Transplant receipients can follow Mediterranean diet to preserve kidney health

A new study suggests that kidney transplant recipients who follow more of the Mediterranean diet  were less likely to experience kidney loss. 

Adhering to a Mediterranean diet many help kidney transplant recipients to maintain the health of the transplant kidney function.

The researchers investigated whether following to the Mediterranean diet, that includes high intake of fish, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and olive oil together with lower intake of dairy and meat products- might help protect transplant recipients' kidney health.

More than 1/3rd of recipients still face a loss of kidney function within 10 years, despite improvements shown in the survival of transplanted kidneys in the early years.

The study was conducted by taking the accounts of 632 adult kidney transplant recipients with a functioning donor kidney for at least 1 year completed a food-related questionnaire, and adherence to the Mediterranean diet was assessed using a 9 point score.

During an average follow-up of 5.2 years, 119 recipients experienced kidney function decline ) 76 of whom developed kidney failure). The Mediterranean diet Score was inversely associated with kidney function decline and a 32 % lower risk of kidney failure.

Increasing scientific evidence has demonstrated the health benefits of the Mediterranean Diet on cardiovascular and kidney health. In this study, we show that kidney transplant recipients with higher adherence to the Mediterranean Diet are less likely to experience function loss of their kidney transplant, said the researcher.

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In social isolation, the brain begins to act in strange ways to preserve its sanity

Humans are hardwired to interact with others, especially during times of stress. On the other hand, when we go through a trying ordeal alone, a lack of emotional support and comradeship can increase our anxiety and hinder our ability to cope.

This message is forcefully driven home in the newly released thriller “Shut In.” Naomi Watts plays a widowed child psychologist who lives in isolation in rural New England with her son, who is comatose and bedridden as the result of an automobile accident. Snowed in and withdrawn from the outside world, Watts’ character descends into a desperate existence. It soon becomes difficult for her to distinguish the phantasms of her imagination from the reality of the creepy goings-on in her apparently haunted house.

“Shut In,” of course, isn’t the first movie to use isolation as a vehicle for madness. The characters played by Jack Nicholson in “The Shining” and Tom Hanks in “Castaway” found themselves in similar predicaments. Although movies like “Shut In” are fictional, the toll on the protagonist’s psyche from being so alone for so long is based on the science of social isolation.
The importance of human connection

Yes, other people can be irritating. But they are also our greatest source of comfort, and an impressive amount of psychological research underscores the importance of human contact.

Rejection by others psychologically wounds us more deeply than almost anything else, and research by neuroscientists reveals that ostracism can lead to feeling actual physical pain. Other studies confirm that loneliness isn’t good for anyone’s health. It increases levels of stress hormones in the body while leading to poor sleep, a compromised immune system and, in the elderly, cognitive decline. The damage that solitary confinement inflicts on the mental health of prison inmates has also been well-documented.

Alone in an unchanging environment, the sensory information available to us and the ways in which we process it can change in unpredictable ways. For example, we normally spend most of our time attending to and processing external stimuli from the physical world around us. However, monotonous stimulation from our surroundings may cause us to turn our attention inward – within ourselves – which most of us have much less experience handling.

This can lead to a profoundly altered state of consciousness. We may begin to question what’s going on in our surroundings; Is that creaking sound upstairs just an old house pushing back against the wind, or is it something more sinister? This ambivalence leaves us frozen in place, wallowing in unease, especially if we’re alone. When we’re uncertain, the first thing we usually do is to look to the reactions of others to figure out what is going on. Without others with whom to share information and reactions, ambiguity becomes very hard to resolve. When this happens, our mind may quickly race to the darkest possible conclusions.

Unpleasant things can also happen when small groups of people experience isolation together. Much of what we know about this phenomenon has been gathered from observing the experiences of volunteers at research stations in Antarctica, especially during the “wintering-over” period.
The extreme temperatures, long periods of darkness, alien landscapes and severely reduced sensory input created a perfect natural laboratory for studying the effects of isolation and confinement. The volunteers experienced changes in appetite and sleep patterns. Some stopped being able to accurately track the passage of time and lost the ability to concentrate. The boredom from being around the same people, with limited sources of entertainment, ended up causing a lot of stress. Everyone else’s mannerisms became a grating, annoying and inescapable source of torment.

