Risks of Living Kidney Donation

Risks of Living Donation

Usually, the operation involves no serious risk for the healthy donor. The procedure carries the same risk as anyone undergoing general anesthesia. Major complications due to kidney donation are rare, 1 in 1,000 cases.

Long-term problems are minimal but some have suggested there may be a small increase risk of developing high blood pressure or excretion of protein in their urine. None of these, however, have been conclusively shown to affect the long-term health of donors.

Donors are restricted from contact sports that pose a risk of trauma to the remaining kidney. Some occupations, such as the police, fire and military, have been known to deny employment to people with one kidney.

Food Is A Major Contributor To Migraine Disorders

Neurologist Bernard Aranda observed that the majority of his migraine patients (80%) saw their headaches completely or almost completely stop less than one month after removing milk from their diets. 

Sour cream is on the Association of Migraine Disorders' red list. Tyramine is known to trigger headaches. Peanuts are rich in tyramine. Tyramine is a substance found naturally in many foods, including aged cheeses.

Researchers have discovered that citrus fruits such as oranges, grapefruits, and lemons, trigger headaches in approximately 11% of migraine sufferers.

Monosodium glutamate found in many Chines and other Asian sauces and soups is blamed for Migraine Disorder. Initial symptoms appear rather quickly, around 15 to 30 minutes after taking your first bite.

Researchers have discovered that migraine sufferers have a larger amount of nitrate, nitrite, and nitric oxide-reducing bacteria in their mouths, a sign of significant consumption of foods high in preservatives.

Signs And Symptoms Of A Heart Attack

Chest Pain is the most common sign of a heart attack, but it's not always a crushing, sudden pain. It may be an uncomfortable feeling, like heaviness or a squeeze. Wrong to mistake it for heartburn. It may occur intermittently.

Men typically feel pain in the left arm, but women may feel pain in both arms. Your arms could feel heavy. Sign of angina or a heart attack. Pain may start in your chest, then move to your upper or lower back.

Pain or discomfort that spreads to your shoulders, back, neck, or arms. You can feel pain above the shoulders when you're having a heart attack. Your lower jaw on one or both sides may hurt or feel tight. Your neck may ache, or you could have a choking or burning feeling in your throat. Arm or shoulder pain can be a sign, especially if you also have pain or pressure in the center of your chest and shortness of breath. Your stomach, jaw, back, or neck also might hurt. You could also get sick to your stomach, lightheaded, and clammy with sweat.

Lightheadedness, dizziness, or fainting. It's a red flag for a heart attack if you suddenly feel tired or get wiped out. You also might feel drained but still, find it hard to sleep. Fainting happens when your blood pressure is low and your heart isn't pumping the right amount of oxygen to your brain. It might also be because you're overheating. Nausea and lack of appetite can also be signs of trouble.

If you're having a heart attack, you may break out in a sweat even if you're not pushing yourself hard. You could feel cold and clammy. You may be short of breath even if you haven't moved off your couch. When you lie down, it may be even harder to breathe.

Shortness of breath with a regular cough and wheeze can be signs of heart failure. That's when your heart doesn't pump well enough to supply your body with all the blood and oxygen it needs. When you have heart failure, blood and fluids can back up into your lungs. You may have a hard time breathing or hear a rattling sound when you inhale. You might cough up pinkish mucus.

You could have it in your feet, ankles, legs, or stomach if you have heart failure. You may notice that your shoes feel tight. As blood flow out of your heart slows down, blood going back to it through the veins can back up. That causes fluid to collect in spots that it shouldn't. Your kidneys can't get rid of water and salt, which leads to more swelling.

When you have heart failure, your body moves blood and the oxygen it carries away from areas that aren't as important, like your limbs, and sends it to the brain and heart. That makes moving around harder. Regular activities, like walking the dog or going up and downstairs, may be hard to do. As your heart gets weaker, simply getting dressed or walking across the room can tire you out.

With heart failure, your heart may beat fast to make up for its lack of pumping power. You may feel like your heart is racing.

