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Scope of Haematology
Blood transfusing is often a very common solution to treat several side effect of any illness or as a compensation for blood loss from a treatment or surgery. But there are several illnesses that originate in the blood itself. Several hospital offer screening and treatment of the same. Haematology is the umbrella term for the branch that deals with diagnosis, prevention, treatment and care of diseases related to blood. The term is originated from Greek words ‘haima’ implying blood, and ‘logy’ implying to study.
These diseases can originate or affect any of the blood components such as blood cells, bone marrow, blood protein, blood vessels, platelets, coagulation, and spleen. Let’s understand what are the components of blood is and medical conditions surface under each of the components
The main components of blood as are as follows:
- RBC or Red Blood Cells – it carries oxygen to tissues
- WBC or White Blood Cells – it fights infections
- Platelets – it helps in blood clotting
- Plasma – it reserves protein and performs several other functions
Blood diseases that affect RBC are:
a. Anaemia – the body has a low level of RBC
b. Pernicious Anaemia (B12 deficiency) – prohibits the body to absorb B12 from the diet.
c. Aplastic anaemia – the body does not produce adequate blood cells, mainly RBC
d. Autoimmune haemolytic anaemia – the body’s overactive immune system destroys its own RBC
e. Sickle cell anaemia – a genetic disease that makes the blood cell crumple into sickle shape
f. Polycythaemia Vera – the body produces too many blood cells that may cause blood clot
g. Malaria – an infection triggered by a parasite that enters the bloodstream through a vector (mosquito’s bite) that makes RBC burst.
h. Thalassemia – a genetic disease with features of severe anaemia, that often need a regular blood transfusion to survive.
Click here to learn more about Thalassemia.
Blood diseases that affect WBC are:
a. Lymphoma – a type of malignant blood cancer originating in the lymph system.
b. Leukaemia – another type of blood cancer originating in WBC.
c. Multiple myelomas – yet another type of blood cancer which affects the white blood plasma.
d. Myelodysplastic syndrome – a group of blood cancer that affects the bone marrow.
Blood diseases that affect platelets are:
a. Thrombocytopenia – the presence of low level of platelets in blood
b. Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura – onset of the above illness due to unknown cause
c. Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia – onset of the above illness due to the reaction against heparin
d. Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura – a low platelet count due to the blood clot in blood vessels
e. Essential thrombocytosis (primary thrombocythemia) – the body produces excessive platelets causing a clot and/or bleeding.
Blood diseases that affect plasma are:
a. Haemophilia – a genetically inducing protein deficiency that causes severe blood clot
b. Von Will brand disease – a form of haemophilia that might result in the excessive blood due to an injury or surgery
c. Hypercoagulable state (hypercoagulable state) – a condition that often results in blood clot and needs blood thinner on a regular basis
Deep venous thrombosis – having a blood clot in the deep vein of the leg that can even travel to lung or heart.
Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) – a condition that causes multiple tiny clots throughout the body, simultaneously.
Most of these illnesses can be treated effectively if diagnosed on time.
4 Must-Have Health Screening for Every Woman Above 35 in the New Year
Women always walk the extra mile to ensure the well-being of her family. But unfortunately, they often don’t give the same priority towards their own health. Especially in India, most women seek medical treatment in hospitals helps only when the illness progress to an advanced stage. But by this time, the treatment of the illness becomes somewhat complicated.
Read more – 4 must-have screening every man in his early 40s should have
To address this problem, we are enlisting these 4 crucial screening that every woman above 35 should do in order to ensure that they can avail the best treatment at the best time.
1. Pelvic screening including PAP smear
As the cervical cancer is one of the leading cause of death, it is important to have regular screening. Even though one should start as young as the mid-20s, or as soon as being sexually active, it is recommended to get screen regularly is compulsory after hitting 30s. The purpose of these tests is to look out for any possible lump, abnormal growth, and any abnormal discharge, that could indicate the possible occurrence of tumor in later stages.
2. Breast screening
Apart from cervical cancer, breast cancer torments the health of women as well. Thus a regular screening of breast is highly recommended to take note of any pain, lump, tenderness or discharge from the breast, namely the nipple. This includes an ultra-sonogram and mammogram. Also, a monthly self-breast examination proves to be very helpful as well. The ideal age is early to mid-30s, however, for women with a family history of any breast-related illness, should start even earlier.
