Blood is one of the most crucial elements of human existence. It works as a commute for oxygen and various nutrients in reaching the cells. These functions make blood a vital source for the body to operate. That said, india needs 38, 000 blood donations every day, which adds up to 5 crore units required in a year. However, only 2.5 crore units are available against the huge unfulfilled numbers. Hence, it is essential to recognize the importance of blood donation.

 

Why is blood donation important?

While blood donations are essential to help people with surgeries, they are equally vital during cancer treatments, chronic diseases, and gruesome injuries. Moreover, they also benefit the donors in a significant way.

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Types of blood donations

Blood donations are of several types through which a single donor has the potential to help nearly three people.

 

Whole blood donation

It is the most common process of donating blood. One pint of blood collected supports numerous patients in the process. It is, then, divided into different components that aid the donation.

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Plasma donation

The process of plasma collection is carried out through a method called apheresis. It divides plasma from other blood components. Its blood clotting abilities help trauma patients and people undergoing cancer treatment.

 

Platelet donation

The collection of platelets is also done using apheresis. Once identified in the donor s blood, the rbcs and the donor gets other fluids back. Cancer patients are the chief beneficiaries of platelets as they play a prominent role during cancer treatments.

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Double red cell donation

Red blood cells are also collected through the apheresis process. It helps donors to donate twice the dose of a whole blood donation. One can help a patient suffering from blood loss using this method.

 

Advantages of blood donation

Blood donations have several advantages that people should know. They help fight many severe health conditions in the human body. Some of them include-


	
	Loss of blood due to internal or external injuries caused by accidents
	
	
	Sickle cell disease or other abnormalities that affect the blood
	
	
	In the treatment of cancer
	
	
	Cardiovascular or orthopedic surgeries
	
	
	Blood disorders
	
	
	Transplant processes
	
	
	Treatments involving plasma
	


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Covid-19

According to food and drug administration (fda) reports, patients who have recovered from covid-19 can help others by donating blood plasma. They contain antibodies that fight the infection, helping their body fight the virus.

 

Benefits for the donor

Even the donors receive many health and social benefits because of blood donation. Where donated blood saves lives, experts suggest that donors can also benefit from the same. Some of these advantages include:

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	Boosting cardiovascular health
	
	
	Maintaining blood pressure
	
	
	Contributing to the community
	
	
	Reducing the iron levels
	
	
	Improving overall health
	



 

Why Blood Donation Is Important?

Yoga is the answer for a lot of aspects which everyone desires, such as a peaceful mind, a strong and flexible body and healthy, glowing skin. Yoga is not simply a set of exercises but a lifestyle. Yoga is a complete workout for the body and mind and is a combination of stretching along with deep breathing and meditation. It is a way of keeping yourself fit without doing strenuous workouts and lifting heavyweights. When practising yoga, asanas and nutrition go hand in hand to improve your quality of life. Your digestive system, immunity and energy levels are directly linked to the food you intake. If there is a problem with any of these, yoga asanas can help resolve it.

 

Yoga helps in maintaining overall fitness

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Yoga ensures that you are healthy in the true sense. Health is like a dynamic expression of life based on how happy, loving and enthusiastic you are in life. The various postures of yoga help in maintaining overall fitness, and balance both your mind and body in an ideal way.

 

Yoga boosts immunity

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A combination of asanas and yogic breathing techniques can help boost your immunity. Some asanas to try include viparita karani, bhujangasana, matsyasana and adho mukha svanasana. These poses help lower stress and boost immunity by pumping rich oxygenated blood to all the parts of the body.

 

Yoga always keeps you energetic

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Yoga asanas help increase blood flow and increase the heart's capacity to pump blood through the body. A few yoga poses that can boost energy are the camel pose, tree pose and warrior asana.

 

Yoga relieves stress

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Doing yoga every day is a good way of eliminating the stress that you experience in daily life. It refers to both physical and mental stress. Certain yoga postures, meditation, and pranayama are ideal practices for getting rid of stress.

 

Yoga keeps you calm

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Yoga is very essential for calming your disturbed and troubled mind.

Moreover, yoga poses massage your organs and help in strengthening your muscles. The various breathing exercises and meditation forms associated with yoga are great for releasing unwanted, undesirable stress from your system. 

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Yoga keeps the digestive system strong

 

Yogic asanas such as the spinal twist, apanasana and paschimottanasana can help smoothen the digestive process.

Why Yoga Is Important For Everyone?

Kidney - prolonged periods of stress can indirectly hurt your kidneys. So you need to be stress free to keep your kidneys healthy.

Stress And Kidney Failure: Are They Connected?

If you have diabetes, many parts of your body are likely to get affected over time. You might observe that your digestion is not the same as it was before you had diabetes. In this case, you are likely to face stomach problems and bowel issues. This is due to the effect of diabetes on your vagus nerve.

The vagus nerve is responsible for managing the complex processes in your digestive system. When the nerve is not functioning properly, your digestion slows down. As a result, the contents of your stomach stay longer than they should. Such a condition is called diabetic ;gastroparesis, which is one of the most common diabetic problems.

What is diabetic gastroparesis?

