Decisions concerning treatment in acute myelogenous leukemia

Leukemia, especially the acute myelogenous leukemia, which is the most common, is a very serious disease. This condition can go from bad to worse very quickly. Talking to your doctor about the treatment options that are available for you is crucial in this case.

When first diagnosed with this type of leukemia, induction chemotherapy is the first step towards remission. Many of the leukemia patients actually succeed, but there are cases when their condition does not get any better. All leukemia patients will also go through a second treatment phase to try preventing relapse. This second step is more based on the risk factors of the leukemia patient. As I have said before, although chemotherapy can be very successful in almost all leukemia cases, there are patients whose condition will not improve. This is the main reason why, your doctor should also talk to you about the possibility of having a transplant.

Almost 90 percent of all patients under 60 that use chemotherapy as a leukemia treatment will see an improvement in their condition, reaching remission. However, transplant is sometimes the first choice of some leukemia patients. Although this may not be the case for you, talking about the possibility of having a transplant is good. This allows you to have a more flexible treatment and also a quicker transplant, if necessary. In most leukemia cases, if not all, it is best that you be prepared for this option as well. In order to do that, there are some steps you have to take:
- first, acute myelogenous leukemia patients must see a doctor specialized in transplant and discuss with him/ her the risk factors; the leukemia patients also has to undertake a few tests;
- second, you should talk to all your family members that are potential donors and tell them to get tested, either when you are, or soon after;
- together with your doctor, you should then see the list with all other donors and see if there might be a match for you;
- if you are one of those unfortunate leukemia patients that find no suitable donor, then you should definitely talk to your doctor about an autologous transplant;

There are patients who should under any circumstances, discuss transplant in their leukemia case. These are people that will not be able to tolerate transplant. Older leukemia patients or people who suffer from other medical conditions are those that can not go through a transplant procedure.

Read More

One Option For Treatment of Leukemia is Umbilical Cord Stem Cells

There are few things more terrifying to a parent than being told that your child has Leukemia.


My son was two years old when he began to exhibit troubling symptoms. He was fairly small at birth and he never seemed to gain much weight, always remaining in the bottom percentile for weight in children his age. He began to show signs of constant fatigue and no amount of sleep seemed enough. He became noticeably pale, even in the summer. At first the doctor thought we were dealing with a series of viruses; Jamie was in daycare after all, and those places are a hotbed for colds and the like. After a few months without sign of recovery it seemed obvious to my husband and I that something else was going on. We had him tested for Anemia and sure enough, his red blood cell count was low. The doctor prescribed iron supplements and sent us off.


In the back of my mind something was bothering me about the diagnosis; call it mother’s paranoia. I paid for more comprehensive testing at a private clinic and we received the devastating news: Jamie was diagnosed with Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia (or JMML). There are different variations of Leukemia and JMML is probably the worst. It typically strikes very young children and without aggressive treatment the survival rate is as low as five percent. We sat down with the team of doctors to discuss treatment options and what was going to happen to Jamie and I was absolutely numb through the entire meeting.


The one thing that suddenly brought hope to us was the fact that we had opted to store some blood from Jamie’s umbilical cord at a banking facility. I don’t even remember why we did it at the time. I guess I’m big on insurance. The doctors were excited when my husband spoke up to inform them of this and it turns out that one of the most effective treatments for JMML is through a stem cell transplant.


Jamie is now six and his prognosis is good, although if we hadn’t made that decision just before he was born, the outcome would likely have been grim.

Read More

Imperative Facts About Leukemia

Acute leukemia occurs when immature blood cells begin to rapidly increase and begins to crowd the bone marrow, preventing it from making more healthy blood cells. Thus, problems occur in the body as it is unable to fight off diseases and harmful attacks and immediate treatment is needed to combat this disease. Usually this occurs most often and frequently in children over adults and can be caught and treated.

Chronic leukemia occurs when mature and abnormal white blood cells are produced very fast and at alarming rates causing really abnormal white blood cells to be present in the body's blood stream. This is usually found in older people as the cells are usually mature already and sometimes immediate treatment is postponed as the entire chronic condition is monitored and the best case treatment is considered before any action is taken on the matter.

