Don't Forget Plasma

Plasma is the yellowish liquid that carries our blood cells, platelets, and proteins throughout the body. Everyone knows that it is important to donate blood, there are signs that pop up everywhere that say "Donate today" or "Bloodmobile." Did you know that it is also important to donate plasma? 

Plasma carries blood throughout the body, helps with blood clotting, carries hormones, clears waste, and fights infection. Plasma transfusions are given to people who are preparing for surgery, have suffered trauma, are fighting a disease, or expecting mothers with opposing Rh factors as their baby. The wonderful thing about plasma is that it has no "type." Anyone between the ages of 18 and 69 that weigh at least 110 pounds can donate plasma as long at they're in good health. The plasma that is donated can be given in transfusions to improve or save a life, sent to a plasma fractionation plant where it is processed to separate its many proteins, or utilized in a plasma exchange. 


A fractionation plant breaks down plasma to make medical products such  as immunoglobulins, coagulation factors, and human albumin solutions. People who lack the ability for their blood to clot, to have the correct amounts of the protein albumin, or the antibodies to fight off infection can suffer greatly with these deficiencies. There are hundreds of products that are made in fractionation plants to benefit patients in need.



Plasma exchanges (plasmapheresis) are given to people with rare blood conditions. Patients are hooked up to a machine that removes their blood and plasma from one arm, separates their blood from their plasma, then returns the blood and a plasma substitute to their blood stream through the other arm. This could take up to hours and only 100 ml of blood leaves the body at a time. 

Plasma makes up about 49.5% of the contents in your cardiovascular system. It plays an important role in carrying blood, proteins, hormones, and other important molecules throughout the body. People who have deficiencies in something contained in the plasma can suffer greatly. By donating plasma, you have the ability to improve and/or save a persons life. Many plasma donation centers compensate plasma donors for their time. BioLife is a donation facility that has  centers in 24 of our 50 states. Centers, such as BioLife, make donating easy. Why not save a life?


Helpful Sites:
BioLife Site, Hub Pages, Red Cross, Give Blood, Plasma Products

Benefits of the Paleo Diet

The nutrition facts and advice we have been following over the last fifty years about good human nutrition and diet may have been completely wrong and helped contribute to the current obesity issue we see today in the United States. The industrial and agricultural revolution led to the production of highly processed foods and this is when we began to see the start of all the health problems in the United states such as: a rise in diabetes, rise in obesity, rise in cancer, rise in hypertension and rise in cardiovascular disease. This led to nutritional advice that was heavily based on minimal protein from lean meat sources, lots of grains, and-fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately after following this government food pyramid advice for the last fifty years Americans continue to struggle from the health problems listed above. Sixty-six percent of Americans are overweight and thirty- three percent of Americans are obese. The Paleo diet advocates a way of life similar to pre-historic cavemen. It is a diet that consists of a lot of protein, saturated fats, vegetables and fruits. They recommend avoiding grains, processed foods and manufactured sugars. They also recommend up to sixty minutes of vigorous exercise each day. Many of the foods we have been taught to avoid, eggs, red meat, organ meats, and fatty cuts of meat are all a common part of the Paleo diet. The diet is very easy to follow. There is no calorie count like you see with lots of diets today and the food portions are very easy to control. The food portion for a person is the size of your palm. The Paleo diet generally recommends one portion of protein, three portions of vegetables, and one to two portions of fruit for every meal. People who follow the Paleo diet generally lose weight, have more energy, and sleep better at night. They also generally see improvements in their blood cultures. This all came about due to research on the cellular remains and fossils of the Paleo cavemen. We found that they were extremely health; they were lean, strong and did not suffer from things like clogged arteries, heart disease, obesity and other health issues that the modern man is facing in todays world. They thrived on a diet of high protein, high saturated fat, and vegetables and fruit that were in season. The Paleo people did not have access to all kinds of fruits and vegetables all year long. They took advantage of these when the season was right for them to grow. The modern day man and woman is virtually identical genetically to the modern day man and woman, therefore the modern day man and woman should be able to thrive on the same diet the Paleolithic people thrived on and also receive the same health benefits. There have been isolated populations that live on the same diet that have been scientifically studied that have been found to thrive on the diet and consistently live long lives without chronic health problems. When our modern diet of highly processed foods and grains were introduced to these same people they quickly become obese and fell victim to the same health problems that we see so common in the United States today.