But perhaps the strangest thing that can happen to someone in isolation is the experience of the “sensed presence,” or the feeling that another person or even a supernatural being is with us.

Sensed presences usually appear in environments with static physical and social stimulation – in other words, when you’re by yourself in a quiet, remote place, just like Naomi Watts’ character in “Shut In.” Low temperature and high levels of stress are also common ingredients.

Some of the most compelling descriptions of sensed presences come from lone sailors, mountain climbers and arctic explorers who have experienced hallucinations and out-of-body experiences. In one amazing 1895 incident, Joshua Slocum, the first person to circumnavigate the globe in a sailboat single-handedly, said he saw and spoke with the pilot of Christopher Columbus’ ship “The Pinta.” Slocum claimed that the pilot steered his boat through heavy weather as he lay ill with food poisoning.

The vividness of a presence can range from a vague feeling of being watched to seeing a seemingly real person. It could be a god, a spirit, an ancestor or a personal acquaintance. A famous example occurred in 1933, when British explorer Frank Smythe attempted to climb Mt. Everest alone. He became so convinced that someone else was accompanying him on his climb that he even offered a piece of cake to his invisible climbing partner.

Possible explanations for a sensed presence include the the movement of boats (if sailing solo) and atmospheric or geomagnetic activity. Stress, lack of oxygen, monotonous stimulation or a buildup of hormones can trigger changes in brain chemistry that induce altered states of consciousness. There’s actually exciting new evidence from a research group led by neuroscientist Olaf Blanke demonstrating that stimulating specific brain regions can trick people into feeling the “presence” of a ghostly apparition.

Although sensed presences are most frequently reported by people in weird or dangerous places, it’s not unreasonable to assume that such experiences can happen in more mundane surroundings. For example, people who have lost a loved one may shut themselves off from the outside world and rarely leave their homes. The loneliness and isolation, coupled with high levels of stress and unchanging sensory stimulation, might very well produce the same biological conditions that could trigger a “visit” from the recently departed. Studies indicate that almost half of widowed elderly Americans will report having hallucinations of their dead spouse. These experiences seem to be a healthy coping mechanism and a normal part of grieving.

What might all of this say about the way we’re hardwired?

It’s clear that meaningful connection to other people is as essential to health as the air we breathe. Given that prolonged periods of social isolation can crack even the hardiest of individuals, perhaps in the absence of actual human contact our brains may manufacture social experiences – a last-ditch attempt to preserve our sanity.

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'Dead' heart brought back to life in pioneering transplant surgery

A desperately ill man's life has been saved after doctors gave him a transplant using a 'dead' heart they had brought back to life.

Medics used a pioneering piece of technology dubbed a 'heart in a box' which can keep a heart preserved and beating for up to eight hours.

Surgeons at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester carried out the successful transfer to Anthony Anderson.

The 58-year-old, from Swinton, was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy – a disease of the heart muscle – which left him in intensive care and he was placed on the urgent transplant list.

Speaking after the operation, Anthony said: 'When I got the call I felt very emotional – really happy, but of course sad that someone had to die to help me and I will be forever grateful to my donor.'

The renowned hospital is one of only four centres in the world to have carried out the revolutionary procedure.

Only a small handful of patients have so far undergone the treatment, the Manchester Evening News reports.

But doctors believe that it could potentially save countless more lives by allowing a greater number of donor hearts to be used for donation.

About 15 in every 100 patients die while on the waiting list for a heart transplant.

There is always a shortage of hearts and organs have to be transplanted very soon after the donor has died.

But doctors believe the new technology could help save countless more lives – by allowing allowing a greater number of donor hearts to be used for donation.

