting in your milk ducts of your breast, this cancer breaks through the wall of your duct and spreads to surrounding breast tissue. Making up about 80% of all cases, this is the most common type of breast cancer.
• Ductal carcinoma in situ. Also called Stage 0 breast cancer, ductal carcinoma in situ is considered by some to be precancerous because the cells haven’t spread beyond your milk ducts. This condition is very treatable. However, prompt care is necessary to prevent the cancer from becoming invasive and spreading to other tissues.
• Infiltrating (invasive) lobular carcinoma. This cancer forms in the lobules of your breast (where breast milk production takes place) and has spread to surrounding breast tissue. It accounts for 10% to 15% of breast cancers.
• Lobular carcinoma in situ is a precancerous condition in which there are abnormal cells in the lobules of your breast. It isn’t a true cancer, but this marker can indicate the potential for breast cancer later on. So, it’s important for women with lobular carcinoma in situ to have regular clinical breast exams and mammograms.
• Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). Making up about 15% of all cases, triple negative breast cancer is one of the most challenging breast cancers to treat. It’s called triple negative because it doesn’t have three of the markers associated with other types of breast cancer. This makes prognosis and treatment difficult.
• Inflammatory breast cancer. Rare and aggressive, this type of cancer resembles an infection. People with inflammatory breast cancer usually notice redness, swelling, pitting and dimpling of their breast skin. It’s caused by obstructive cancer cells in their skin’s lymph vessels.
• Paget’s disease of the breast. This cancer affects the skin of your nipple and areola (the skin around your nipple).

What are the early signs of breast cancer?

---

Breast cancer symptoms can vary for each person. Possible signs of breast cancer include:

• A change in the size, shape or contour of your breast.
• A mass or lump, which may feel as small as a pea.
• A lump or thickening in or near your breast or in your underarm that persists through your menstrual cycle.
• A change in the look or feel of your skin on your breast or nipple (dimpled, puckered, scaly or inflamed).
• Redness of your skin on your breast or nipple.
• An area that’s distinctly different from any other area on either breast.
• A marble-like hardened area under your skin.
• A blood-stained or clear fluid discharge from your nipple.

Some people don’t notice any signs of breast cancer at all. That’s why routine mammograms and are so important.

What causes breast cancer?

---

Breast cancer develops when abnormal cells in your breast divide and multiply. But experts don’t know exactly what causes this process to begin in the first place.

However, research indicates that are several risk factors that may increase your chances of developing breast cancer. These include:

• Age. Being 55 or older increases your risk for breast cancer.
• Sex. Women are much more likely to develop breast cancer than men.
• Family history and genetics. If you have parents, siblings, children or other close relatives who’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer, you’re more likely to develop the disease at some point in your life. About 5% to 10% of breast cancers are due to single abnormal genes that are passed down from parents to children, and that can be discovered by genetic testing.
• Smoking. Tobacco use has been linked to many different types of cancer, including breast cancer.
• Alcohol use. Research indicates that drinking alcohol can increase your risk for certain types of breast cancer.
• Obesity. Having obesity can increase your risk of breast cancer and breast cancer recurrence.
• Radiation exposure. If you’ve had prior radiation therapy — especially to your head, neck or chest — you’re more likely to develop breast cancer.
• Hormone replacement therapy. People who use hormone replacement therapy (HRT) have a higher risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer.

There are many other factors that can increase your chances of developing breast cancer. Talk to your healthcare provider to find out if you’re at risk.

How is breast cancer diagnosed?

---

Your healthcare provider will perform a breast examination and ask about your family history, medical history and any existing symptoms. Your healthcare provider will also recommend tests to check for breast abnormalities. These tests may include:

• Mammogram. These special X-ray images can detect changes or abnormal growths in your breast. A mammogram is commonly used in breast cancer prevention.
• Ultrasonography. This test uses sound waves to take pictures of the tissues inside of your breast. It’s used to help diagnose breast lumps or abnormalities.
• Positron emission tomography (PET) scanning: A PET scan uses special dyes to highlight suspicious areas. During this test, your healthcare provider injects a special dye into your veins and takes images with the scanner.
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): This test uses magnets and radio waves to produce clear, detailed images of the structures inside of your breast.

If your healthcare provider sees anything suspicious on the imaging tests, they may take a biopsy of your breast tissue. They’ll send the sample to a pathology lab for analysis.

What are the breast cancer stages?

---

Staging helps describe how much cancer is in your body. It’s determined by several factors, including the size and location of the tumor and whether the cancer has spread to other areas of your body. The basic breast cancer stages are:

• Stage 0. The disease is non-invasive. This means it hasn’t broken out of your breast ducts.
• Stage I. The cancer cells have spread to the nearby breast tissue.
• Stage II. The tumor is either smaller than 2 centimeters across and has spread to underarm lymph nodes or larger than 5 centimeters across but hasn’t spread to underarm lymph nodes. Tumors at this stage can measure anywhere between 2 to 5 centimeters across, and may or may not affect the nearby lymph nodes.
• Stage III. At this stage, the cancer has spread beyond the point of origin. It may have invaded nearby tissue and lymph nodes, but it hasn’t spread to distant organs. Stage III is usually referred to as locally advanced breast cancer.
• Stage IV. The cancer has spread to areas away from your breast, such as your bones, liver, lungs or brain. Stage IV breast cancer is also called metastatic breast cancer.