Source 1: http://thepaleodiet.com/about-the-paleo-diet/
Source2: http://www.thebigfatsurprise.com

Stress Hormones and Memory



Have you ever experienced a traumatic event and remember or recall the event for years and years afterward? Why is that? Scientists are digging further to try to understand how traumatic events trigger key memory hormones especially in women. When you experience a traumatic event your body releases two stress hormones. One of those hormones is norepinephrine and the other is cortisol. To better understand how these stress hormones work together lets briefly explain their purpose.

Norepinephrine is a hormone very similar to adrenaline which is released by the adrenal glands. This is your arousal hormone and as we all know when under stress a person tends to be more responsive. Norepinephrine acts as an active site to trigger blood flow and deliver it to necessary parts of the body to help reduce stress. Norepinephrine can also be released from the brain, when this happens its main function is to act as a neurotransmitter which helps enhance memory.

Cortisol is a steroid hormone also released by the adrenal glands. Cortisol has a powerful strengthening memory mechanism just like norepinephrine. Cortisol helps maintain blood pressure. Under stressful situations, cortisol is released continuously and an over load of cortisol can lead to health issues. Too much cortisol can suppress the immune system and contribute to obesity among other things. The release of cortisol depends on the activation of the hormone norepinephrine in order to be successful in the strengthening memory mechanism.

During my research I found an interesting experiment that was documented by Sabrina Segal who is assistant research professor at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Salivary Bioscience Research at Arizona State University and her colleagues at the University of California. The study included 39 women who viewed 144 graphic images that were designed to trigger reactions that range from neutral to emotional. Before the image test, participants were given either a hydrocortisone shot or a harmless pill to help stimulate stress. The women were asked to report their feelings during the test and provide a saliva sample after the exam. One week later, participants were called again for a recall test. The results were not surprising. When you experience a traumatic event, both cortisol and norepinephrine need to be released which together trigger the memory enhancing mechanism and the traumatic event is never forgotten.

Another thing the study revealed was that if you can lower the norepinephrine levels immediately following a traumatic event; even if cortisol levels are present you can reduce or prevent the memory enhancing mechanism from occurring.

Just based on this one study, much more research is needed to explore the relationships between cortisol and norepinephrine depending on whether you are male or female. Although one website did say that women are twice as likely to develop disorders from stress and trauma that effect memory. One such disorder is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Understanding how the brain reacts to a traumatic event and the memories built from that event could help develop therapeutics that can help people suffering such a disorder.

Sources:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/19/adrenaline-cortisol-stress-hormones_n_3112800.html#

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140723131247.htm

Bacteria to Cure Obesity

After reviewing several articles I came across an article that talked about using bacteria that occurs naturally in the gut to prevent obesity and type 2 diabetes. I thought this would be a great topic to write about because we just finished the discussion on fecal transplants that provided bacteria from a healthy donor to an unhealthy patient, resulting in stabilization of the unhealthy patients gut bacteria.

Akkermansia

Obesity and type 2 diabetes are characterized by symptoms including inflammation changes in the composition of the intestinal bacteria and the disruption of the natural barrier in the intestines. The healthy bacteria was found in large numbers in humans that were not overweight and fewer in humans and rodents with inflammation or obesity. In this study scientist from Vanderbilt University, tested the Akkermansia bacteria, which is a healthy bacteria that occurs naturally in the guts of humans and animals. Akkermansia muciniphila is found in the intestinal mucus layer that protects against intruders. This bacteria was studied in mice. Researchers gave mice a high fatty diet and placed the healthy bacteria in their water. The mice showed a reduction in their weight and maintained a healthy weight compared to the controlled group of mice. The mice where given the bacteria over a course of eight weeks. The mice that were given the bacteria had dramatically lower food intake, body fat, insulin resistance and fatty liver, compared to the controlled group. The presence of this healthy bacteria, strengthen the intestinal barrier and also decreased weight gain and inflammation reactions in fatty tissues and insulin resistance.  The bacteria also increased endocannabinoid levels, which is a substance that ensures blood glucose remains at the correct level. They also found that the mice that were given the bacteria still showed effects of the bacteria 4 weeks after the bacteria had been stopped. There was also a difference in the liver of the mice, which showed that the bacteria were affecting areas beyond the gut.