A heart rhythm disorder like atrial fibrillation (AFib) can cause your ticker to beat fast and out of sync. Some people describe the feeling as a flutter or like a fish is flopping around inside their chest. AFib can lead to blood clots and stroke if you don't treat it. It's possible you might not notice anything unusual about the way your heart beats but you might feel short of breath, tired, or lightheaded.

If it's happening every night, you could have sleep apnea. That's a condition that causes pauses in your breathing while you sleep. It's linked to atrial fibrillation and may raise your risk of high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. If you don't get treatment for your sleep apnea, you may have a higher chance of life-threatening heart trouble.  

If you have this problem often, it could be a sign that you have heart disease. Blood vessels in your penis may be clogged with plaque, just like vessels around your heart can get blocked. Without good blood flow, it's hard to get and keep an erection. Talk to your doctor if you have Erectile dysfunction.

DNA vs. RNA vs. mRNA

DNA vs. RNA vs. mRNA

Is it safe to take the COVID-19 vaccines or any mRNA vaccine? The answer is “Yes, Yes, Yes.” The new COVID-19 vaccines have gone through the same rigorous testing process as every other vaccine. mRNA stands for messenger RNA. An mRNA vaccine works differently. No actual virus, this type of vaccine injects the cells with some of the virus’s mRNA. This mRNA contains instructions on how to build “spike protein,” meaning the protein that is found on the spiky surface of a virus. This protein is harmless and has no ill effects on the body. You don’t have to become an expert in macromolecules for your body to function, or the vaccine to do its job.

What Is DNA? What Is RNA? What Is mRNA? mRNA And Vaccines

Fortunately for humanity, the virus led to the remarkable development of vaccines at a pace we have never before been seen in history. Both the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and the Moderna vaccine use a new technology that has been approved for the first time: mRNA vaccines. The Oxford vaccine uses genetic material from what’s known as an adenovirus derived from chimpanzees.

These incredible developments, naturally, have led many people to dust off those old biology textbooks and try to remember what they learned about mRNA back in Biology 101. What do all those letters in mRNA stand for? How is it different from RNA? For that matter, what even is RNA? Does it have anything to do with DNA? In this article, we will answer all of these questions.

Is it safe to take the COVID-19 vaccines or any mRNA vaccine? The answer is “Yes.” The new COVID-19 vaccines have gone through the same rigorous testing process as every other vaccine, as will any new mRNA vaccines developed in the future.

What is DNA?

To begin with, we must start with probably the best known of the three macromolecules, or  the big molecules, DNA.

DNA stands for “deoxyribonucleic acid.” DNA is a large, complex molecule that carries and passes down the genetic code that makes up all living organisms. Most people are aware of DNA’s very important role in life. DNA has come to metaphorically refer to “the set of nongenetic traits, qualities, or features that characterize a person or thing.”

DNA is found in the nucleus of cells of all living organisms. DNA is arranged in the shape of a double helix, which resembles a twisted ladder. The “rungs” of the ladder consist of base pairs of substances known as nitrogen bases: adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine. These base pairs are the reason why DNA is so important to life: the ordering of the base pairs results in a specific genetic code called a gene.

DNA consists of many genes and is itself organized into structures known as chromosomes, of which humans have 23 pairs. A fruit fly has four pairs of chromosomes, while a dog has 39 pairs. The genetic code in the genes and DNA tell the body how to make proteins. Proteins are extremely important for the survival of the body.

What is RNA?

RNA stands for “ribonucleic acid.” RNA is a large molecule made from a single strand of DNA, and one of its main roles is to transfer the instructions needed to make proteins.

While DNA has the instructions on how to make proteins, it is RNA that actually provides these instructions to the ribosomes. The nucleus builds a single-threaded molecule called RNA, which has a copy of the DNA’s instructions. Like DNA, RNA also has nitrogen bases that act as a code that the cell can read. The RNA then takes the copy of the instructions and delivers them to the ribosomes. There, RNA helps the ribosomes properly build the correct proteins that the body needs.

As you might guess, this is a simplified version of what actually happens in the cells. To get a better idea of what is actually going on with RNA, here are some vocabulary words that provide more details on the concepts surrounding RNA:

DNA vs. RNA

DNA and RNA are very similar. However, there are a few differences between the two molecules.