How is breast cancer treated?

---

There are several breast cancer treatment options, including surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormone therapy, immunotherapy and targeted drug therapy. What’s right for you depends on many factors, including the location and size of the tumor, the results of your lab tests and whether the cancer has spread to other parts of your body. Your healthcare provider will tailor your treatment plan according to your unique needs. It’s not uncommon to receive a combination of different treatments, too.

Breast cancer surgery

Breast cancer surgery involves removing the cancerous portion of your breast and an area of normal tissue surrounding the tumor. There are different types of surgery depending on your situation, including:

• Lumpectomy. Also called a partial mastectomy, a lumpectomy removes the tumor and a small margin of healthy tissue around it. Typically, some of the lymph nodes — in your breast or under your arm — are also removed for evaluation. People who have a lumpectomy often have radiation therapy in the weeks following the procedure.
• Mastectomy. Removal of your entire breast is another option. In some cases, doctors can perform a nipple-sparing mastectomy to preserve your nipple and areola (the dark skin around your nipple). Many women choose to undergo either immediate or delayed breast reconstruction following their mastectomy.
• Sentinel node biopsy. Because early detection of breast cancer has resulted in the lymph nodes being negative (for cancer) in most cases, the sentinel node biopsy was developed to prevent the unnecessary removal of large numbers of lymph nodes that aren’t involved by the cancer. To identify the sentinel lymph node, doctors inject a dye that tracks to the first lymph node that cancer would spread to. If that lymph node is cancer-free, then other lymph nodes don’t need to be removed. If that lymph node has cancer in it, it may be necessary to remove additional lymph nodes. Often, there’s more than one sentinel node identified, but the fewer lymph nodes removed the lower the chance of developing swelling in your arm (lymphedema). A sentinel lymph node biopsy can be done with either a lumpectomy or a mastectomy.
• Axillary lymph node dissection. If multiple lymph nodes are involved by the cancer, an axillary lymph node dissection may be done to remove them. This means removing many of the lymph nodes under your arm (your axilla).
• Modified radical mastectomy. During this procedure, your entire breast is removed in addition to your nipple. Nearby lymph nodes in your underarm area are also removed, but your chest muscles are left intact. Breast reconstruction can often be an option if desired.
• Radical mastectomy. This procedure is rarely performed today unless the breast cancer has spread to your chest wall muscles. During a radical mastectomy, your surgeon removes your entire breast, your nipple, underarm lymph nodes and chest wall muscles. People who undergo this procedure may choose to have breast reconstruction as well.

Chemotherapy for breast cancer

Your healthcare provider may recommend chemotherapy for breast cancer before a lumpectomy in an effort to shrink the tumor. Sometimes, it’s given after surgery to kill any remaining cancer cells and reduce the risk of recurrence (coming back). If the cancer has spread beyond your breast to other parts of your body, then your healthcare provider may recommend chemotherapy as a primary treatment.

Radiation therapy for breast cancer

Radiation therapy for breast cancer is typically given after a lumpectomy or mastectomy to kill remaining cancer cells. It can also be used to treat individual metastatic tumors that are causing pain or other problems.

Hormone therapy for breast cancer

Some types of breast cancer use hormones — such as estrogen and progesterone — to grow. In these cases, hormone therapy can either lower estrogen levels or stop estrogen from attaching to breast cancer cells. Most often, healthcare providers use hormone therapy after surgery to reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence. However, they may also use it before surgery to shrink the tumor or to treat cancer that has spread to other parts of your body.

Immunotherapy for breast cancer

Immunotherapy uses the power of your own immune system to target and attack breast cancer cells. Treatment is given intravenously (through a vein in your arm or hand). Your healthcare provider might use immunotherapy for breast cancer in combination with chemotherapy.

Targeted drug therapy for breast cancer

Some drugs can target specific cell characteristics that cause cancer. Your healthcare provider might recommend targeted drug therapy in cases where breast cancer has spread to other areas of your body. Some of the most common drugs used in breast cancer treatment include monoclonal antibodies (like trastuzumab, pertuzumab and margetuximab), antibody-drug conjugates (like ado-trastuzumab emtansine and fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan) and kinase inhibitors (such as lapatinib, neratinib and tucatinib).

Artificial intelligence (AI) and related technologies are increasingly prevalent in business and society, and are beginning to be applied to healthcare. These technologies have the potential to transform many aspects of patient care, as well as administrative processes within provider, payer and pharmaceutical organisations.