3. Thyroid test
It is very common for women to experience unexplainable weight gain along with other symptoms such as brittle nails, hair loss/thinning and severe fatigue with aging. Though it could be a result of other factors as well, often it is due to hypothyroidism. Events of life cycle such as menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, lactation, and menopause make women more prone to these consequences as compared to men. Thus, a regular screening can help to deal with the same.
4. Bone mineral density screening
Most of the women, particularly after menopause, suffer from osteoporosis, a common illness of low bone density. It results in mild to severe bone weakness and injury that often requires supportive probes or surgery to correct it. The loss of component calcium from the bone makes them brittle and susceptible to damage and injury. Thus, a specialized test DEXA scan, an advanced X-ray diagnosis is advised that estimates the bone strength of the crucial skeleton structure namely the hip, spine, knees, and wrists.
Each of these tests has a unique role to ensure the overall well-being of a woman’s health. Most of these screening are available at a reasonable price in several hospitals. Thus, every woman above the age of 35 is highly recommended to undergo the above-mentioned screenings.
4 Screening Every Man Should Have Since His Early 40s
With the process of aging, several body parts become more and more difficult and upon the onset of a severe illness, a long series of treatment begins in hospitals. However, the entire episode of this unpleasant occurrence can be avoided if some people start taking care of their health condition from time to time.
Read more – 4 Must-have health screening for every woman above 35
Thus, we bring a list of 4 screening every man should regularly have in his late 30s to ensure a good health in his later years.
1. Colon Screening
The onset of colon cancer among elder men is a very common. Due to age, the regenerative and healing property decreases significantly. Thus early screening can keep the complication at bay, which may occur in the advanced stages. Faecal occult test, Sigmoidoscopy, and Colonoscopy are namely the tests that are usually employed.
Ideally, early 50 is the age for doing the same, but for individuals with family or personal history of inflammatory diseases, polyps, ulcerative colitis etc. should do the test by the age of 40.
2. Prostate Screening
Prostate cancer among men is kind of analogous to cervical cancer for women. It claims several lives throughout the world. Because of ignorance and lack of awareness at an early stage, many patients skip screening and eventually at an older stage, suffer severely,
Screening for prostate health include PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) test and digital rectal examination (DRE)
3. Diabetes Test
Despite the fact that diabetes affects both men and women, the symptoms differ significantly. The consequences are more severe in case of men as compared to women. Thus, every man in 40s, if not already affected by diabetes till present, should go for diabetes screen at least annually.
Complicated diabetes can lead to several other complications such as blood clot, urine inconsistence, weakness and possible amputation.
4. Pulmonary and Cardiac Screening
Similar to the previous condition as compared to women, men tend to be more engaged in regular alcohol consumption and smoking. In a long run, it leads to several respiratory and cardiac ailments.
Thus every man in their 40s, who are particularly into drinking and smoking should go for regular screening to ensure the good health of their heart and chest. There are a group of tests that come under this screening.
Apart from the mentioned tests, one can go for additional ones as well, depending on the current health situation. However, the suggested screenings yield the best result for the overall health of the individual.
ILS Hospitals Has Fully Equipped NICU for Every Critically Ill New Born
A nation’s average performance and its position in the global platform depends on several factors. These factors range from education level, per capita income, gross domestic product, health standards and many more.
However, despite the preventive and corrective measure of the government towards the health and well-being, we all fall sick at some point or the other during the course of our lives. Healthcare industry plays an important role in the same. The ILS Hospitals is one of such healthcare partners who ensure that the citizen of India stay in perfect health so that they can contribute towards the overall productivity of the nation.
Let’s understand the importance of it through a case study of its high-end maternity hospital and NICU.
Mrs. Sangita Mitra, a school teacher of age 32, was expecting twins. She was getting her check-up and medication under an obstetrics close to her residence. He advised her diet and medication and also estimated the due date at 36th week.
Things went smoothly for the first and second trimester. However, during the mid of 29th week, she suddenly felt a sharp pain and contraction. Her family immediately consulted her doctor. He expected it might be a case of a premature delivery. But as he had no access to advanced maternal care and handling premature babies, he recommended them to ILS Hospitals.
When she consulted and scheduled a check up to maternity ward of ILS Hospitals, well-qualified obstetrics admitted her immediately as she was experiencing labor. One of the twins, the baby boy, despite being born prematurely was healthy, but the other baby had certain difficulties. Without wasting precious moments, the doctors admitted the baby to the NICU.