The team are 'out of this world'

Anthony first began feeling tired and suffering with palpitations in 2002, but overtime his symptoms worsened significantly and he was referred to Wythenshawe Hospital.

Just weeks after his transplant, Anthony was back at home, but continues to be monitored by the team.

He said: 'I think the transplant team at Wythenshawe Hospital are out of this world. I'm getting stronger every day and my plan is now to enjoy retirement with my wife Lisa, a paediatric nurse at Salford Royal.'

How it works

The revolutionary transplant technique was first devised a few years ago, but is not currently widely used.

Doctors are using a technology known as an the Transmedia Organ Care System to resuscitate previously unusable hearts.

It works by pumping blood round the heart to restore functionality. Once the heart is beating again, surgeons are able to assess the donor heart more extensively and reduce the risk of rejection. 

Rajamiyer Venkateswaran, director of transplantation and consultant cardiac surgeon at the hospital explained that this type of transplant is different because it uses a 'Donation After Circulatory Determined Death' (DCD) donor heart.

This is where the donor is not brain dead but has sustained severe brain injury

'In this scenario the treatment of the donor is withdrawn and allows cardiac arrest to happen,' he said.

'The heart is then retrieved from the donor and is resuscitated on the Organ Care System machine.

'I am so proud of our team at the Transplant Centre It is an amazing development as previously we would not have been able to use these hearts for transplantation.

Dr Venkateswaran said he hoped the new procedure will increase the hospital's 25 heart transplants a year by 20 per cent by using hearts from DCD donors.

The highly specialised OCS machine has been funded by a £125,000 donation by the New Start Charity.

Wythenshawe Hospital, run by the University Hopsital of South Manchester NHS Trust, has long been home to one of the UK's top cardiac centres and is home to world-leading experts in heart, lungs and chest surgery. 

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11 Uses for Butter

Butter is an essential resource found in every kitchen. It's a necessary ingredient in many recipes, it aids cooking, and it enhances the flavor of many of our favorite foods. However, there are some unusual benefits of butter that you are surely missing. Surprisingly, butter is a brilliant solution to many of our household, food, and daily problems. Read this post to find out what else you can do with this multi-purpose dairy product.
Household Applications of Butter

1. Mask a Creaky Door
Have a noisy door in your house that is really getting on your nerves? Butter's got this covered, literally. Open a stick of butter and rub it onto the hinges of your creaky door, and say goodbye to the irritating sound.

2. Remove Ink from Plastic
We often stain plastic objects, then attempt to remove the stains by rubbing them with water and soap. That's the hard way. The easiest solution to this is found in your fridge. Grab some butter, rub it generously onto the ink-stained plastic, and let it soak. After 20-40 minutes, wipe off the butter and there you go - your plastic looks like new. 

3. Untangle Jewelry
The tangling of necklaces happens very easily, usually at the worst time, when your patience levels aren't sky-high. It seems like the more you try to untangle it, the worse it becomes. Instead of letting it get to you, remember our friend butter. Rub a small quantity of butter onto the entwined area and using a fork, work out the entanglement.

4. Get Rid of Watermarks from Wood
If you have stained your wooden furniture with condensation rings and don't know how to remove them - take this advice. Apply about a tablespoon of butter to the watermark, rub into the wood and leave it over-night. Wipe it off the following morning and you will see how the butter was able to replace the wood's lost moisture.

5. Slice Through Sticky Foods Easily
Isn't it annoying when you're cutting through a thick chocolate cake and by the time you get to the third piece your knife is full of sticky scraps? Next time you're slicing such food, remember to coat your knife with butter before you start. Just like that you'll avoid messiness and your knife will slice though food smoothly, making your slices nice and neat. 

6. Prolong the Freshness of Cheese
Like many other foods, cheese is difficult to keep from molding, especially in hot weather. No matter if you store it in cold temperature or not, mold will still find its way to your storage and grow on your vulnerable cheese. Prevent this from happening by covering the exposed portions of your cheese with butter, and it will form a protective seal that will keep it from getting moldy. 