There are already a number of research studies suggesting that AI can perform as well as or better than humans at key healthcare tasks, such as diagnosing disease. Today, algorithms are already outperforming radiologists at spotting malignant tumours, and guiding researchers in how to construct cohorts for costly clinical trials. However, for a variety of reasons, we believe that it will be many years before AI replaces humans for broad medical process domains. In this article, we describe both the potential that AI offers to automate aspects of care and some of the barriers to rapid implementation of AI in healthcare.

How AI works in healthcare?

---

AI is able to analyze large amounts of data stored by healthcare organizations in the form of images, clinical research trials and medical claims, and can identify patterns and insights often undetectable by manual human skill sets.

AI algorithms are “taught” to identify and label data patterns, while NLP allows these algorithms to isolate relevant data. With DL, the data is analyzed and interpreted with the help of extended knowledge by computers. The impact of these tools is huge, considering a Frost & Sullivan analysis indicated artificial intelligence and cognitive computing systems in healthcare will account for $6.7 billion this year from the market compared to $811 million in 2015.

The use of AI is supporting many stakeholders in healthcare:

• Teams of clinicians, researchers or data managers involved in clinical trials can speed up the process of medical coding search and confirmation, crucial in conducting and concluding clinical studies.
• Healthcare payers can personalize their health plans by connecting a virtual agent via conversational AI with members interested in customized health solutions.
• Clinicians can improve and customize care to patients by combing through medical data to predict or diagnose disease faster.

Top 10 uses of AI in healthcare

---

AI supports medical imaging analysis

AI is used as a tool for case triage. It supports a clinician reviewing images and scans. This enables radiologists or cardiologists to identify essential insights for prioritizing critical cases, to avoid potential errors in reading electronic health records (EHRs) and to establish more precise diagnoses.

A clinical study can result in huge amounts of data and images that need to be checked. AI algorithms can analyze these datasets at high speed and compare them to other studies in order to identify patterns and out-of-sight interconnections. The process enables medical imaging professionals to track crucial information quickly.

AI provides valuable assistance to emergency medical staff

During a sudden heart attack, before ambulance arrival is crucial for recovery. For an increased chance of survival, emergency dispatchers must be able to recognize the symptoms of a cardiac arrest in order to take appropriate measures. AI can analyze both verbal and nonverbal clues in order to establish a diagnostic from a distance.

Corti is an AI tool that assists emergency medicine staff. By analyzing the voice of the caller, background noise and relevant data from medical history of the patient, Corti alerts emergency staff if it detects a heart attack. Like other ML technologies, Corti does not search for particular signals, but it trains itself by listening to many calls in order to detect crucial factors.

Based on this learning, Corti improves its model as an ongoing process. The technology Corti is equipped with can detect the difference between background noise, such as sirens, and clues from the caller, or the patient sounds in the background.

AI analyzes unstructured data

Clinicians often struggle to stay updated with the latest medical advances while providing quality patient-centered care due to huge amounts of health data and medical records. EHRs and biomedical data curated by medical units and medical professionals can be quickly scanned by ML technologies to provide prompt, reliable answers to clinicians.

In many cases, health data and medical records of patients are stored as complicated unstructured data, which makes it difficult to interpret and access. AI can seek, collect, store and standardize medical data regardless of the format, assisting repetitive tasks and supporting clinicians with fast, accurate, tailored treatment plans and medicine for their patients instead of being buried under the weight of searching, identifying, collecting and transcribing the solutions they need from piles of paper formatted EHRs.

AI supports health equity

The AI and ML industry has the responsibility to design healthcare systems and tools that ensure fairness and equality are met, both in data science and in clinical studies, in order to deliver the best possible health outcomes. With more use of ML algorithms in various areas of medicine, the risk of health inequities can occur.

Those responsible for applying AI in healthcare must ensure AI algorithms are not only accurate, but objective and fair. Since many clinical trial guidelines and diagnostic tests take into account a patient’s race and ethnicity that a debate has arisen:

Is the selection of these factors evidence-based? Is race and ethnicity data more likely to solve or to increase universal health inequities? It is established that ML comprises a set of methods that enables computers to learn from the data they process. That means that, at least in principle, ML can provide unbiased predictions based only on the impartial analysis of the underlying data.

AI and ML algorithms can be educated to decrease or remove bias by promoting data transparency and diversity for reducing health inequities. Healthcare research in AI and ML has the potential to eliminate health-outcome differences based on race, ethnicity or gender.

AI can forecast kidney disease

Acute kidney injury (AKI) can be difficult to detect by clinicians, but can cause patients to deteriorate very fast and become life-threatening. With an estimated 11% of deaths in hospitals following a failure to identify and treat patients, the early prediction and treatment of these cases can have a huge impact to reduce life-long treatment and the cost of kidney dialysis.