The baby girl was suffering from respiratory trouble along with instability of heart rate. The doctors were present round the clock to keep a track of her vitals and to provide medical care. After 6 weeks, the baby girl was fit enough to be discharged from the NICU. Due to the timely intervention of medical treatment and care, she was saved from long-term complications.
The NICU of ILS Hospitals is highly capable of handling crisis that could threaten the survivability and complications (both long term and short terms) that a premature baby or critically ill baby may face. Round the year, ILS Hospital’s NICU saves lives of numerous babies.
Why Every Elder Patient Need Geriatrics Medicine
An individual goes through several stages of age. In each of them, they require special care and medication. In the usual environment around us, we have comprehended few of them, while neglected other few. For instance, we have fathomed the special need of an individual during its initial years of life and classified as paediatrics domain. However, once they outgrow adolescence, the domain of doctors is classified based on either medical illness.
Thus, this attitude of the society overall, make the geriatrics domain a rather unusual and unheard specialty of medical care. Let’s understand the importance of geriatric medicine.
Geriatrics is a specialty of medical healthcare that involves diagnosis, treatment, and care, particularly for elderly people. It promotes their overall health by treating disabilities and diseases through both corrective and preventive measures. A doctor with specialization in geriatric medicine is known as geriatrician or geriatric physician.
As mentioned above, as soon as an individual is pronounced an adult, they don’t need to consult a paediatrician any longer. In event of any illness, at first a general physician is consulted, upon further diagnosis, they are recommended to doctors having specialization in that particular illness. For eg. Gynaecologist, a gastroenterologist, a dermatologist and so on.
This treatment structure is considered as the standard procedure and rules out any particular need of specialist for elderly patients. This common misconception is prevalent among people, which stop them from seeking geriatric care for elderly patients. However, the need of having a geriatric physician is extremely important particularly for super senior citizens.
Geriatric medicine aims to improve the physical, emotional and mental wellbeing of the elder patient. Its focuses to prevent, to improve and/or to eradicate, conditions that degrade the quality of life. Some of its main goals are to-
- Improve instability
- Improve immobility
- Improve memory, recognition, and intellect
- Improve incontinence
A rather large proportion of super senior citizens often display symptoms of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, which make them vulnerable, similar to kids, who are not always sure about their exact symptoms or forget to mention them or to recollect. Moreover, due to old age, the healing and regenerative properties diminish significantly. Thereby, their treatment and recovery are different from that of an individual in their mid-30s or 40s. Thus the need geriatric physician is irreplaceable and should be acknowledged adequately.
14 Fun Facts About the Brain
BRAIN – An amazing internal organ of the human body. Understanding the brain is not yet fully explored till date, but plenty has been studied. A number of patients seek treatment in hospitals for some or the other condition related to the health of the brain. But instead of discussing some serious illness related to the brain, today we bring you 14 facts about the human brain that might fascinate you.
So, let’s start the countdown
- Hints of successful brain surgeries date back to the Stone Age.
- An adult human brain weighs approximately 3 pounds.
- Dreams are believed to be a contributing factor of imagination, phycological factors, and neurological factors. This proves that the brain is working even while sleeping.
- About 75 percent of the brain is composed of water. Thus, even a minor dehydration can have an adverse effect on the brain functions.
- The human brain will grow significantly in size during the first year of life until the age of about 18 years old.
- The human brain contains approximately one hundred billion neurons.
- It is a myth that an average human use only 10 percent of the brain. In practicality, human use all of it, more than 10 percent while sleeping itself.
- Alcohol adversely affects the brain which includes blurred vision, unsteady walk, slurred speaking, and more.
These usually disappear while becoming sober again. However, heavy drinking for prolong periods of time can affect the brain functions permanently and might not reverse even after becoming sober again. Long-term effects include memory issues and some reduced cognitive function. - The brain uses 20 percent of the oxygen and blood in your body.
- A brain freeze is clinically known as sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia. It onsets when an individual eats or drink something that’s extremely cold. It chills down the blood vessels and arteries in the very back of the throat, this includes the ones that take blood to your brain as well. These open up again then they are warm again, however, it causes pain in the forehead.
- Phantom limb pain syndrome is a condition, when the central nervous system, including the brain, continues to feel the pain of an amputated limb.