This was amazing research. I cannot believe that we could be on the cusp of finding a cure for type 2 diabetes and obesity. To think, all the health issues that are cause in results of diabetes and obesity that could be cured from healthy bacteria. There would be no need for medication, just a prescription for natural healthy bacteria. Although, this study has not been conducted on humans, I believe the study is not far away. As a person who has tried to lose weight in the pass and discovered the older I get, the harder it becomes to keep the weight off, this is good news to my ears. It’s a dream come true to be able to think about, just drink a glass of water enhanced with natural bacteria to keep my weight off. The weight loss market is huge and if this is brought to market, it would put all the other companies out of business. There are harmful ingredients in weight loss supplements today that can cause harm to your body. I think most people would agree, if given a choice to take an unhealthy weight loss pill or to take bacteria, that occurs naturally in your body, I think everyone would chose the bacteria. Something so simple has been made complicated for years and now we might be on the edge of solving one of our biggest health issues. 

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140722142521.htm 

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130515113744.htm

Immunotherapy

 Imagine a cancer patient being cured by using their own immune system. Do you think it could happen? Well it is happening. Both the National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society discuss Immunotherapy on their web sites and in these articles they discuss the success of the trails being performed using this technique.

Immunotherapy is a newer technique being used treat cancer by using the patient’s immune system. Some immunotherapies just boost the patient’s immune system in a very general way but others use cells in the immune system to destroy the cancer cells. The therapies use different immune system cells depending on the cancer and different approaches have been proved more effective for different kinds of cancer. Currently the National Cancer Institute has released an article discussing the use on the immune systems T-cells to attack tumor cells in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in a process called adoptive cell transfers (ACT).

T-cells are the immune system’s defense against cells in the body that have "gone rouge" and become harmful to the body. The T-cells attack the diseased cells to destroy them and remove them from the body. ACT uses these cells by modifying them to increase their productiveness at destroying the specific tumor cells. 

The process of modifying the cells starts by drawing blood from the cancer patient. The T-cells are then extracted and modified to have chimeric antigen receptors (CARs). These are receptors that allow the cells to be specialized in recognizing and attacking the proteins (antigens) on the tumor cells. The modified T-cells are grown in the laboratory until there are billions of them. The multiplying process can take as long as a month but some researchers have been able to bring this time down to as little as 9 to 14 days. While the T-cells are multiplying they are tested for safety and efficiency before they can be injected back into the patient. Finally the T-cells are injected back into the patient but this is not the end of the process. Just like other cancer treatments the immunotherapy needs to be monitored for safety and effectiveness. 

Also like other cancer treatments, immunotherapy has side effects. The most severe side effect to the T-cell treatment is cytokine-release syndrome. Cytokine is released by the T-cells in order to help them complete their duties but when too much cytokine is released into the blood stream it can have very bead side effects. These side effects include high fevers and drops in blood pressure. Researchers have found that, in most cases, the side effects can be handled with supportive therapies like steroids.

So far much of the research into these CAR T-cell therapies have been successful but there are still ongoing trials to research this approach. Some researchers are encouraged by the success of the CAR T-cell therapy and are looking into ways to modify it to help with other cancers. These include modifying the CAR T-cells to attack solid tumors like those in brain cancer.

Personally I was very encouraged by this research and the success that CAR T-cell immunotherapy is having. By using the patient's own person T-cells and modifying them to attack the exact kind of cancer they have in their body is remarkable! Immunotherapy could be the future of cancer treatments by creating a personalized treatment plan unique for every cancer patient!

Source:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/research-updates/2013/CAR-T-Cells
http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/treatmenttypes/immunotherapy/immunotherapy-what-is-immunotherapy

Hemochromatosis: Iron Overload

After reading about human genetic disorders and hemoglobin, I realized that I have been affected by something similar to the others discussed. I am a carrier for hemochromatosis, which is when there is too much iron in the blood, and my brother and sister both have hemochromatosis. If there is too much iron in the blood, it can lead to damaged organs especially liver damage.

There are three different types of hemochromatosis including primary hemochromatosis, secondary hemochromatosis, and neonatal hemochromatosis. The primary hemochromatosis is inherited from parents. In order to have the disease, you must have one mutated gene from each parent, as it is a recessive genetic disorder. The mutated gene is the HFE gene which regulates the amount of iron absorbed from foods. There are two specific mutations in this gene C282Y and H63D with C282Y being the most common cause, however it is possible to have one allele of each or both of one type. Primary hemochromatosis is the most common form with about 90% of cases being primary. Secondary hemochromatosis is not inherited but is typically given to someone who has many blood transfusions due to severe anemia. Secondary hemochromatosis does not cause as much liver damage as primary. Finally, neonatal hemochromatosis is the most rare form and is characterized by liver failure and death in fetuses and newborns. As you may have guessed, I am a carrier of primary hemochromatosis.