AI uses data collected for predictive analytics

Turning EHRs into an AI-driven predictive tool allows clinicians to be more effective with their workflows, medical decisions and treatment plan. NLP and ML can read the entire medical history of a patient in real time, connect it with symptoms, chronic affections or an illness that affects other members of the family. They can turn the result into a predictive analytics tool that can catch and treat a disease before it becomes life-threatening.

AI builds complex and consolidated platforms for drug discovery

AI algorithms are able to identify new drug applications, tracing their toxic potential as well as their mechanisms of action. This technology led to the foundation of a drug discovery platform that enables the company to repurpose existing drugs and bioactive compounds.

By combining the best elements of biology, data science and chemistry with automation and the latest AI advances, the founding company of this platform is able to generate around 80 terabytes of biological data that is processed by AI tools across 1.5 million experiments weekly.

The ML tools are created to draw insights from biological datasets that are too complex for human interpretation, decreasing the risk for human bias. Identifying new uses for known drugs is an appealing strategy for Big Pharma companies, since it is less expensive to repurpose and reposition existing drugs than to create them from scratch.

AI accelerates the discovery and development of genetic medicine

AI is also used to help rapidly discover and develop medicine, with a high rate of success. Genetic diseases are favored by altered molecular phenotypes, such as protein binding. Predicting these alterations means predicting the likelihood of genetic diseases emerging. This is possible by collecting data on all identified compounds and on biomarkers relevant to certain clinical trials.

AI can decrease the cost to develop medicines

Supercomputers have been used to predict from databases of molecular structures which potential medicines would and would not be effective for various diseases. By using convolutional neural networks, a technology similar to the one that makes cars drive by themselves, AtomNet was able to predict the binding of small molecules to proteins by analyzing hints from millions of experimental measurements and thousands of protein structures.

This process enabled convolutional neural networks to identify a safe and effective drug candidate from the database searched, reducing the cost of developing medicine.

What is Nutrition?

---

nutritionists use ideas from molecular biology, biochemistry, and genetics to understand how nutrients affect the human body.

Nutrition also focuses on how people can use dietary choices to reduce the risk of disease, what happens if a person has too much or too little of a nutrient, and how allergies work.

Nutrients provide nourishment. Proteins, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and water are all nutrients. If people do not have the right balance of nutrients in their diet, their risk of developing certain health conditions increases.

Macro-nutrients

---

Micro-nutrients are essential in small amounts. They include vitamins and minerals. Manufacturers sometimes add these to foods. Examples include fortified cereals and rice.

Carbohydrates sugar, starch, and fiber are types of carbohydrates.

Sugars are simple carbs. The body quickly breaks down and absorbs sugars and processed starch. They can provide rapid energy, but they do not leave a person feeling full. They can also cause a spike in blood sugar levels. Frequent sugar spikes increase the risk of type 2 diabetes and its complications.

Fiber is also a carbohydrate. The body breaks down some types of fiber and uses them for energ; others are metabolized by gut bacteria, while other types pass through the body.

Fiber and unprocessed starch are complex carbs. It takes the body some time to break down and absorb complex carbs. After eating fiber, a person will feel full for longer. Fiber may also reduce the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and colorectal cancer. Complex carbs are a more healthful choice than sugars and refined carbs.

Proteins

---

Proteins consist of amino acids, which are organic compounds that occur naturally.

There are 20 amino acids. Some of these are essential Trusted Source, which means people need to obtain them from food. The body can make the others.

Some foods provide complete protein, which means they contain all the essential amino acids the body needs. Other foods contain various combinations of amino acids.

Most plant-based foods do not contain complete protein, so a person who follows a vegan diet needs to eat a range of foods throughout the day that provides the essential amino acids.

Fats

---

Fats are essential for:

• lubricating joints
• helping organs produce hormones
• enabling the body to absorb certain vitamins
• reducing inflammation
• preserving brain health

Too much fat can lead to obesity, high cholesterol, liver disease, and other health problems.

However, the type of fat a person eats makes a difference. Unsaturated fats, such as olive oil, are more healthful than saturated fats, which tend to come from animals.

Water

---

The adult human body is up to 60% water, and it needs water for many processes. Water contains no calories, and it does not provide energy.

Many people recommend consuming 2 liters, or 8 glasses, of water a day, but it can also come from dietary sources, such as fruit and vegetables. Adequate hydration will result in pale yellow urine.

Requirements will also depend on an individual’s body size and age, environmental factors, activity levels, health status, and so on.

Minerals

---

The body needs carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. It also needs dietary minerals, such as iron, potassium, and so on. In most cases, a varied and balanced diet will provide the minerals a person needs. If a deficiency occurs, a doctor may recommend supplements. Here are some of the minerals the body needs to function well.

Potassium

Potassium is an electrolyte. It enables the kidneys, the heart, the muscles, and the nerves to work properly. Too little can lead to high blood pressure, stroke, and kidney stones.Too much may be harmful to people with kidney disease. Avocados, coconut water, bananas, dried fruit, squash, beans, and lentils are good sources.

