Improvements in medical technology and surgery techniques have made so much possible. With organ transplants becoming relatively simpler and less risky, many critical health conditions can now be resolved. Liver transplants are one of the most common and patients going through the agony of life-threatening liver diseases now have hope.

What is a Liver Transplant?

When the patient s liver is damaged to the extent that functioning is severely impaired and regeneration is not possible, a liver transplant is advised. In the transplant surgery, the diseased liver is removed and replaced by whole or part of healthy liver from the donor.

Types of Liver Transplants

Based on the type of donor, liver transplant can be classified as deceased donor and live donor transplantation.

Deceased Donor Transplants (DDLT): A "brain dead" person can be a liver donor if they had pledged their organs previously or if their relatives consent for organ donation. The healthy liver can give a new lease of life for an ailing patient.
Live Donor Liver Transplants (LDLT): A blood relative or spouse may donate a part of their liver to the patient (subject to compatibility). As the liver is a regenerative organ, the donor's liver will function normally and the recipient will have a completely new liver. At Kauvery Hospital, a detailed evaluation of the prospective donor is done to ensure that the health risks are minimized and complete recovery is achieved.
Donor Safety

Donor can lead a normal and physically active life with no restrictions. Lifelong medications are not required and women can enjoy pregnancy and motherhood.

Who Needs A Liver Transplant?

A person with end-stage liver disease is a candidate for a liver transplant. The failure can happen over a period of time or be a sudden occurrence, due medical conditions or reactions to drugs (ALF). Following are some of the common reasons for liver failure.
Alcoholism: Long term drinking can lead to end stage liver disease.
Biliary Atresia: Absence of bile ducts since birth.
Chronic viral Hepatitis: (Hepatitis B & C)
Haemochromatosis: An inherited disorder that overwhelms the body with abnormal levels of iron deposits including liver.
Liver Cancer: (Hepatocellular carcinoma) Cirrhosis increases risk of liver cancer. Transplantation early would offer potential cure.
Primary Biliary Cirrhosis: (PBC) An unusual condition with immune mediated destruction of the bile ducts resulting in failure of the liver.
Non Alcoholic SteatoHepatitis (NASH): It is a common cause of liver disease seen in those with metabolic syndrome (Obesity, Diabetes Mellitus, Hypothyroidism and Dyslipidemia with or without Hypertension). Unlike alcoholic or viral hepatitis, it occurs in people with no inherent liver problem.Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis: (PSC) The bile duct gets scarred and narrowed, which blocks bile drainage, ultimately leading to failure of the liver.
Wilson's disease: A very rare inherited disease that causes abnormal levels of copper deposition throughout the body including liver, ultimately causing liver failure.
What does a Liver Transplant Involve?

First stage: Evaluation: A team of specialists will evaluate the patient to determine if transplant is the best option or if any other course of action will be better. This includes review of the patient's medical history and a number of investigations.

If a patient is found to be a suitable candidate to undergo transplant, we proceed to the second stage where his or her name is placed on the waiting list if he or she opts for cadaveric liver transplant.

A scoring system based on medical criteria determines the priority. In general, sicker the patient, greater is the necessity for transplant.

Third stage: Donor becomes available. When a suitable donor has been identified, the patient is contacted and informed about donor's medical condition. If the patient consents, he or she will have to come to the hospital. Some basic tests will be repeated to ensure that the current condition is safe for surgery. Surgeons and anesthetists involved in the transplant will meet the patient and brief him or her about what to expect. Once all the test results are found to be satisfactory, we proceed for surgery.

 The Procedure

While aspects of the surgery vary from patient to patient, the procedure typically takes between 8 to 12 hours to complete. Once the surgery is over, the patient is shifted to the ICU where he or she will stay for 3 to 7 days. At this stage, various tubes are connected to the body to enable it to carry out its natural functions. These are gradually removed as and when deemed appropriate. From the ICU the patient is shifted to a room for 2-3 weeks. In total, patient spends about 3-4 weeks in the hospital while undergoing transplant.

Discharge & Recovery

Once the doctors deem that the patient can return home, he or she is discharged from the hospital.
A follow up schedule is given to the patient so that complete recovery is monitored. Before discharge, patient and family will be trained on how to take medicines and what precautions to take. The number of medications will reduce over time as the recovery progresses.
The pace of recovery depends upon several factors. In general, a patient may be able to resume daily activities by 1 month and resume work by about 3 months after the surgery.

The Liver Transplant Process!

Skin irritants are everywhere. Even in your house, there is practically no place where there are no skin irritants. Laundry detergents, air fresheners and floor polishes are just a few factors that cause skin itching. The reason why this happens is because products like air fresheners and floor polishes take away essential oils and water from the skin which leads to dryness and irritation.