- The brain can interpret the pain signals sent to it, but it does not feel pain on its own.
- During the mummification process, Egyptians would usually remove the brains through the nose.
- Playing computer or video games that require instant reaction may help improve cognitive abilities. However, more research is needed to learn how much they help or what types of games do help.
Sure, it was fun to learn all that. In case, you experience any discomfort regarding this fascinating organ, consult with a medical facility.
Throat Cancer: Types and Causes
What is a Throat Cancer?
Throat cancer is cancer that appears in the throat region. It usually occurs in the pharynx which is a tube that starts from your nose to your neck. A throat cancer might also occur in larynx which commonly known as the voice box. The third common is the tonsil cancer that affects the tonsils which is located at the back of the throat. As per ENT Specialists, ‘ many a times, these harmless sounding issues can turn out be life-threatening if not treated on time’.
There are several types of throat cancer which have their own reasons to occur. The different types of throat cancer are mentioned below:
Nasopharyngeal cancer: Doctors haven’t found out the actual cause of this cancer yet but they say it is strongly linked to a common virus called Epstein – Barr virus (EBV). Although, it need not be necessary to be prone to NPC if you have EBV. In India, it is rarely found in the states of Northeast region such that, Manipur, Nagaland, and Mizoram.
Oropharyngeal cancer: Oropharyngeal cancer or oral cancer is the most common and cancer related-death of men in India. The main cause of this cancer in world-wide is mostly due to HPV that spreads through unprotected intimation and/or oral intimation. Although in India the main reason behind this cancer is excessive consumption of Weeds, tobacco, smoking, and alcohol.
Hypopharyngeal cancer: It is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the hypopharynx. Use of tobacco products and heavy drinking can affect the risk of developing Hypopharyngeal cancer.
Laryngeal cancer: This cancer affects the larynx and it is commonly known as the Vocal Cord. The main causes of this cancer are the genetic mutation of uncontrollable cell growth in the region to form tumors. This is usually forms due to long-term smoking or alcohol and sometimes HPV or exposure to toxins such as asbestos. Laryngeal Cancer comprises of three different cancers such as Glottic, Supraglottic and Subglottic Cancer. They begin at the around, upper and lower region of the vocal cord.
Irrespective of the type of throat cancer, they are common in one thing, smoking, and alcohol, which is the main cause of most of these throat cancers. These cancers if remained untreated for long period, can cost the life. If you are prone to any symptoms of throat cancer, come in and get yourself checked by certified ENT specialists with proper guidance, consultation, and health tips.
A Brief Introduction of Stress Fracture
It is very common to find otherwise healthy individuals to seek treatment for bone injury at orthopedic clinics. Though there are many kinds of orthopedic injuries, the stress fracture is the most common one. Let’s have a detailed introduction of the same.
As the name itself suggests, the root cause of the fracture is the stress, mainly the repetitive stress on the same joints over a period of time. In simple words, instead of having a big, severe injury at one go, the stress fracture caused due to repetitive impact of a minor injury over and over again.
Stress fracture starts with a very minute crack in the bone and that is why it is more commonly known as the hairline fracture.
The cause can be as simple as running, jumping or exercise. This kind of orthopedic injury is most common among athletes and sportsperson due to their routine workout and exercise sessions. Moreover, it is more prevalent on the weight bearing, which ensures the structure of the skeleton, bones such as the tibia, metatarsals, and navicular bones. However, rarely, it can be found in pelvis, sacrum, and femur as well.
The painful symptoms and side effects associated with stress fractures usually increases with activity level and usually resolves with rest. However, over a long period of time, the symptoms become long lasting and troublesome and needs a thorough treatment to cure it.
To diagnosis, the exact point of onset of a stress fracture is quite tricky. However, an x-ray can show the decay of bone after 3 weeks since the onset of sharp pain. Other diagnostic probes are namely CT scan, MRI, and 3 phase bone scan.
The treatment of stress fracture is offered at several orthopedic clinics all across India, however, it is important to consult the healthcare providers at an early stage itself to make the treatment most effective. Managing early symptoms is the best way to tackle a stress fracture as the advanced stage onsets the recovery time elongates significantly.
Medical probes such as walking boot or sticks are particularly helpful as they provide support to the fractured joints. Also, rehabilitation is recommended for those, who need help for muscle strengthening and walking support on a regular basis. Occasionally surgical approach becomes inevitable to address the fracture. It needs to be done under the supervision of a well-qualified orthopedics to ensure the patients recover entirely after the procedure.