There are many signs of this disease, particular damage to the bone marrow causing a lack of blood platelets which are extremely important for the blood clotting process. So, people with this disease are often ones who get hurt easily and bruise for little things and bleed at alarming excesses. That is one way to know that one might have leukemia, to be aware of whether or not they bleed a lot for little injuries that should not have caused so much bleeding. Also, because the white blood cells are otherwise occupied, the patient's immune system is always shot and unable to fight off sicknesses. They will even start attacking other body cells and people might get infections frequently or have infected sores in the mouth, tonsils, or even diarrhea or bouts of pneumonia that can be almost fatal in the extent of it.

Patients are often pale and weak as they might suffer from anemia, or low blood counts, and that might cause them to lack energy and strength. Sometimes patients feel sick, have night chills and sweats and fevers and many symptoms that could be mistaken for ones related to the flu. If you feel nausea or always feel very bloated or full, that might all be due to swollen organs like the liver or spleen that will cause weight loss and fatigue. Finally, it is possible to experience headaches, as well, as the disease can interfere with the nervous system.

To diagnose this disease, you will have to undergo medical tests that usually examine the bone marrow and do blood counts to see what the situation is. Also a lymph node biopsy is performed, as well, to see whether you have it in certain situations. The damage to the organs is also determined from the blood tests and sometimes doctors will perform X-Rays and MRIS or other kinds of screening tests. Usually this is treated with medications that are combined with chemotherapy radiation and sometimes radiation therapy.

Also, some patients benefit immensely from a bone marrow transplant, as well. It is important to get the proper tests because left untreated, leukemia can be a deadly and fatal disease. But, there are treatment options and ways to beat it.

Read More

Lymphoma and breast implants

In January 2011, articles were published in major US newspapers about the association of lymphoma and breast implants. This is called anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), an extremely rare type of malignancy. Approximately 1 in 500,000 women is diagnosed with ALCL (anywhere in the body) in the United States each year. Only 3 in 100 million women per year in the US are diagnosed with ALCL in the breast. Breast ALCL has been most often identified in patients undergoing implant revision operations. There are now about 60 case reports of ALCL in women with breast implants worldwide. The total number of implants worldwide is estimated to be between 5-10 million. Based on these numbers, for women with breast implants, the estimation is that one out of 125,000 would develop breast ALCL. To put things in perspective, in the same women, the rate of breast cancer is one out of eight.

According to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), women with breast implants may have a very small but increased risk of developing this disease in the scar capsule adjacent to the implant. Fortunately, it does not appear that this lymphoma occurs in the breast tissue itself. So far, it is not possible to identify a type of implant (silicone versus saline) or a reason for implant (breast cancer reconstruction versus aesthetic augmentation) associated with a smaller or greater risk. Currently (February 2011), the recommendations are as follows:

1) In women without any abnormal signs or symptoms, breast implants should not be removed due to fear of lymphoma.

2) No screening for lymphoma in breast implant patients who do not have symptoms. This is because reported cases of breast ALCL had manifestations of chronic fluid pocket (seroma), pain, lumps, swelling, or asymmetry. Chronic seroma is persistent and recurring, and should be distinguished from post-surgical seromas that commonly happen immediately after breast surgery. Furthermore, there is no yet identified reliable method to screen for breast ALCL in a non-invasive fashion.

3) If there is suspicion of breast ALCL, the plastic surgeon should collect fresh seroma fluid and representative portions of the capsule (scar around the implant) at the time of surgery and send for pathology tests. Diagnostic evaluation should include cytological evaluation of seroma fluid with Wright Giemsa stained smears and cell block immunohistochemistry testing for cluster of differentiation (CD) and Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase (ALK) markers.

4) If breast ALCL is confirmed, the implant and the capsule around it should be removed. The patient should be referred to a multi-disciplinary care team with surgical, radiation and medical oncology expertise. Because this type of malignancy is so rare, there is no defined consensus treatment regimen for the population at large. Therapy should be individualized, and may include further surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.

Read More

Most Americans Refferd the Vitiligo herbal treatment

Vitiligo disease can be seen in a few patients suffering Graves Disease as Vitiligo and Graves Disease are in a way interconnected .Vitiligo is a condition in which the skin undergoes de-pigmentation which results in unequal pale patches on the skin. Treatment of Vitiligo is necessary. While the main reason of this condition is not yet fully understood, several indication suggests that it might be caused by the amalgamation of genetic, autoimmune and environmental aspects.