This type of dry, itchy skin can also progress to skin conditions like eczema. Here are some ways you can stop your skin from becoming dry and itchy:

1. Wear gloves: The ideal thing to do would be to wear soft, thin cotton gloves and wear rubber gloves on top of that. Do not touch a bucket or sponge without it. If you cannot wear soft, thin cotton gloves underneath, at least wear the rubber gloves as this protects your hands from irritants.

2. Take a shower after swimming: Chlorine is one of the principal causes of itchiness in your skin. It is absolutely essential that once you have finished swimming you take a shower with water and a little soap. Even more importantly, use a moisturizer with glycerin in it, as this will keep the moisture trapped inside. Glycerin is particularly good at holding on to moisture.

3. Petroleum jelly: Petroleum jelly has been proven to reduce the chance of dry, itchy skin because it contains only one ingredient. This one ingredient formula is especially great when it is applied to sensitive skin. The reason why one ingredient is better than a moisturizer with many chemicals is because a one ingredient formula is gentler and therefore creates a protective barrier against irritants.

4. Oatmeal bath: For this kind of treatment, grind oatmeal in a blender and then sprinkle it in your bath water. Oatmeal has an anti-inflammatory substance known as Avenanthramide, which decreases itching and redness of the skin.

5. Cleanliness: This is perhaps the most important tip, which can be given. If you do not regularly clean your floors or wash your bed sheets in hot water than you are at a high risk of getting mites and these are one of the most common irritants of your skin.


5 Tips To Subdue Itching Of The Skin

Exercise has a considerable number of benefits to offer people who have diabetes. As a result of doing exercise on a regular basis, the blood sugar level stays in check. Managing diabetes without indulging in any physical activity is near to no good as exercise is the backbone of diabetes treatment. Here are the ten exercises that prove to be great for people with diabetes.

Walking: Walking is considered to be one of the best exercises for treating diabetes and the most prescribed physical activity for people with Type 2 diabetes. A daily brisk walking of at least 30 minutes can be the easiest way of increasing one s physical activity level.
Running/jogging: By jogging or running daily, people can control their blood pressure and ensure good heart condition. It proves to be extremely beneficial for diabetes people who often develop risks of heart attacks or high blood pressure.
Weight training: As regular weight training helps in building the muscle mass, opting for this becomes necessary for people with Type 2 diabetes. Because losing muscle mass means difficulty in maintaining the blood sugar levels.
Tai Chi: Tai Chi helps in relaxing the body and mind as well as ensures trouble-free body movements. Tai Chi plays a crucial role in reducing stress and nerve damage, which is a common complication in diabetes.
Swimming: Swimming helps in relaxing and stretching the muscles, without exerting any pressure on the joints, which is why it is a great exercise for diabetic people. Often diabetic people lose sensation in their feet, which makes swimming the best option for them.
Yoga: Helping in lowering the body fat, improving the nerve function, and fighting the insulin resistance, yoga can benefit people suffering from diabetes in a lot of ways. By controlling the stress, it indirectly helps in lowering the blood sugar levels.
Stationary bicycling: A form of aerobic exercise, stationary bicycling ensures a strong heart and well-functioning lungs. Burning lots of calories, it improves the blood flow to the legs, which is important for diabetic people.
Water aerobics: Water aerobics, too, has a lot of benefits to offer to the diabetic people in terms of regaining the right body balance and strengthening the muscles.
Playing: For those who enjoy playing tennis or basketball, treating diabetes with exercise can be an easy job. All one has to do is play rigorously on a daily basis, and the body will stay fit and the blood sugar levels well controlled.
Dancing: Dancing can be a great way of doing exercise for the diabetic people as it helps in improving the flexibility of the body, reducing stress and lowering the blood sugar levels.
By including exercise as a regular part of their daily life, people with diabetes can not only experience positive effects on their diabetic condition but can also achieve an overall good health with desired fitness.

10 Exercises That Will Surely Help Diabetic Patients!

A child s tantrums, especially during teens, are quite common. However, there could be some children who could be exhibiting an extreme version of these symptoms. This is known as oppositional defiant disorder.
Children with this disorder become easily irritable, angry, argumentative, defiant and feel vindictive against most elders (parents, teachers, and others). While this is something very common and can be ignored to be a part of teenage tantrums, the issue is when these symptoms do not seem to end. If they persist for beyond 6 months, it is time to worry. These may then begin to interfere with their daily activities including schooling, where they may not be easy for the teacher to manage.

Diagnosis of ODD: With the changing behaviour of teenagers, it is often difficult to pinpoint and say there is ODD. However, some guidelines for diagnosis are listed below. Angry/irritable, argumentative, defiant and vindictive. If these symptoms are seen for more than 6 months with no inducing reason, happens with non-siblings, and is affecting learning and playing, it is highly likely the child has ODD.

These symptoms can occur at home, at school, or in other settings   seen respectively in one, two, or more settings. Some of the symptoms are listed below.