7 Common Types of Pelvic Diseases
There are various and sometimes few fatal issues related to our pelvic organ that might affect our lives. An experienced gynecologist can solve most of these if consulted on time.
The most common pelvis related issues are mentioned in the following points:
1. Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID): PID is a disease that occurs in the female reproductive organs such as the uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes, and cervix. It is usually caused due to a sexually transmitted infection (STI) like gonorrhea or chlamydia. PID can also cause serious issues if remained untreated and one might have trouble in getting pregnant or may have persistent pelvic pain throughout.
2. Vulvodynia: Recently, doctors have discovered that pelvic pain may also arise due to muscle tissues and irritation in nerves, which they specifically named as Vulvodynia. It has no definite reason of cause but it might occur due to previous yeast infection, soreness, dehydration, chronic stress, and depression. Pain or burning may be around external vagina walls, G-spot and so forth.
3. Endometriosis: It is a condition where an abnormal endometrial tissue grows in a place outside the uterus. Even this disease have no specific reason for a cause but if not treated may lead to infertility. The pain will occur during intercourse, urination or bowel movements.
4. Primary dysmenorrhea/Menstrual Cramps: Commonly, we are all aware of the cramp during the menstrual periods but if it exists even after 7 days, it is possible that the pain could be also the reason of some other issues. Usually, menstrual cramps occur due to irregular bleeding or spotting.
5. Urinary Incontinence: It is one of the most common pelvic diseases that are found in women and also in men. It is especially found in women. It may happen due to many reasons such as stress incontinence, urge, and overflow, mixed, functional and sometimes gross total incontinence.
6. Pelvic Congestion Syndrome: PCS is one of the common syndrome found among the women under the age of 45 who have gone through 2 or 3 pregnancies. It is very rare in women with no pregnancy record.
7. Infections: The most common type of pelvic disease also includes vaginal infections. There a quite a number of different infections that are faced by the female at least for once in their lifetime. This includes infections such as Yeast infection, Bacterial vaginosis, Trichomonas, etc.
Therefore, these are the few common types of pelvic or vaginal related disease that might trouble a woman’s life. If you show symptoms or is suffering from any of the above-mentioned diseases, feel free consult a certified and highly experienced Gynecologists to provide you the best service with proper guidance.
Conditions Related to High- Risk Pregnancy
What is a high-risk Pregnancy?
A high-risk pregnancy is a fatal condition during pregnancy or by the end of the pregnancy where the mother or the fetus may face complications during or after the birth. Women with pre-pregnancy complication face many health issues and risks than the women with no pre-pregnancy complication. Although, rarely, few healthy women may also face some problems which can be fatal in nature. Only the advanced maternity hospitals are capable of handling these crisis cases.
The various complications that arise post pregnancy are listed below:
Gestational diabetes: Also known as gestational diabetes mellitus. This may be the first complication that women may face post pregnancy. After conforming pregnant many women get obsessed with their diet. They start overeating which increases the sugar level in the blood. A healthy and proper diet may help in avoiding and retarding the same. If neglected it can lead to fatal conditions such as premature labor and high blood pressure and so on.
Preeclampsia: It is a condition which appears by or after the 20th week, where the level of blood pressure increases causing the mother to fall sick. It can affect mother’s kidney, liver, and brain. If it remained untreated for long can result in fatal complication for the mother and also the fetus.
Eclampsia: It is a severe complication. Actually, it is another form or last stage of Preeclampsia that causes the mother to have a complicated seizure or worse, a coma. Regular health check-ups may avoid these complications.
Preterm Labor: As the term suggests, here the labor is held before the 37th week. The causes behind this complication could be multiple fetuses, cervix abnormality or infections or previous premature labor. Another reason behind this condition could be conceiving after the age of 35.
Placenta Previa: It is one of the rare but severe complication that a mother might face which shows symptoms in the mid-trimester. It is a condition where the placenta-cover the cervix partially or wholly. It is dangerous because when the cervix dilates and uterus expands can cause damage to the placenta resulting in painless vaginal bleeding or worse hemorrhage.
No matter what the complication is, if discovered by the initial, can be treated fearlessly. So, why to wait till it turns worse. If you are conceiving, get a regular checkup from any of the advanced maternity hospitals established in all over India.