Sodium

Sodium is an electrolyte that helps:

• maintain nerve and muscle function
• regulate fluid levels in the body

Too little can lead to hyponatremia. Symptoms include lethargy, confusion, and fatigue. Too much can lead to high blood pressure, which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. Table salt, which is made up of sodium and chloride, is a popular condiment. However, most people consume too much sodium, as it already occurs naturally in most foods. Experts urge people not to add table salt to their diet. Current guidelines recommend consuming no more than 2,300 mg of sodium a day, or around one teaspoon. This recommendation includes both naturally-occurring sources, as well as salt a person adds to their food. People with high blood pressure or kidney disease should eat less.

Calcium

The body needs calcium Trusted Source to form bones and teeth. It also supports the nervous system, cardiovascular health, and other functions.

Too little can cause bones and teeth to weaken. Symptoms of a severe deficiency include tingling in the fingers and changes in heart rhythm, which can be life-threatening. Too much can lead to constipation, kidney stones, and reduced absorption of other minerals. Current guidelines for adults recommend consuming 1,000 mg a day, and 1,200 mg for women aged 51 and over. Good sources include dairy products, tofu, legumes, and green, leafy vegetables.

Phosphorus

Phosphorus is present in all body cells and contributes to Trusted Source the health of the bones and teeth. Too little phosphorus can lead to bone diseases, affect appetite, muscle strength, and coordination. It can also result in anemia, a higher risk of infection, burning or prickling sensations in the skin, and confusion. Too much in the diet is unlikely to cause health problems though toxicity is possible from supplements, medications, and phosphorus metabolism problems. Adults should aim to consume around 700 mgTrusted Source of phosphorus each day. Good sources include dairy products, salmon, lentils, and cashews.

Magnesium

Magnesium contributes to Trusted Source muscle and nerve function. It helps regulate blood pressure and blood sugar levels, and it enables the body to produce proteins, bone, and DNA. Too little magnesium can eventually lead to weakness, nausea, tiredness, restless legs, sleep conditions, and other symptoms. Too much can result in digestive and, eventually, heart problems. Nuts, spinach, and beans are good sources of magnesium. Adult females need 320 mg Trusted Source of magnesium each day, and adult males need 420 mg.

Zinc

Zinc plays a role in the health of body cells, the immune system, wound healing, and the creation of proteins. Too little can lead to hair loss, skin sores, changes in taste or smell,and diarrhea, but this is rare. Too much can lead to digestive problems and headaches. Adult females need 8 mg Trusted Source of zinc a day, and adult males need 11 mg. Dietary sources include oysters, beef, fortified breakfast cereals, and baked beans. For more on dietary sources of zinc,

Iron

Iron is crucial for the formation Trusted Source of red blood cells, which carry oxygen to all parts of the body. It also plays a role in forming connective tissue and creating hormones. Too little can result in anemia, including digestive issues, weakness, and difficulty thinking. Learn more here about iron deficiency. Too much can lead to digestive problems, and very high levels can be fatal. Good sources include fortified cereals, beef liver, lentils, spinach, and tofu. Adults need 8 mg Trusted Source of iron a day, but females need 18 mg during their reproductive years.

Manganese

The body uses manganese to produce energy Trusted Source, it plays a role in blood clotting, and it supports the immune system. Too little can result in weak bones in children, skin rashes in men, and mood changes in women. Too much can lead to tremors, muscle spasms, and other symptoms, but only with very high amounts. Mussels, hazelnuts, brown rice, chickpeas, and spinach all provide manganese. Male adults need 2.3 mg Trusted Source of manganese each day, and females need 1.8 mg.

Copper

Copper helps the body Trusted Source make energy and produce connective tissues and blood vessels. Too little copper can lead to tiredness, patches of light skin, high cholesterol, and connective tissue disorders. This is rare. Too much copper can result in liver damage, abdominal pain, nausea, and diarrhea. Too much copper also reduces the absorption of zinc. Good sources include beef liver, oysters, potatoes, mushrooms, sesame seeds, and sunflower seeds. Adults need 900 microgramsTrusted Source (mcg) of copper each day.

Selenium

Selenium is made up of over 24 selenoproteins, and it plays a crucial roleTrusted Source in reproductive and thyroid health. As an antioxidant, it can also prevent cell damage. Too much selenium can cause garlic breath, diarrhea, irritability, skin rashes, brittle hair or nails, and other symptoms. Too little can result in heart disease, infertility in men, and arthritis. Adults need 55 mcg Trusted Source of selenium a day.

Hepatitis

---

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver. Alcohol consumption, several health conditions, and some medications can all cause this condition.

However, viral infections are the most common cause of hepatitis.