Repeated temper tantrums
Anger bursts, swearing, using obscene language
Extremely argumentative, especially with people in authority (teachers, parents, etc.)
Annoying others and getting annoyed easily
Noncompliance to rules and regulations at school and institutions
Defending one s mistakes and blaming others for it
These result in poor academic performance, antisocial behavior, substance abuse, and higher suicidal tendencies.
Treatment

Treatment depends on the presenting symptoms, the age of the child, and supportive care available. The child should be able to actively take part in psychotherapy to reap good benefits. It would otherwise be a task with no results.

Psychotherapy will help the child improve its cope and express and control anger. This also improves problem-solving skills.
Cognitive-behavioural therapy tries to mould the behaviour.
If required, the parents also would be involved to improve family s involvement in the treatment. Caretakers are given special training if required so that they can support in long-term medical care.
The child also needs to be trained for appropriate behaviour under different circumstances.
Rewards for positive behaviour and punishments for negative behaviour are useful ways.
Prevention: Early identification can help in minimizing distress to the family and help in the early arrest of the disease. The family is also taught basic and simple steps which can help in supporting therapy. Early rejection at school and loss of learning, can happen which can be managed with early intervention. A nurturing and supportive family can help manage the child very well.

Oppositional Defiant Disorder in Kids - How to Deal with it ?

Malaria refers to the disease transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito. The primary agent of transmission of this disease is the  Anopheles  mosquito. This particular breed of mosquito carries the species causing organism, a parasitic protozoan, known as  Plasmodium species .

The parasite, upon entering the bloodstream, attaches itself to the liver. It is at this location that the parasite matures and after a few days begins to infect the red blood cells that are secreted by the liver. The red blood cells that are infected tend to explode in about forty eight to seventy two hours due to the rapid multiplication of parasites inside them. The subtropical regions and regions that exist in a broad band around the equator are known to be the hotspots of species.

Symptoms

Upon being infected, the symptoms and signs show up within 10 days to 4 weeks. Some of the general symptoms include:

Nausea

High fever

Headache

Extreme sweating

Moderate to severe chills

Vomiting

Anaemia

Diarrhoea

Pain in muscles

Blood in stools

In some cases, malaria can lead to further severe complications, such as:

Kidney, spleen or liver failure

Cerebral malaria (swollen blood vessels in the brain)

Low blood sugar

Pulmonary oedema (fluid accumulation in the lungs which causes breathing difficulties)

The medications administered for malaria depend on factors such as:

Severity of the infection

Physical conditions such as allergies, pregnancy and other health problems,

Age

Some of the most common medicines used to address malaria include:

Chloroquine

Malarone

Doxycycline

Quinine sulphate

Mefloquine

Hydroxychloroquine

A mix of Proguanil and Atovaquone

Malaria - 10 Signs You Must Know!

Alzheimer s disease is one of the most severe forms of dementia that is, memory loss which also comes with other disorders such as reduced muscle movement. A patient with the Alzheimer s disease practically forgets even the most basic day-to-day activities and hence, the disease interrupts the lives of people suffering from it and the ones who are related to them. A commonly observed pattern in the patients suffering from the Alzheimer s disease is that most of them are aged 60 years and beyond. In simple words, it is the death of the brain cells, that is, the nerve cells which causes the memory loss at first and then the cognitive decline of other bodily functions.

Symptoms:

A patient of the Alzheimer s disease might show one or more of the following mentioned symptoms. Read the symptoms carefully and help identify the symptoms if you see them in anyone in your surroundings. Most people mistake this symptom to be something else which causes a delay in the diagnosis. But if the disorder is diagnosed at an early stage it might help people survive, or at least have a little longer until their memory stays intact. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to know about the symptoms that are given below:

The inability to remembering the information 
Repeating questions or actions
Unable to find the way on a rather regularly visited road
The decrease in decision-making ability
Poor judgment
Unable to solve complex puzzles or do tough activities
Unable to recognize familiar people such as colleagues and relatives
Unable to dress up properly
Inability in speaking mother tongue or word formation
Uncontrollable mood swings
Rude and un-empathetic social behavior such as being outspoken
They will be unable to maintain their own finances unlike before.
Stages of Alzheimer s disease
It is not unknown a fact when someone says that detecting a disease at an early stage is beneficial than at a later stage. The reason being that if a disease is detected earlier, there are more chances of treating it successfully, or in case of the Alzheimer s disease there are more chances of a medication to work on slowing down the adverse effects of the disease since there is no permanent cure available for it. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that one is aware of the early onset of the disease and also, the symptoms to make a quick diagnosis. The disease affects people between the age of 30 and 60, generally, the symptoms begin at the very early age of 30 but they do not become persistent before reaching a later-on stage. The three stages are:

Preclinical when the individual hasn t recorded any symptoms
The beginning with mild symptoms
Complete dementia

Alzheimer's Disease - Know Its Symptoms!

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