In gastroparesis, your stomach takes too much time to clear the bowel due to disrupted digestion. Usually, after a meal, the vagus nerve helps to contract the stomach muscles to break down the food into smaller pieces and pass it to the small intestine.

However, if the nerve is damaged, the muscle contraction gets halted and the decomposition of the food is slowed down. This condition is common in patients suffering from type 1 and type 2 diabetes. This is because diabetes causes nerve damage, which in turn damages the vagus nerve.

Symptoms of gastroparesis

The most common symptoms of the condition are  


	
	Heartburn
	
	
	Nausea accompanied by ;vomiting
	
	
	Appetite loss
	
	
	Bloating in the abdomen
	
	
	Acid reflux
	
	
	Weight loss
	
	
	Fluctuations in the blood ;sugar level
	
	
	Feeling full even after consuming a little amount of food
	
	
	Spasms in the stomach
	


What are the treatment options?

The first step to treat diabetic gastroparesis is to manage the levels of blood sugar. In this case, your doctor might ask you to check your blood sugar regularly   that will help him to modify the treatment to cure this condition.

The treatment can include the following steps  


	
	Altering your insulin dosage and the number of times you take it
	
	
	Oral medication may be prescribed to improve the condition
	
	
	Gastric ;electrical stimulation   where a device called gastric neurostimulator is implanted in the lower abdominal region. It sends low energy electrical impulses to your stomach muscles to cure cases of severe vomiting and nausea.
	


The doctors will recommend some dietary changes   avoid fibre-rich foods and include low-fat foods instead. With proper treatment and lifestyle changes, diabetic patients may be able to avoid common digestive problems like gastroparesis.

What Is Gastroparesis- A Diabetes Induced Digestive Problem

A brain tumour is a life-threatening situation. Most of the symptoms of the brain tumour are alike, but not all tumours are malignant. The most common type of brain tumour is meningioma. You may even don t need surgery in this case as they are really not dangerous or life-threatening.

 

Here are some of the facts you should know about meningioma:

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Meningioma can develop in numerous locations

 

Cells in the meninges, the lining of the brain and spinal cord, give rise to these tumours. In fact, they are not brain tumours at all, because they are not caused by the altered brain cells. ;

However, they continue to grow inside your sull, indicating that you should now take immediate steps. Meningioma can produce brain tumour symptoms if it grows or creates swelling that presses against the brain or other tissues in the skull.

 

Meningioma symptoms vary depending on the size and location of the tumour

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Meningioma can cause vision-related issues, headaches or seizures which are all common signs of a brain tumour. A headache, even a strong one, is seldom an indication of meningioma or any other type of brain tumour on its own. 

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Other tumour sites can influence your sense of smell, vision, hearing and even the pituitary gland s function.

 

Meningioma diagnosis usually happens when the doctor is looking for some else

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The discovery of a tumour on a ct scan or mri while investigating the patient for another cause, such as a head injury or another neurological condition, is called an accidental diagnosis. When a doctor identifies a meningioma, you will undergo additional testing to determine how the tumour will behave. A neurosurgeon will decide whether to remove the tumour or just monitor it to see whether it grows based on these findings. 

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Majority of meningioma does not spread

 

Being diagnosed with meningioma, especially a large one, might be shocking, but these tumours are usually non-dangerous. Tumour cells are unlikely to spread to other sections of the body as a result of this. ;

Meningiomas, on the other hand, can grow silently for years without creating any difficulties and they can grow to be enormous.

 

Things You Should Know About Most Common Brain Tumours

Hepatitis- related to an inflammatory condition of the liver. It occurs mainly due to infection caused by viruses but there are other possible causes as well. Hepatitis can be temporary or viral. Temporary hepatitis, which is acute in nature, gets resolved on its own. Viral hepatitis can be of five types, a, b, c, d, and e.

Symptoms of hepatitis

Hepatitis, in its initial phase, is called the acute phase. The following symptoms along with mild flu are visible:

Loss of appetite
Fatigue
Joint pains
Pain in the abdomen
Nausea
Weight loss
Jaundice
Though this phase is not really dangerous for some patients, it can result in liver failure leading to death.

How is hepatitis diagnosed?

Physical examination
Laboratory tests
Imaging tests


Treatment for hepatitis

Treatment options for different types of hepatitis are:

Hepatitis a: this doesn t require treatment as it is short-term in nature. In case the symptoms cause a lot of discomforts, then bed rest is recommended. The vaccine is available to prevent this infection.

Hepatitis b: acute hepatitis b doesn t require treatment either. Its chronic form can be treated with antiviral medications. This can be prevented with vaccination.

Hepatitis c: this type of hepatitis, both in its acute and chronic forms, is treated through antiviral medications.

Hepatitis d: according to a study in 2013, a drug known as alpha interferon is used to treat this type of hepatitis. Unfortunately, this only comes to the rescue of 25-30% of people.

Hepatitis e: this acute form of hepatitis gets resolved on its own. Adequate rest, drinking a sufficient amount of water, and taking enough nutrients in their food are some of the ways to get healed from this disease.


 

Hepatitis: Signs, Diagnosis, And Treatment

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