Vitiligo is not always associated with each other, on the other hand, it is always most excellent to ensure if the Vitiligo is already a symbol that you are suffering from hyperthyroidism or normally known as Graves Disease.

The warning sign of this skin state contain the white patches that can be found in the skin including the face, torso and limbs, white patches in the mucous membranes, around the eyes, mouth and upper parts of the nostrils, the early graying of the hair and sun sensitivity. If you have been observing these modifications in you skin and body, probability is, you have been suffering from Graves Disease.

Vitiligo and Graves Disease are linked to each other in that Vitiligo is a adverse effect that populace with Graves Disease go through. Although it is not a widespread condition to a lot of Graves Disease patients, it should be paid enough awareness or it may lead to greater risks of problems.

To prevent Vitiligo from becoming a more serious predicament, they should be treated in the most excellent means probable. Not together from taking medication or going into surgery, there is an improved and safer way to take action upon Vitiligo and its symptoms. A normal method described in some particular reading materials will slowly but surely help you get back the vibrant health that you once had. The results may not be as quick as that done by scientific means but the results are surefire effective.

Most grains, nuts and seed have phytates and oxalates that stop absorption of zinc. Zinc is essential as cofactor that canalizes 610 enzymatic reactions in the body. Zinc is the splendor trace mineral for the reason that it nourishes the skin, supports the thyroid and cure the genes. In short, zinc is an antioxidant that wrestles free radicals and antagonizes heavy metals. Zinc is also essential for tissue refurbish, growth and regulation. "This comprises of speeding up metabolism and renovation of worn out genes including healing the Melanocytes in Vitiligo.

Malabsorption of certain nutrient and deficiency of meat in the diet can cause B12 insufficiency (pernicious anemia) which is frequent in vegetarians. Vitiligo herbal treatment is very effective. This is due to be short of of acid and intrinsic factor in the stomach (gastric neck cells) which produce mucoprotein essential for B12 absorption in terminal ileum (the last portion of small intestines). Secondly a person who is suffering through Vitiligo should not consider himself less than any other person, means he should not be under estimate himself. In fact he needs psycho therapy first. So that he may face the society and can move forward for his progress and prosperity. Vitiligo herbal cure provides positive result in less time period.

Read More

Study Says Dark Chocolate Can Help Reduce Dangers For Cirrhosis Patients

Cirrhosis is a serious liver disease that results in between ten and fifteen thousand deaths each year, just in the United States. It's the twelfth leading cause of disease-related deaths. Many people call it cirrhosis of the liver, although the words "of the liver" are unnecessary.

Therefore, any information that promises to help individuals with cirrhosis survive will come as good news. But recent research into the effects of eating dark chocolate on the health of the liver - especially on cirrhosis and portal hypertension - has turned up some particularly interesting findings.

The announcement was made at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver in Vienna, Austria, in April 2010. The report described data revealing that dark chocolate reduced portal hypertension in patients with cirrhosis.

It's easier to understand the research if you know what portal hypertension is, and the causes of cirrhosis.

Cirrhosis results from long term damage to the liver. Healthy liver tissue is destroyed and replaced by scar tissue. In a healthy person, the liver has will regenerate new cells in areas where injuries have occurred. However, once a certain amount of scar tissue has built up, the damage becomes irreversible. Blood can no longer flow through the scar tissue, and liver function begins to deteriorate. As more scar tissue grows, liver function continues to decrease. Eventually, the liver will fail, which is a life-threatening event.

Hepatitis and excessive alcohol use are the two major causes of cirrhosis. Either of them can lead to life-threatening liver damage and complications.

One complication in particular is known as portal hypertension. The portal vein is a blood vessel which carries blood from the digestive organs to the liver. When blood pressure rises in this vein, it's called portal hypertension. When this occurs, large veins known as varices sometimes develop around the stomach and esophagus. These bypass any blockages caused by portal hypertension. Because varices are fragile and already under an exaggerated degree of pressure, blood vessel ruptures can easily occur. Known as bleeding varices, such cirrhosis-related blood vessel ruptures can be extremely dangerous.