The biggest difference is in their shape: DNA is a two-stranded molecule in the form of a double helix. RNA, on the other hand, is a single-stranded molecule.

The other major difference is in the nitrogen bases: RNA shares three of DNA’s bases but has a substance known as uracil that replaces thymine when the DNA is copied. To put it very simply, uracil requires less energy to maintain than thymine, but the presence of thymine makes DNA more stable.

What is mRNA?

There are several different types of RNA. One type of RNA is known as mRNA, which stands for “messenger RNA.” mRNA is RNA that is read by ribosomes to build proteins.

While all types of RNA are involved in building proteins, mRNA is the one that actually acts as the messenger. It is mRNA specifically that has the recipe for a protein. The mRNA is made in the nucleus and sent to the ribosome, like all RNA. Once it gets there, the mRNA bonds with the ribosome, which reads the mRNA’s nitrogen base sequence. Every three-bond sequence of mRNA relates to a specific amino acid, a “building block” of a protein. Amino acids must be arranged in a certain order to make a specific protein, and the mRNA has the blueprints that tell the ribosome which amino acids to get and how they should be arranged.

Other types of RNA, such as transfer RNA (tRNA) and ribosomal RNA (rRNA), help the ribosome actually build the protein. Once the protein is built, the mRNA’s job is over and it will degrade.

Again, this is a general look at what mRNA actually does. This list of vocabulary terms can help you learn more about mRNA’s job and about the other types of RNA.

Organisms, including bacteria and viruses, also have DNA and/or RNA. The recent COVID-19 vaccines actually use mRNA from the virus itself. Vaccine uses a weakened or damaged version of a virus so that your body can have a “practice run” of fighting it. Your body will make antibodies that fight this weak form of the virus and thus will be able to recognize this same virus in the future and be able to quickly react to the real virus if ever exposed to it.

An mRNA vaccine works differently. Rather than inject a person with the actual virus, this type of vaccine instead injects the cells with some of the virus’s mRNA. This mRNA contains instructions on how to build “spike protein,” meaning the protein that is found on the spiky surface of a virus. This protein is harmless and has no ill effects on the body.

So, your cells will begin making this harmless spike protein. Your immune system will then recognize that this spike protein doesn’t belong in your body and make antibodies designed to destroy it. Making a long story short, this means your body will be able to recognize the spike proteins used by the actual virus. As a result, your immune system will immediately be able to make antibodies that swarm and kill the virus if it ever detects the spike protein in the body.

You don’t have to become an expert in macromolecules for your body to function, or the vaccine to do its job.

What is Angiography? What is Angiogram? What is Angioplasty?

What is Angiography? What is Angiogram? What is Angioplasty?

Angiogram is an imaging investigation. Angiography was first developed by two Portuguese doctors. It uses a dye to visualize the lumen of blood vessels and identify obstructions. According to the indication, the ports of entry differ. Common ports of entry are femoral artery, femoral vein, or jugular vein. Entry through the femoral artery helps visualize the left side of the heart and the system of arteries. Entry through the femoral vein or jugular vein helps visualize the venous system and the right side of the heart. Using catheters and guide wires, the dye is injected selectively into these arteries or branches.

What is Angioplasty?

Angioplasty involves widening narrowed arteries mechanically. Angioplasty was first described by a US interventional radiologist in 1964. The balloon catheter currently used all over the world in angioplasty was invented by Henry Lundquist. Angioplasty Procedure: During angioplasty, the vascular surgeon introduces a collapsed balloon along a guide wire to the blocked location. Then he pumps up the balloon with water to a fixed size. A stent may or may not be inserted to keep the artery open. Dilating blood vessels with a balloon can only be done for blocks away from branching points. For blocks at branching points, by pass would be a better option.

Angina And Myocardial Infarction

Angina

Angina pectoris refers to a situation where a person feels pain or uncomfortable sensation in his chest. It takes place when part of the heart does not receive enough oxygen because of either blocked arteries or some disease in coronary arteries. Angina lasts for a few minutes only and as soon as the blood supply to the heart is normalized, the person gets relief and he is back to normal. Angina is of two types, the stable one and the unstable one. It is the unstable angina that can lead to Myocardial Infarction.