There are many different symptoms and ways doctors diagnose this disease, however, sometimes symptoms may not even show, as was the case for my sister and brother. Because the symptoms do not always show, some people may never even be diagnosed with the disease. The symptoms include joint pain, fatigue, unexplained weight loss, abnormal bronze or grey skin color, abdominal pain, and/or loss of sex drive. Since these symptoms do not always show, there are different ways doctors diagnose this including family and medical history, physical exam, liver biopsy, or blood tests. I learned I had the disease when my sister had to get many medical tests including blood tests done for something and discovered she had it. Then, due to medical history, my family all had to be tested and we discovered my brother also had it, while my other sister and I were carriers.

As with most diseases, there are many complications associated with hemochromatosis including cirrhosis (scarring of liver tissue), diabetes, irregular heart rhythms, arthritis, or erectile disfunction. Liver damage is the most common. However, there is no specific cure for hemochromatosis, there is only treatment. Since there is too much iron in the blood, the treatment is too draw blood (phlebotomy) 2-3 times a week or monthly, depending on the severity. Women with the disease do not typically begin treatment until after menopause because they are already losing blood monthly, which is also a reason that women do not experience symptoms until they are older as often as men. Along with the treatment, people with hemochromatosis should try to avoid foods high in iron like red meats because a normal person will only absorb 10% of the iron whereas a person with hemochromatosis will absorb up to 30% of the iron.

Although there is no cure, hemochromatosis is not a life threatening disease as long as it is diagnosed early in life so that people can properly treat it. Luckily, my brother and sister found out early in their life and are able to draw blood monthly to prevent the complications that come along with hemochromatosis. I will also test my children in the future when I have them to ensure they take proper precautions as well.

Source:
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/hemochromatosis/

-Alexandra Grund
July 21, 2014

Oral Chemotherapy

A Glance at Oral Chemotherapy 

        I decided to focus more on the topic of cancer and the possible cures for it since we discussed it in class during one of our molecules.This has become a very touching subject for me because over the past year my grandmother was diagnosed with colon cancer and had to begin a treatment for it. We knew she would have to go through chemotherapy but she did a type I had never heard of before, oral chemotherapy. 

In case you are curious as to how chemotherapy effects your cells, here's a short video I found interesting and educating on the point! 

                                                  Oral chemotherapy is a treatment used to shrink a tumor and/or kill cancer cells. Oral chemo is typically taken in a pill form (also known as a capsule.) This type of treatment is not available for all types of cancer, but it can be a very effective treatment if used and taken in the proper way. There are multiple side effects that can occur while taken any form of oral chemotherapy. You will find that the side effects are nearly identical to the side effects of the IV chemo because they are both systemic treatments. Systemic treatments go through your entire body in an attempt to kill the cells effected my cancer. Unfortunately, this also leads to healthy cells being attacked and this can lead to the side effects in the above chart. 

Over the past year, I have done some researching on these different types drugs used for oral chemotherapy. This has helped me gain a greater understanding of the treatment, and of cancer in general. 

Here are some of the most common types: 

*Xeloda- Used to treat breast cancer, colon cancer, and colorectal cancers. 

(This is the type that my grandma used for her treatment! On a side note, she was just happy she didn't loose her hair! :) She was very lucky because hair lose is a side effect.)

*Cytoxan- used for a wide variety of cancers. These include breast cancer, leukemia, cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, lung cancer, multiple myeloma and ovarian cancer.

*Toposar- used to treat prostate cancer, Kaposi's sarcoma, small cell lung cancer and lymphoma. 

*Navelbind- used to treat non-small cell lung cancer and breast cancer. 

I am lucky enough to sit here and tell you today that my grandmother is a fighter and she is still with us today. She has been cancer free for a few months now. We had a bit of a scare last month when the doctors explained to us that they saw "something" irregular in her lungs. After a very long weekend of assuming the worst, we found out that it was just infection from when she had the cancer around her colon. It's kinda gross and still not the greatest situation, but we are so thankful she is still cancer free! :) 

If you read about this type of treatment you will see there is quite a bit of negative feedback about it but if you look over those, there is also a very good amount of positives regarding it. Hopefully you never have to make a decision concerning a cancer treatment, but if you do make sure you find EVERYTHING there is to know about your different options before making that decision! 

The American Cancer Society is a great source to read about oral chemotherapy and somewhere to learn about the side effects and steps to take. Here is a link to this material:

http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/treatmenttypes/chemotherapy/oral-chemotherapy