But Spanish researchers found that cirrhosis patients who ate dark chocolate reduced their risk of bleeding varices from portal hypertension.

After you've eaten a meal, blood flow to your liver begins to increase to help prepare for digestion. This causes an increase in blood pressure in your abdominal area. This creates a danger to patients with cirrhosis because they may already have increased blood pressure in the portal vein. If the pressure rises high enough, it can cause a blood vessel to rupture.

Dark chocolate contains a high percentage of chemicals called flavenoids, which have proven benefits for the heart and are especially helpful in lowering cholesterol. You can also find flavenoids in strawberries, blueberries, cinnamon, cabbage, and certain kinds of nuts. It's been demonstrated that they also reduce hypertension by relaxing veins and arteries and facilitating blood flow. It should be noted that flavenoids are not present in all types of chocolate. But the darker the chocolate, the more flavenoids it contains.

In the Spanish study, subjects with cirrhosis consumed a liquid meal containing either 85-percent cocoa dark chocolate or white chocolate. Subjects who ate white chocolate experienced a rise in blood pressure that was "statistically significant" over those who ate dark chocolate, according to the research team. This discovery indicated to the research team that dark chocolate could decrease the likelihood of blood vessel ruptures in those with cirrhosis.

As medical researchers have discovered the benefits of flavenoids, dark chocolate has actually risen to the level of "health food" instead of "junk food." or everyday candy (when eaten in moderation). The flavenoids found in high quality dark chocolate offer the same health benefits as chemicals found in darkly colored vegetables and many varieties of fruit. There are, in fact, eight times as many flavenoids in dark chocolate as there are in strawberries.

Individuals with chronic liver disease that has reached the level of cirrhosis must always be aware of the dangers of portal hypertension. For those to want to avoid portal hypertension, eating dark chocolate certainly seems to be a smart choice.

Read More

Stop Suffering From Asthma By Using an Air Purifier

Knowing what you can do and what you can avoid to keep your asthma in check, can give you a new lease on life and reduce the constant fear of when the next attack will be. The tips below will give you that information you need to live more peacefully.

A great tip that can help you get a grip on your asthma is to bring your own pillow when you travel anywhere. You never know how much dust there's going to be when you're staying at different places. Bringing your own clean pillow will reduce the risk of breathing in dust.




An excellent suggestion for improving control over your asthma is to limit the amount of time you spend with animals. Even if animals themselves may not cause you to have an attack, they can also carry dirt and other substances that can potentially cause an attack. Because of these things, you should keep your time with animals to a minimum.

Try consuming caffeine products if you feel an asthma attack coming on but do not have your rescue inhaler with you. Caffeine can expand airways, so caffeine consumption may help you prevent an attack. A cup of coffee, hot chocolate or tea may help, or even eating a chocolate bar.

If you suffer from asthma, you should be aware that animals can be a trigger for asthma attacks. While you might not have any specific animal related allergies, animals do accumulate dirt and other harmful substances that can trigger an attack when you go near them. In particular, you should be careful around common pets like dogs and cats.



Best Way to Use an Air Purifier

Best Way to Use an Air Purifier

Try to reduce the amount of environmental allergens and pollutants, such as dust, pollens, pet hair, molds and fungi, and food particles. Keeping your house clean can make a huge difference for your asthma symptoms. Buying an air filter or purifier, or even cleaning out the filters in your AC system can also help.

If you or your children suffer from asthma, one way to prevent the onset of symptoms is to invest in an air purifier. The most effective type of air purifier is one with a HEPA filter, which screens out allergens, such as dust, pollen and pet dander. The next best choice is a UV air purifier, which kills mold, mildew and bacterial and viral germs. Other choices include activated-carbon air purifiers, which combat chemicals and odors, and timed ozone, photo catalytic and negative ion purifiers.

As stated before many people are affected by asthma. Environmental factors such as pollution and allergens can cause asthma along with genetic reasons. Asthma presents a major health problem to anyone who suffers from it, but with the advice found in the article you can deal with asthma.

Read More

Increase in Pest Control Problems Could Be Result of Budget Cuts

With the U.S. economy struggling, many federally-funded programs serving the public sector have taken hits financially. Any expenditures deemed “expendable” have been sliced from local, state, and national budgets, including public housing, public schools, shelters, parks, and recreation centers. Among these items cut from budgets? Pest control, which could explain why bed bug problems are becoming a large problem in Public Housing.

