Young boys can now preserve their testicular tissues

An experimental process of freezing testicular tissue gives hope to young boys to preserve their fertility before beginning medical treatments known to cause infertility, research claimed.

An estimated 2,000 U.S. boys and young men each year receive treatments or have cancers or blood disorders that place them at risk for infertility. While older youths who have undergone puberty can bank their sperm prior to undergoing sterilising doses of chemotherapy or radiation, there have been scant fertility preservation options for younger boys.

However, some older adolescents and young men are too sick or stressed to bank sperm. For patients with no sperm to a bank or who are too sick or stressed to bank sperm, the experimental procedure of freezing testicular tissue in anticipation that future cell- or tissue-based therapies can generate sperm is the only option.

Recent research in experimental models indicates that such testicular tissue biopsies contain stem cells, blank slate cells, hinting at the potential of generating sperm from biopsied tissue.

"This study demonstrates that undifferentiated stem and progenitor spermatogonia may be recovered from the testicular tissues of patients who are in the early stages of their treatment and have not yet received an ablative dose of therapy. The function of these spermatogonia was not tested," wrote lead author.

Right now, haematologists and oncologists discuss future treatment options with patients and families, as well as possible long-term side effects, including infertility.

"This study is unique in that there is definitely a potential direct patient benefit. One of the reasons the study is compelling is that it presents a message of hope to the families. It's a message of survivorship: We are optimistic we can help your child get through this and think about long-term issues, like having their own families," said a Dr.

In this phase of the study, testicular tissue was collected from centres in the U.S. and Israel from January 2011 to November 2018 and cryopreserved.

Patients designated 25 per cent of the tissue sample to be used for the research study; 75 per cent remains stored in liquid nitrogen at temperatures close to absolute zero for the patient's future use. The fertility preservation patients ranged from 5 months old to 34 years old, with an average age of 7.9 years.

Thirty-nine per cent of patients had started medical treatment prior to requesting fertility preservation. 16 per cent received non-alkylating chemotherapy while 23 per cent received alkylating chemotherapy, which directly damages the DNA of cancer cells.

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Alternatives to sclerotherapy varicose veins

Not all malformed veins require treatment. When there are no other symptoms, it is safe to monitor the veins to see if they get worse or begin causing other symptoms.

Lifestyle changes can prevent the veins from getting worse and prevent the development of new varicose veins. Other treatment strategies may include:

• cryotherapy or freezing the veins
• laser therapy, using light to fade the veins
• vein ablation, using heat on a malformed vein
• closing the vein with surgery
• surgically removing the veins in severe cases

Takeaway

Sclerotherapy is usually a minor, noninvasive procedure to fix troublesome veins. The outlook for people after sclerotherapy is good since serious side effects are rare and it is effective.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                    PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/    

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People who are concerned about the risks and benefits of sclerotherapy should discuss the procedure with a doctor and consider seeking a second opinion. It is also wise to contact an insurer to learn whether the procedure is covered.

How Your Body Reacts When Temperatures Drop

The human body uses some pretty incredible mechanisms to try to stay warm, whenever temperatures drop below freezing. Here are 10 weird things that happen to your body when it's freezing:
1. Your blood vessels constrict
Your body is built to maintain a stable temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, or 37 degrees Celsius. But, what happens to your body when a temperature in your environment drops to freezing cold? Thermo-receptors in your skin sound the alarm, alerting an area of the brain called the hypothalamus. This area of the brain acts like a thermostat that's job is to maintain steady body temperature. So, when it's too cold, the hypothalamus tightens the blood vessels in your arms, hands, feet, and legs. Blood delivers heat to the skin, so if you decrease blood flow to the skin, you decrease heat loss from the skin. 