Myocardial Infarction

MI is also called heart attack in common parlance and normally occurs when coronary artery is blocked as plaque surrounding arteries gets ruptured. This plaque is an unstable collection of fatty acids on the wall of the artery. The lack of blood supply and oxygen results in death of heart muscle tissue. In medical terms this death of muscle tissue is called infarction.

Cardiac Arrest vs Heart Attack

Cardiac arrest and heart attack are two different entities. However both are serious medical emergencies. A Lot of people used to confuse with the meaning of cardiac arrest and heart attack.

Cardiac arrest is also known as circulatory arrest. In cardiac arrest the blood does not pump out of the heart and thus arrest the blood circulation. Heart attack (myocardial infarction) is a cause of cardiac arrest. In heart attack the blood supply to the heart muscles is impaired. This results in lack of oxygen supply to the cardiac muscles. Heart muscle will die if there are no supply of oxygen and fuel for it’s function. Usually heart attack is caused by block in the coronary arteries. Coronary arteries are the vessels that supply the blood to the heart. High cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart attack. Cholesterol deposition in the vessel will block the blood supply. The family history of heart attack is associated with increased risk of developing heart attack. Diabetes mellitus, smoking, obesity and lack of exercise also increase the risk of heart attack.

Heart attack can be mild to severe. Depending on the amount of the cardiac muscle and the site of the muscle death, the out come may vary. If the heart attack is severe, immediate death results. Myocardial infarction (heart attack) presents as severe tightening pain in the chest. It may be associated with sweating. If the heart attack is severe it causes cardiac arrest.

As muscles of the heart is damaged by heart attack, measuring the troponin level (marker) in the blood will help to diagnose it. The ECG changes will show if there is ischemia (lack of blood supply) to the muscles.

Mild attack will not kill the person. However there are more risk of developing further attack. Cardiac arrest is caused by various conditions. Myocardial infarction is one of the major cause. Lack of oxygen supply (ex drowning), severe cold (hypothermia), inadequate blood in the body (hypo volumia), increase acidity in the blood, increased or decreased potassium level in the blood, the drugs poison to the heart, failure of respiration, severe electricution are some of the causes for cardiac arrest.

Usually cardiac arrest is confirmed by the absence of carotid artery pulse. The cardiac arrest can be reversed if it is diagnosed early and treated appropriatly. The CPR (cardio pulmonary resuscitation) will reverse the arrest if other causes of the cardiac arrest are corrected. CPR can be done by a person who is trained for CPR.

Active And Inactive Ingredients In Vaccines

Active And Inactive Ingredients In Vaccines

A vaccine against a particular virus will contain a small amount of the pathogen or a part of it. When we receive the vaccine, the viral interloper triggers our immune system to launch a series of events that leave us protected against the pathogen in the future.

The WHO estimate that vaccinations prevent between 2 and 3 million deaths every year across the globe. Severe side effects are very rare, making vaccines one of the safest healthcare interventions in the history of modern medicine.

The ingredients in common vaccines reveals a long list of other components, the roles of which might not seem so clear. What is the purpose of gelatin, thimerosal, and Polysorbate 80? And why do some vaccines contain aluminum? Let us look at the active and inactive ingredients that make their way into vaccines and reveal what their role is in protecting us from infectious diseases.

Do vaccines contain human cell material?

Some vaccines are made from viruses or pathogenic molecules that are expanded in human, animal, or yeast cells.

There are two human cell lines that pharmaceutical companies use. These are called WI-38 and MRC-5. Both of these cell lines were established from cells taken from the lungs of aborted fetuses.

But for some people, the fact that cells from aborted fetuses are used in this way presents a moral problem.

Other viruses are grown in animal cells before being incorporated into vaccines. Animal cells used for this purpose include kidney cells from African green monkeys (Vero cells) and chick embryo cells.

Some recombinant vaccines may contain small trace amounts of yeast proteins or yeast DNA.

Our immune system and active ingredients

The active ingredient in a vaccine is usually made from the viral or bacterial pathogen itself. There are two different approaches to this, with the pathogen being either alive or inactivated.