Bed bugs aren’t the result of cleanliness or lack-thereof, although that is a common misconception. People with lower income or lesser hygiene aren’t pre-disposed to getting bed bugs in their homes. But, using old furniture that’s been passed down and hasn’t been inspected, is a surefire way to get bed bugs. And unfortunately, the only way to get rid of them and prevent them is by receiving routine home pest control.

Unfortunately for some, including residents of Spa City public housing in New York, that is no longer an option. According to the Albany Times Union, the Saratoga Springs Housing Authority cut the public housing sector’s pest control, says the authority’s longtime pest control company. Bed bugs infiltrated nearly two dozen units and common areas, including hallways.

Halfway across the country in Alabama, the Huntsville Housing Authority discovered bed bugs in one of its public housing apartment buildings. The property is Johnson Towers, a senior residence hall which is home to nearly 130 elderly and disabled residents. The Huntsville Housing Authority and Johnson Towers are working together to fix the growing problem.

But these dangerous budget cuts aren’t just a local problem stemming from local governments. The White House is proposing a $54 million cut of the $816 million budget for the fiscal 2013 year, directly impacting pest and disease control programs all across the country.

Even California is struggling with pests, not only bed bugs, but insects that threaten crops in its vital agricultural industry. A $4.4 million budget cut from the California Department of Food and Agriculture could severely compromise the integrity of thousands of fruits and vegetables grown and exported from the state.

These problems all reflect where our national, statewide, and local governments’ priorities lay. And to be fair, many programs are being cut from fiscal budgets, not just pest control. But bed bugs are already an ever-growing problem nationwide, and have been for the last decade, after being nearly eradicated in the early 1900s. Is legislature that out of touch to realize it?

Read More

A Real Guide to Getting rid of Bed Bugs

If you are looking for a how to guide on the best way to kill bed bugs well then you are in luck. This article is meant for the average person that wants to get rid of bed bugs in there own home and not hire an exterminator. Just because bed bugs can be gotten rid of by the home owner does not mean it is an easy job, in fact some of the best exterminators have issues completely eliminating a bed bug problem depending upon the level of infestation.

The very first step you must take in battling bed bugs is cleaning your entire home. You may have read that you only need to clean your bedroom to get rid of bed bugs, but trust me an entire house cleaning is a must to ensure there are no bed bugs anywhere in the home. It is best to start the cleaning process in the bedroom, remove all bedding and wash in hot water, hot water will kill bed bugs, also wash all of your clothing and put them in plastic bags once they come out of the dryer.

The best item that you have in your fight against bed bugs a bed bug mattress cover, you will want to place these specifically made covers that lock bed bugs out of your mattress and box spring on all of the beds in your house. I cannot tell you enough about the importance of this step, if there are bed bugs in your home it is very likely they are living within your mattress or are hidden away in the box spring.

The real trouble when it comes to killing bed bugs is finding them. While a bed bug can be seen by the naked eye you really need to be looking closely for them to see them, bed bugs are about the size of an apple seed and are brownish in color. This means you must clean the every nook and cranny in your house, common places people miss cleaning for bed bugs is behind wall trim, outlet covers, cracks in hardwood flooring, and the closet area.

When cleaning your house you will want to use a bed bug spray on all hard surfaces that can kell bed bugs and also bed bug eggs on contact, everything that can be washed in hot water in the washing machine should be. If you have pets or small children in the home be careful with bed bug spray as they are can be unhealthy for them and even deadly. If you do in fact have children or pets in the home there are bed bug treatments that do not contain poison, but some are not very effective.

Once the all hard surfaces and everything that can be washed has been, it is time to move onto cleaning upholstered items and carpets. An exception to using a steam cleaner on furniture is if you have leather furniture, this can be cleaned with chemical cleaners similar to the hard surface cleaner you used before. If you have upholstered furniture you will want to either buy a steam cleaner or rent one from your local home improvement store. A steam cleaner can and should be used on any rug or carpet in the home. Special attachments for the steam cleaner can be used to clean the upholstered furniture.

Read More