2. You can become too cold if you dress too warmly

As ironic as this scenario might sound if you're outside in cold weather shoveling snow, this amount of physical work will cause your muscles to contract, generating a lot of heat, causing your core temperature to go up. According to a research physiologist “In this situation, your blood vessels dilate instead of constrict, and you start sweating. If that sweat then gets trapped in your clothing, then it can start sucking heat away from your body. That’s a recipe for hypothermia right there.”
3. You have to urinate
Here's an irritating scenario: You use the bathroom, right before you head outdoors, but feel the need to go again soon after being outside. This happens because all that vasoconstriction (the constriction of blood vessels) forces fluid to concentrate in your core. This causes volume receptors to communicate with the hypothalamus, letting it know that it should get rid of some of that fluid, thus causing you to pee. 

4. You have trouble catching your breath
When you inhale air, your nose moistens, humidifies and warms it before moving down to the lungs. But for people who suffer from asthma, or where the weather is bitter cold, the air doesn't warm enough first, causing the lungs to spasm and constrict, making breathing difficult. 

5. You scrunch down and huddle with others

When your blood vessels have been constricted, this causes your muscles to start to shiver, making you instinctually engage in social behaviors that help conserve heat. So when you scrunch down and make yourself smaller, you lose less heat to the environment. This happens because you decrease your own surface area. 
6. You shiver
While you do shiver when it's cold, the reason you do so is pretty interesting.A Prof. says “When vasoconstriction isn’t doing enough to warm you, the hypothalamus tells your muscles to start contracting. One of the byproducts of muscle contraction is heat.” If you get cold enough to enter into mild hypothermia, you can produce 400 to 600 watts of heat through shivering. 
7. Your muscles tense
The Prof. explains that as muscle tissue cools, it doesn't work as well. “At first, you lose the ability to do fine motor tasks, like using your cell phone correctly,” he says. “Then eventually as your bigger muscle groups are affected, you might not, say, be able to hold on to an overturned boat in cold waters.”

8. You freeze much faster if wet
Do you notice how little kids shiver when they get out of a heated swimming pool in 80-degree weather? the Prof. says, “Water carries heat away from the body 25 times faster than air, so you can lose a great amount of heat very quickly when you’re wet. Shivering is one way your body is trying to raise your core temperature back up.” 
9. Your skin turns white and hard
These are signs of frostbite, a condition that arises when you expose your skin to cold and freezing temperatures. Your cheeks, nose, and fingers tend to be especially vulnerable because they are getting less blood flow due to the vasoconstriction effect. Because of the shape of your fingers, it gives them more surface area relative to their size, making them more vulnerable to heat loss. Frostbite means the skin tissue has become damaged, and if severe enough, it can turn black and actually fall off. You begin to feel pain as your skin gets colder and colder, but soon, it will feel numb. And when this happens, the thermoreceptors in your skin have stopped working. 
10. You make things worse if you drink alcohol
If you think that a flask of whiskey will keep you toasty, you are dead wrong. The body's first major reaction to cold is to constrict the blood vessels. However, “alcohol does the opposite—it causes peripheral vasodilation,” explains the Prof. “Those blood vessels widen and dump all this heat to the environment.” So, what happens here is that your skin will feel warm, but that provides a false sense of security, because, in reality, your core temperature drops, leading to extreme hypothermia. 

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7 possible reasons you are freezing all the time and tips to keep your hands warm

Are you one of those people who loads your body with three layers of clothes before you step out of your house in the winter season while your friends wear one sweatshirt and are good to go? Do you always wonder why are you the only one who feels this cold? 

There could be various reasons for you to feel cold all the time and some could be more serious health problems than you can think of. Anaemia, hypothyroidism, vitamin deficiencies, and anorexia could be few of them. Being cold all the time can be a result of deficiencies, food habits, and other serious illnesses.

 Gender
Research has found that women feel colder than men at the same temperature because of the low skin temperature. Women have high levels of estrogen and subcutaneous fat which cause low skin temperature, thus making them feel colder than men, even in the same surroundings.

There isn't really anything you can do about the gender, but what you can do is dress in warmer clothes, avoid foods and beverages that cause your body to be cold. You should also wear gloves as often as you can to keep your hands from freezing, especially when you have to drive.

Anaemia and Hypothyroidism

One of the many reasons that you feel cold can be anaemia or hypothyroidism. Anaemia is a health condition caused by a deficiency of iron, while hypothyroidism is a condition that results when the body is unable to produce enough of the thyroid hormone, affecting the metabolism of the body. 