Vaccines that incorporate living bacteria or viruses are called live attenuated vaccines. The pathogen is weakened to prevent it from causing the disease, but it is still able to elicit a strong immune response. Live attenuated vaccines work very well, but they are not suitable for everyone. If a person is immunocompromised, they may contract the very disease from which the vaccine should be protecting them. Many vaccines, therefore, use an inactivated version of the active ingredients, which can take the form of whole bacteria or viruses that have been killed.

However, most vaccines are actually acellular, which means that they do not contain the whole pathogenic organism. Instead, they are made from parts of the pathogen, such as proteins or sugar molecules. Our bodies recognize these molecules as foreign and mount an immune response.

Examples of acellular vaccines are:

Toxoid vaccines that contain inactivated toxins from pathogenic bacteria.

Conjugate vaccines made from a combination of pathogen-specific sugar molecules and toxoid proteins, as the sugars themselves do not cause sufficiently strong immune responses.

Recombinant vaccines made by using bacteria or yeast cells to make many copies of specific molecules from the pathogen.

Aside from the active ingredient, vaccines contain many other things. The technical term for these is excipients.

Excipients include preservatives and stabilizers, traces of things that were used to produce the vaccine, and adjuvants. Adjuvants make vaccines stronger.

Although many vaccines contain active ingredients that are strong enough to kick our immune system into gear, some need a little bit of extra help to be effective.

Adjuvants are compounds that elicit a strong immune response, improving how well a vaccine works.

Examples of adjuvants include:

Metals, Oils, Biological molecules, such as components isolated from bacteria and synthetic DNA

Aluminum, in the form of aluminum salt, features in a variety of vaccines, including several routine childhood vaccines. Scientists believe that this adjuvant increases the production of antibodies.

Aluminum is a naturally occurring metal that has many uses aside from its adjuvant properties. Cans, foil, and some window frames contain aluminum.

Aluminum salts are also used in the food industry as additives.

As an adjuvant, aluminum has a long history going back to the 1930s. Despite its widespread use, some scientists believe that the metal can cause damage to the nervous system and promote autoimmunity.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a study in 2011 in the journal Vaccine, which concluded that “episodic exposures to vaccines that contain aluminum adjuvant continue to be extremely low risk to infants and that the benefits of using vaccines containing aluminum adjuvant outweigh any theoretical concerns.”

Another example of an adjuvant is squalene, a naturally occurring oil.

The Fluad vaccine, a flu vaccine licensed for adults aged 65 years and older, contains an adjuvant called MF59, which is an oil-in-water emulsion containing squalene. The squalene used in MF59 is purified from shark liver oil.

In 2000, a research team pointed to a link between squalene and Gulf War Syndrome, prompting fears about the safety of this adjuvant.

Preservatives, Stabilizers, and Emulsifiers

The number of excipients in any particular vaccine varies and is highly dependent on both the manufacturing process and the vaccine’s intended use.

Thimerosal is a preservative primarily used in vaccines that come in multidose vials. Thimerosal kills bacteria and fungi that may contaminate a vaccine.

It is an organic compound containing about 50% mercury, prompting some people to be concerned about exposure to this heavy metal.

Gelatin is a stabilizer used in some vaccines to protect the active ingredient. It is usually sourced from pigs and highly processed. Other stabilizers include the sweetener sorbitol and the sugar molecules sucrose and lactose.

Polysorbate 80 is an emulsifier used in the food industry in ice creams, gelatin desserts, barbecue sauce, and pickled products. In vaccines, it helps other components remain soluble.

Some people have voiced concerns over the safety of polysorbate 80 after research showed potential links to reproductive problems in female rats and premature ovarian failure in girls receiving the quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine.

Remnants of the vaccine production process

Vaccine manufacturers need sufficient quantities of bacteria and viruses to make the required doses.

Bacteria or viruses are often grown in large numbers before undergoing purification and then attenuation or inactivation during the production process.

Although most of the materials used during this expansion phase will be present in trace amounts or not at all in the final product, they may feature on the list of ingredients.

Antibiotics are used in the production of vaccines against some viruses to prevent bacterial contamination. The most commonly used antibiotics are neomycin, streptomycin, polymyxin B, gentamicin, and kanamycin.