Safe and effective vaccines are available to prevent hepatitis B virus (HBV). This vaccine also prevents the development of hepatitis D virus (HDV) and given at birth strongly reduces transmission risk from mother to child. Chronic hepatitis B infection can be treated with antiviral agents. Treatment can slow the progression of cirrhosis, reduce incidence of liver cancer and improve long term survival. Only a proportion of people with chronic hepatitis B infection will require treatment. A vaccine also exists to prevent infections of hepatitis E (HEV), although it is not currently widely available. There are no specific treatments for HBV and HEV and hospitalization is not usually required. It is advised to avoid unnecessary medications due to the negative effect on liver function caused by these infections.

Hepatitis C (HCV) can cause both acute and chronic infection. Some people recover on their own, while others develop a life-threatening infection or further complications, including cirrhosis or cancer. There is no vaccine for hepatitis C. Antiviral medicines can cure more than 95% of persons with hepatitis C infection, thereby reducing the risk of death from cirrhosis and liver cancer, but access to diagnosis and treatment remains low.

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is most common is low- and middle-income countries due to reduced access to clean and reliable water sources and the increased risk of contaminated food. A safe and effective vaccine is available to prevent hepatitis A. Most HAV infections are mild, with the majority of people recovering fully and developing immunity to further infection. However, these infections can also rarely be severe and life threatening due to the risk of liver failure.

What is hepatitis?

---

Hepatitis refers to an inflammatory condition of the liver. It is commonly the result of a viral infection, but there are other possible causes of hepatitis.

These include autoimmune hepatitis and hepatitis that occurs as a secondary result of medications, drugs, toxins, and alcohol. Autoimmune hepatitis is a disease that occurs when your body makes antibodies against your liver tissue.

The five main viral classifications of hepatitis are hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E. A different virus is responsible for each type of viral hepatitis.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 354 million Trusted Source people currently live with chronic hepatitis B and C globally.

Hepatitis A

Hepatitis A is the result of an infection with the hepatitis A virus (HAV). This type of hepatitis is an acute, short-term disease.

Hepatitis B

The hepatitis B virus (HBV) causes hepatitis B. This is often an ongoing, chronic condition. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that around 826,000Trusted Source people are living with chronic hepatitis B in the United States and around 257 million people worldwide.

Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C comes from the hepatitis C virus (HCV). HCV is among the most common bloodborne viral infections in the United States and typically presents as a long-term condition.

Hepatitis D

This is a rare form of hepatitis that only occurs in conjunction with hepatitis B infection. The hepatitis D virus (HDV) causes liver inflammation like other strains, but a person cannot contract HDV without an existing hepatitis B infection.

Hepatitis E

Hepatitis E is a waterborne disease that results from exposure to the hepatitis E virus (HEV). Hepatitis E is mainly found in areas with poor sanitation and typically results from ingesting fecal matter that contaminates the water supply.

Hepatitis E is usually acute but can be particularly dangerous in pregnant women.

How is viral hepatitis spread?

---

Hepatitis A and hepatitis E usually spread through contact with food or water that was contaminated with an infected person’s stool. You can also get hepatitis E by eating undercooked pork, deer, or shellfish.

Hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and hepatitis D spread through contact with the blood of someone who has the disease. Hepatitis B and D may also spread through contact with other body fluids. This can happen in many ways, such as sharing drug needles or having unprotected sex.

Who is at risk for hepatitis?

The risks are different for the different types of hepatitis. For example, with most of the viral types, your risk is higher if you have unprotected sex. People who drink a lot over long periods of time are at risk for alcoholic hepatitis.

How is hepatitis diagnosed?

To diagnose hepatitis, your health care provider:

• Will ask about your symptoms and medical history
• Will do a physical exam
• Will likely do blood tests, including tests for viral hepatitis
• Might do imaging tests, such as an ultrasound, CT scan, or MRI
• May need to do a liver biopsy to get a clear diagnosis and check for liver damage

What are the treatments for hepatitis?

Treatment for hepatitis depends on which type you have and whether it is acute or chronic. Acute viral hepatitis often goes away on its own. To feel better, you may just need to rest and get enough fluids. But in some cases, it may be more serious. You might even need treatment in a hospital.

There are different medicines to treat the different chronic types of hepatitis. Possible other treatments may include surgery and other medical procedures. People who have alcoholic hepatitis need to stop drinking. If your chronic hepatitis leads to liver failure or liver cancer, you may need a liver transplant.

Blood Donation

---

Blood donation is a vital part of worldwide healthcare. It relates to blood transfusion as a life-sustaining and life-saving procedure as well as a form of therapeutic phlebotomy as a primary medical intervention. Over one hundred million units of blood are donated each year throughout the world. This article will concisely discuss a short history of blood donation origin and purpose, blood testing, donor eligibility and selection, adverse effects of donation, blood donation as a primary medical intervention, and a brief discussion of pathogen reduction and inactivation for donated blood.

Blood donation is most often performed by inserting a large bore needle (16G or 18G) into a peripheral vein, usually within the antecubital fossa. Veins on the dorsum of the hand or other prominent veins may be used in some individuals who do not have an otherwise easily accessible antecubital vein.