7. Preserve Semi-Used Onions
Next time you store a partially-used onion, simply spread a bit of butter onto its moist surface and store it in foil. This will prolong the freshness of your onion for quite some time.

8. Aid in Swallowing Pills
If you often find it hard to swallow sizeable pills and capsules, make your life easier by coating them with a little butter and then swallowing them with a gulp of water. This will be enough for them to easily slide down your throat.

9. Maintain Dry or Brittle Nails
Suffering from dry nails that turn weak and brittle is a common occurrence, especially when exposed to moist conditions. Surprisingly, butter can treat the problem easily. Before you go to sleep, find a stick of butter, rub it onto each cuticle, leaving a little dab, and put on a pair of cotton gloves. Leave your nails to soak the proteins from the butter overnight and it will help them regain their strength, as well as prevent them from cracking in the future. 

10. Soften Your Hands
We've all suffered from dry and rough skin on our hands, especially during the cold season. Butter contains plenty of proteins and fats which can act as a natural moisturizer, so you can find a quick supply of that in your own kitchen. Apply some butter to your hands and rub it in, the same way you do with a regular moisturizer.

11. Nourish Your Hair
If you suffer from dry hair and are finding conditioners useless, you may want to try a more natural alternative to having healthy, moisturized hair. Although it sounds unusual, my advice would be to saturate your hair with a little butter. Its natural properties will help tame the frizz, while giving your hair some healthy shine and smoothness.

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/                                                                                                                                                FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                       https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                     FOR CROCHET DESIGNS                                                                                                   

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This new molecule could help improve heart attack recovery

Researchers have developed a new molecule that could help preserve heart tissue during, and even after, a heart attack.

Cardiologists say that when a heart attack occurs, time is muscle, said a researcher.

Without oxygen supplied by blood flow, heart cells die- fast. But while a heart attack may only reduce blood and oxygen to an isolated section of heart cells- causing what's called hypoxic-ischemic injury- those dying cells send signals to their neighbours.

The problem is that the area of dying tissue is not quarantined. Damaged heart cells start to send out signals to otherwise healthy cells, and the injury becomes much bigger, said the researcher.

Scientists sometimes call this spread of injury signals to nearby healthy tissues a bystander effect. But what if there were a way to keep the injury localized to the group of cells that are directly affected by the hypoxic-ischemic injury while allowing the nearby muscle cells to remain intact.

Nearly a decade ago, a researcher stumbled across a promising discovery. The team discovered a compound that targets the activity of channels in cell membranes responsible for controlling key aspects of the bystander effect.

But the compound, called alphaCT1, also had other unexpected and beneficial effects, particularly in relation to skin wound healing.

We found that it helped reduce inflammation, helped heal chronic wounds such as diabetic foot ulcers, he said.

The group designed molecules with slight chemical differences from the parent molecule, which led to an unexpected discovery. One of the alphaCT1 variants- called alpha CT11- showed more potency than the parent molecule.

AlphaCT11 seems to be even more effective than the original peptide in protecting hearts from an ischemic injury similar to those occurring during a heart attack, he said.

The study revealed that alphaCT11 gives a robust injury-reducing effect, even when given 20 minutes after the loss of blood flow that causes ischemic injury. When put to the same test, the parent peptide did not appear to provide a heart-protective effect when administered after ischemic injury.

aplhaCT11 could provide the basis for a new way to treat heart attacks and prevent the spread of damage that occurs immediately after a heart attack, he said.

The researchers perfused isolated laboratory mouse hearts, keeping the organ alive and beating for a number of hours. Ongoing studies, through collaboration with others, will examine how alphaCT11 performs in live mice.

The researcher is also developing new methods for delivering alphaCT11 using naturally-derived tiny lipid droplets called exosomes. These newer experiments could provide a stepping stone toward clinical trials in patients who have suffered a heart attack.

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/                                                                                                                                                FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                       https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                     FOR CROCHET DESIGNS                                                                                                   

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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.

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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