Posts Tagged ‘Young Adults’

Severe Aplastic Anemia – Study Results and Factors Affecting Transplant Outcomes

Comments: 0November 12th, 2011 by admin



Aplastic anemia is composed of a group of conditions that are joined together, with every one of them having a counterproductive on the bone marrow and the blood cells. The more serious cases of aplastic anemia would necessitate a cord blood transplant or a bone marrow transplant just to improve a the chances of a patient surviving the ordeal. Meanwhile, different modes of treatment such as medications and chemotherapy can prevent the development of this in less serious cases.

An aplastic anemia patient experiences an inefficient production of his body’s white blood cells and red blood cells. Platelets are needed by the body for effective blood clotting, red blood cells assist in transporting oxygen throughout the body and white blood cells help in fighting infection. A person suffering from severe aplastic anemia would not have these cells functioning in the proper way, thus endangering the whole body’s health and well-being.

Factors Affecting the Outcome of Transplants

Studies show that children have a greater chance of survival compared to adults who are suffering from severe aplastic anemia. Experts think that the reason behind this is that children and young adults tend to have lower risks of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) progression, and they have better responses to transplants. GVHD can develop in patients suffering from severe aplastic anemia, and is a grave complication arising from the transplant; it can often be life-threatening.

A huge number of successful transplant patients are those who have their siblings as donors. This rate of success can be attributed to the fact that the closer the donor is to the recipient, the better the chances of success will be.

In the event that the transplants go awry with those suffering from a version of severe aplastic anemia, there might be a number of factors involved. As an example, the time lapsed between the time the patient was diagnosed and when the treatment will be done can have a significant effect; the longer the waiting period between the diagnosis and the transplant, the lower the chances are of the patient surviving, because the illness was allowed to push through with its progress.

Severe Aplastic Anemia Study Results

A number of research studies have been done to study the effects and causes of severe aplastic anemia, and further studies are being continually done to search for more substantial treatments for the illness.

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Posted in anemia

Promyelocytic Leukemia

Comments: 0May 19th, 2011 by admin



Promyelocytic Leukemia a growth of the bone marrow in which there is a deficit of mature blood cells in the myeloid line of cells and a surplus of immature cells called promyelocytes. Promyelocytic leukemia is due to a translocation between chromosomes 15 and 17 which is symbolized t(15;17). This translocation is not a mere indicator of promyelocytic leukemia but the main cause. Promyelocytic leukemia generally comes under the acute form leukemia. It is also termed as acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL).

In 1957, promyelocytic leukemia was first accepted as an individual disease entity. It accounts for 5-10% of cases of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The peak incidence of promyelocytic leukemia is amongst young adults. Promyelocytic leukemia is thought of as a type of AML and is classified as the M3 variant of AML.

Symptoms of promyelocytic leukemia are generally nonspecific and comprise of fatigue, minor infections, or hemorrhagic diathesis. There is usually pancytopenia with anemia, low levels of the granulocytes and monocytes, and low levels of platelets. Transfusion is thus an alternative that can be availed of.

Treatment of promyelocytic leukemia is different from that for all other forms of AML. Majority patients are now treated with all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA). ATRA is a form of “differentiation therapy.” It activates the retinoid receptor RAR and causes the promyeloctes to mature and this deters them from proliferating.

Even though ATRA cannot eliminate the leukemic clone it can stimulate a complete diminution in most patients suffering from promyelocytic leukemia by causing the promyelocytic leukemia -blasts to mature. ATRA is therefore used in combination with chemotherapy including an anthracycline drug.

Chances of survival are better with the combination of ATRA and chemotherapy than chemotherapy alone. This is because ATRA combined with chemotherapy accounts for a slightly higher rate of complete remissions while allowing significantly fewer relapses. Maintenance cure with ATRA, and possibly with low-dose chemotherapy, further reduces the occurrence of relapse. The advent of ATRA therapy has revolutionized the treatment of promyelocytic leukemia and clearly enhanced the prognosis.

Promyelocytic leukemia is connected with a characteristic cellular picture classified as M3 in the French-American-British Classification and responds positively to treatments including retinoids, chemotherapy and, most recently, arsenicals.

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Posted in leukimia

What Is The Brain?

Comments: 0August 30th, 2010 by admin



The brain is the organ in a person’s skull that controls the functions of all of the other organs. Together, the brain and spine make up the central nervous system. The brain is responsible for the experience of the five senses (taste, touch, sight, hearing and smell). The brain is also the seat of thought, language, personality, creativity and memory. The brain controls movement, sensation, balance, and coordination. In order to do its job, the brain requires an enormous amount of the oxygen and nutrient energy that a person takes in regularly.

The brain is comprised of nerve cells (called neurons) which carry signals, and the cells which support the nerve cells (called glial cells ). There are a number of different types of glial cells, all with different names and functions. The glial cells outnumber the neurons in the brain by a ratio of 10:1

Brain Tumor Symptoms

Depending on the location and size of the tumor, symptoms experienced by each patient may vary. Most of the common symptoms are due to increased intracranial pressure as the growing tumor affects surrounding structures:

* Frequent headaches (reported by 50% of patients)

* Blurry vision

* Nausea and/or vomiting

* Personality or cognitive changes

Other symptoms are site-specific, including seizures, speech impairment, weakness or numbness on one side and problems with coordination, balance or mobility.

Types of Brain Tumors

There are many different types of brain tumors, based on what cells are affected and how they appear under a microscope. Tumors can be classified into four general categories:

1)Gliomas

2)Astrocytoma

3)Grade I (pilocytic astrocytoma): slow growing, with little tendency to infiltrate surrounding brain tissue. Most common in children and adolescents.

4)Grade II (diffuse astrocytoma): fairly slow-growing, with some tendency to infiltrate surrounding brain tissue. Mostly seen in young adults.

5)Grade III (anaplastic/malignant astrocytoma): these tumors grow rather quickly and infiltrate surrounding brain tissue.

6)Grade IV (glioblastoma multiforme, GBM): an extremely aggressive and lethal form of brain cancer. Unfortunately, it is the most common form of brain tumor in adults, accounting for 67% of all astrocytomas.

7)Oligodendroglioma

8)Ependymoma

Tests on your cancer cells

Your breast cancer cells can be tested to see if they have ‘hormone receptors’ or biological therapy receptors. There are oestrogen receptors and progesterone receptors. You may hear your doctor talk about ‘your oestrogen receptor status’, ‘ER status’ or ‘PR status’. Sometimes, doctors may say you are ‘ER positive’ or ‘ER negative’.

Treatment

1)Surgery

When possible, brain tumors are removed through surgery. While many can be removed with little or no damage to the brain, others are located where surgical removal is difficult or impossible without destroying critical parts of the brain.

Brain damage caused by surgery can lead to partial paralysis, changes in sensation (feeling), weakness and poor thinking. Even so, removing a tumor is necessary when it threatens important brain structures. Even when it can’t cure a malignancy, surgery can help reduce the size of the tumor, ease symptoms and help determine the type of tumor

2)Radiation Therapy

3)Chemotherapy

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Posted in cancer