Blood donation is a procedure wherein a person donates his blood to save a fellow human. The blood is then adequately stored in the blood bank and used to transfuse whenever necessary.

Blood Typing

---

People have different blood types. Blood type is determined by whether certain antigens (complex sugar or protein molecules that can trigger an immune response) are present on the surface of red blood cells. Blood cell antigens include blood group antigens A and B and Rh factor.

The four main blood types are A, B, AB, and O (distribution in general population)

• A: Antigen A (but not B) is present. (40%)
• B: Antigen B (but not A) is present. (10%)
• AB: Antigens A and B are present. (5%)
• O: Neither antigen A nor B is present. (45%)

Also, blood may be Rh-positive (Rh factor is present on the surface of the red blood cells, 85% of people) or Rh-negative (Rh factor is absent, 15% of people).

Normally, if people lack an A and/or a B antigen, they have naturally occurred antibodies against the antigen or antigens that they lack. For example, people with blood type A have naturally occurring anti-B antibody, and people with blood type O (who lack both A and B antigens) have naturally occurring anti-A and anti-B antibodies. In addition to A and B antigens, there are several other blood group antigens also present on red blood cells. However, people do not have naturally occurring antibodies against these antigens. Such antibodies develop only if people are exposed to these antigens by transfusion.

Blood Transfusion

---

Transfusion medicine is a specialized branch of hematology that is concerned with the study of blood groups, along with the work of a blood bank to provide a transfusion service for blood and other blood products. Across the world, blood products must be prescribed by a medical doctor (licensed physician or surgeon) in a similar way as medicines.

Much of the routine work of a blood bank involves testing blood from both donors and recipients to ensure that every individual recipient is given blood that is compatible and is as safe as possible. If a unit of incompatible blood is transfused between a donor and recipient, a severe acute hemolytic reaction with hemolysis (RBC destruction), kidney failure and shock is likely to occur, and death is a possibility. Antibodies can be highly active and can attack RBCs and bind components of the complement system to cause massive hemolysis of the transfused blood.

Patients should ideally receive their own blood or type-specific blood products to minimize the chance of a transfusion reaction. It is also possible to use the patient’s own blood for transfusion. This is called autologous blood transfusion, which is always compatible with the patient. The procedure of washing a patient’s own red blood cells goes as follows: The patient’s lost blood is collected and washed with a saline solution. The washing procedure yields concentrated washed red blood cells. The last step is reinfusing the packed red blood cells into the patient. There are multiple ways to wash red blood cells. The two main ways are centrifugation and filtration methods. This procedure can be performed with microfiltration devices like the Hemoclear filter. Risks can be further reduced by cross-matching blood, but this may be skipped when blood is required for an emergency. Cross-matching involves mixing a sample of the recipient’s serum with a sample of the donor’s red blood cells and checking if the mixture agglutinates, or forms clumps. If agglutination is not obvious by direct vision, blood bank technologist usually check for agglutination with a microscope. If agglutination occurs, that particular donor’s blood cannot be transfused to that particular recipient. In a blood bank it is vital that all blood specimens are correctly identified, so labelling has been standardized using a barcode system known as ISBT 128.

The blood group may be included on identification tags or on tattoos worn by military personnel, in case they should need an emergency blood transfusion. Frontline German Waffen-SS had blood group tattoos during World War II.

Rare blood types can cause supply problems for blood banks and hospitals. For example, Duffy-negative blood occurs much more frequently in people of African origin, and the rarity of this blood type in the rest of the population can result in a shortage of Duffy-negative blood for these patients. Similarly, for RhD negative people there is a risk associated with travelling to parts of the world where supplies of RhD negative blood are rare, particularly East Asia, where blood services may endeavor to encourage Westerners to donate blood.

Who is a suitable candidate for blood donation?

---

Blood donation is a noble cause. Though most of us may want to do it, not everybody is eligible. In India, a blood donor must be at least 18 years of age, in good health and at ideal weight.

The hospital staff takes a sample of your blood to check for your eligibility. They evaluate the amount of haemoglobin in the blood, and if the levels are low, you may not be allowed for blood donation.

The hospital will also ask you various questions to map your medical history. These are targeted to understand if you have higher chances of carrying bloodborne infections.

The following situations may bar a person from donating blood:

• Consuming drugs or steroids in the past three months
• A person suffering from congenitalcoagulation deficiency
• Testing positive for HIV
• In a sexual relationship with a person suffering from viral hepatitis
• A history of babesiosis

Why Is Blood Donation Conducted?

---

Blood plays a crucial role in our body. It is responsible for all the other functions in the body that keep us alive. However, some situations lead to a lack of blood, and when the same is not transfused into the body within the stipulated time, the person may lose his life.