Acidity regulators, such as succinic acid and disodium adipate, help keep the pH at the correct level during the expansion process.

Bovine serum is a component in some growth media formulations.

Ovalbumin is a protein in the whites of chicken eggs. The viral particles used in some flu and rabies vaccines are grown on chicken eggs, making it possible that small traces of ovalbumin will appear in the final product.

Glutaraldehyde and formaldehyde are chemicals used to inactivate toxins from viruses and bacteria in some vaccines. These chemicals are toxic in large quantities.

Excipients in pharmaceuticals

While some people may be surprised to see excipients in vaccines, these compounds actually feature heavily in all medicines.

Sugars and flavoring in syrups mask the potentially unpleasant taste of the formulation, while colors help people avoid mistaking one drug for another. 

Some excipients improve how well a drug can penetrate the skin or determine where in the gastrointestinal tract its breakdown occurs.

As with vaccines, their purpose is to ensure that drugs are safe and effective.

The top 10 biggest pharma companies in the world in 2020

The top 10 biggest pharma companies in the world in 2020: In 2019, the global pharmaceutical industry continued to grow making an estimated $1.3 trillion. The US FDA approved 48 new drugs and biologics in 2019. The FDA approved an impressive number of generics with a huge 1,171 approvals, breaking its previous record of 971 in 2018.

American multinational, Amgen. With its “biology-first approach”, Amgen produces innovative medicines and delivers them to 100 countries and regions worldwide.

French multinational pharmaceutical giant, Sanofi. Sanofi provides healthcare solutions to 170 countries worldwide and has three core focuses: speciality care, vaccines and general medicines. Sanofi’s pharmaceutical segment grew by 4% on a year-on-year basis, with recently launched Eczema treatment Dupixent, which is set for further growth as Sanofi plans to extend its reach to another 89 countries.

Founded 133 years ago, Bristol-Myers Squibb is a leading global pharmaceutical company that specialises in medicinal advancements in four key areas: oncology, haematology, immunology and cardiovascular disease.

Headquartered in Osaka, Japanese multinational Takeda is the largest pharmaceutical company in Asia. Takeda focuses its efforts in four core areas: oncology, rare diseases, neuroscience, and gastroenterology.

AbbVie was created in 2013, when the company separated from Abbott. Employing 47,000 experts, AbbVie tends to drive its R&D efforts towards difficult-to-cure diseases and successfully acquired Allergan in May 2019. 

Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company Novartis has developed, manufactured and marketed breakthrough medicines for over 250 years. Now with presence in 155 countries across the world, Novartis focuses on innovative medicines as well as generics and biosimilars. Key brands Cosentyx, Entresto and Zolgensma.

American pharmaceutical company Merck was founded in 1891. With 71,000 employees worldwide, the company is well known for its contributions to diabetes and cancer care. Key growth drivers included Keytruda, Gardasi and Varivax.

With headquarters based in New Jersey, Johnson & Johnson develops and produces pharmaceuticals, medical devices and consumer health goods. Key brands Strelara, Darzalex and Imbruvica.

Pfizer takes second place in 2020. Pfizer specialises in the development of medicines and vaccines across a wide range of disciplines including immunology, oncology, cardiology and neurology. The company employees over 88,000 people and delivers its healthcare solutions to over 150 countries across the world. Pfizer has dealt with some costly patent expirations including Viagra and Lyrica. Key performers in medicine included Irbrance, Eliquis, Lyrica and Xeljanz. In 2019, Pfizer took bold steps to position the company for sustained growth with the plan to combine Upjohn and Mylan’s strengths, resources and access.

Roche has taken the top spot in 2020, surpassing Pfizer as the biggest pharmaceutical company in the world. With a workforce of over 90,000 and headquarters based in Basel Switzerland, Roche is at the forefront of oncology, immunology, infectious diseases, ophthalmology and neuroscience. In 2019, sales of Roche’s pharma segment rose by a healthy 16% to $53bn. Roche’s best-selling drugs included multiple sclerosis medicine Ocrevus, haemophilia medicine Hemlibra and cancer medicines Tecentriq and Perjeta. Looking to the future, Roche will continue to focus on prescription medicines.