You can avoid or reduce the risk of anaemia by following a well-balanced diet and including iron-rich foods in your meals. Green leafy vegetables that are so easily available in the winters are a very good source of iron. You should also include lentils, beans, nuts and seeds in your diet to provide your body with the required iron content.

Type 2 Diabetes

Diabetes can cause nerve damage and peripheral neuropathy, which affects around 20 million people in the US, according to the doctors. It can also cause anaemia which results in feeling too cold. There is no definite way to prevent type 2 diabetes. However, you can reduce your risk or delay the onset of the condition by exercising regularly, keeping your weight in check, and eating healthy and a balanced diet. 

Kidney issues

 If you are suffering from any kidney issues, you are more likely to feel cold. According to the doctors, kidney diseases are linked with anaemia. Waste build up in the kidney due to a disease can also lead to lower core body temperatures.

One very important factor for avoiding kidney issues is to keep your blood sugar levels in check, along with your weight and diet.

Anorexia

A type of eating disorder that causes you to become very thin because of a constant worry of gaining weight. It is the most common in people from age 14-60. Anorexia also causes a person to feel cold since the body becomes very deficient of various nutrients and extremely weak.

Vitamin B12 deficiency

A vitamin B12 deficiency can also cause you to feel cold more often and in more intensity than the others. Vitamin B12 helps prevent anaemia and also is a nutrient that helps keep the body's nerve and blood cells healthy.
A deficiency of Vitamin B12 can also be avoided by including fish, meat, egg, and milk products in your diet.

Food habits

Certain foods keep you warmer than others and not including any of them in your diet in the winters can cause you to feel cold all the time. Certain foods like cucumbers and bottle gourds that are believed to cool down the body should also be avoided in the winter season which otherwise can make you feel colder. The foods you should eat or consume more often during the colder months can include ginger, garlic, green leafy vegetables, carrots, and radish- they are easily available in the winters.


Your hands will stay warm if your body stays warm, and the body will stay warm when it is healthy and fit and stocked with the nutrition it requires. You should still dress in warm clothes like hand warmers and gloves, take dietary supplements to provide your body with the nutrients, drink warm beverages and also chill near a bonfire on nights when you have the time.  

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Freezing ‘hunger’ nerve can ignite weight loss

Turns out, freezing a nerve can ignite weight loss. According to a study, freezing the nerve that carries hunger signals to the brain may help patients with mild-to-moderate obesity lose weight. The treatment was determined safe and feasible in the initial pilot phase.

“We developed this treatment for patients with mild-to-moderate obesity to reduce the attrition that is common with weight-loss efforts,” said  lead author of the study. “We are trying to help people succeed with their own attempts to lose weight.”

During the procedure, an interventional radiologist inserts a needle through the patient’s back and, guided by live images from a CT scan, uses argon gas to freeze the nerve, known as the posterior vagal trunk.

This nerve, located at the base of the esophagus, is one of several mechanisms that tell the brain that the stomach is empty.

In the study, 10 subjects with a Body Mass Index (BMI) between 30 and 37 underwent the procedure and were followed for 90 days. All subjects reported decreased appetite and the overall average weight loss was 3.6 percent of initial body weight and an average decline of nearly 14 percent of the excess BMI.

No procedure-related complications were reported, and there were no adverse events during the follow up.

“Medical literature shows the vast majority of weight-loss programs fail, especially when people attempt to reduce their food intake,” said the author. “When our stomachs are empty, the body senses this and switches to food-seeking survival mode. We’re not trying to eliminate this biological response, only reduce the strength of this signal to the brain to provide a new, sustainable solution to the difficult problem of treating mild obesity.”

Following the success of this preliminary safety and feasibility study, more patients are being recruited for a larger clinical trial of the procedure to test the efficacy and durability of the procedure.
In presenting the study, the authors noted several limitations, including the small sample size and the interim nature of the results.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                                                                                                                                                                                      PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/   
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