Deaths due to blood loss during accidents, calamities, pregnancy, childbirth, major surgery, and severe anemia are avoidable deaths. In all these situations, the availability of blood could save lives. As considerate humans, we must realize that preventable deaths are the worst, and blood donation can help cope with this situation.

What Are the Different Kinds of Blood Donation?

---

Voluntary blood donation is of four types. These include whole blood, plasma, red blood cells, and platelet donations.

• Whole blood donation

The whole blood donation procedure is the most common one you can witness. People with all blood groups are eligible for this procedure, wherein half a liter of blood is taken. The blood is either transfused as a whole or separated into red blood cells, platelets, and plasma.

• Platelets donation

Platelets are tiny cells in your body—these help to stop bleeding by clotting the blood. People with clotting problems, cancer, organ transplants, and major surgeries may need platelets. Once donated, platelets have to be used within five days.

An apheresis machine collects your platelets with some plasma: the red blood cells and most of the plasma return to your body.

• Plasma donation

People suffering from liver conditions, severe bacterial infections, or burns require plasma donations. These conditions need plasma for clotting the blood and stopping bleeding. Like platelet donation, plasma is also taken through the apheresis machine, and the other blood components are returned to the donor.

Plasma from the AB blood group is high in demand as it can be transfused to any person regardless of the blood group. One can donate plasma every 28 days.

• Red blood cell donation

Red blood cells play a crucial role in carrying oxygen to every part of the body and hence are highly vital. Patients who lose a major chunk of their blood through excessive trauma, major surgery, or acute anemia may require blood donation from red blood cells.

Here too, red blood cells are extracted from the blood through the apheresis machine while the rest is returned to the donor. Your body will require significant time to replace red blood cells. Hence, doctors advise you to maintain a gap of 168 days before your next blood donation.

If you think of opting for any of the above blood donation types, meet a doctor for expert advice.

Are There Any Benefits of Blood Donation?

---

The most significant benefit of donating blood is that you get to save lives. People stuck in disasters, calamities, and fatal diseases can live longer with blood transfusion. For many, it can help to prevent deaths from fatal accidents and trauma.

While you will be helping people, there are also multiple benefits to your own body. Blood donation is healthy for the donor. Regular blood donation offers the following benefits.

• Better emotional wellbeing

Blood donation helps you think positively about life. It is an act that can save a stranger’s life, making you feel worthwhile.

• Improvement in cholesterol levels

Though the reason for the same is yet to be unearthed, donating blood does make way for good cholesterol.

• Lower the iron levels

For some people, high iron levels can be a cause of worry. Donating blood can reverse the condition by removing red blood cells, consequently lowering the iron levels.

Recipient safety

---

Donors are screened for health risks that could make the donation unsafe for the recipient. Some of these restrictions are controversial, such as restricting donations from men who have sex with men (MSM) because of the risk of transmitting HIV. In 2011, the UK (excluding Northern Ireland) reduced its blanket ban on MSM donors to a narrower restriction which only prevents MSM from donating blood if they have had sex with other men within the past year.[ A similar change was made in the US in late 2015 by the FDA. In 2017, the UK and US further reduced their restrictions to three months. Autologous donors are not always screened for recipient safety problems since the donor is the only person who will receive the blood. Since the donated blood may be given to pregnant women or women of child-bearing age, donors taking teratogenic (birth defect-causing) medications are deferred. These medications include acitretin, etretinate, isotretinoin, finasteride, and dutasteride.

Donors are examined for signs and symptoms of diseases that can be transmitted in a blood transfusion, such as HIV, malaria, and viral hepatitis. Screening may include questions about risk factors for various diseases, such as travel to countries at risk for malaria or variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD). These questions vary from country to country. For example, while blood centers in Québec and the rest of Canada, Poland, and many other places defer donors who lived in the United Kingdom for risk of vCJD, donors in the United Kingdom are only restricted for vCJD risk if they have had a blood transfusion in the United Kingdom.

Donor safety

---

The donor is also examined and asked specific questions about their medical history to make sure that donating blood is not hazardous to their health. The donor’s hematocrit or hemoglobin level is tested to make sure that the loss of blood will not make them anemic, and this check is the most common reason that a donor is ineligible. Accepted hemoglobin levels for blood donations, by the American Red Cross, is 12.5g/dL (for females) and 13.0g/dL (for males) to 20.0g/dL, anyone with a higher or lower hemoglobin level cannot donate. Pulse, blood pressure, and body temperature are also evaluated. Elderly donors are sometimes also deferred on age alone because of health concerns. In addition to age, weight and height are important factors when considering the eligibility for donors. For example, the American Red Cross requires a donor to be 110 pounds (50 kg) or more for whole blood and platelet donation and at least 130 pounds (59 kg) (males) and at least 150 pounds (68 kg) (females) for power red donations (double red erythrocytapheresis). The safety of donating blood during pregnancy has not been studied thoroughly, and pregnant women are usually deferred until six weeks after the pregnancy.