Archive for July, 2011
New Study to Help People Who Need Kidney Transplant
There are many kidney transplant patients in America who are unable to get a transplant because of HLA sensitization. People who suffer from this problem are unable to get a kidney transplant because a previous blood transfusion, pregnancy or transplant has primed their immune system to reject a transplant.
However, a recent development at the Johns Hopkins University can change the fortunes of people who are HLA sensitized. Researchers at the University have figured out a pay to erase the bodies memory of previous transplant or transfusion which will pave the way for successful kidney transplant.
The treatment uses plasmapheresis to remove harmful antibodies from the body. The number of treatments required will vary depending on the harmful antibodies present in the body. After each treatment the patient is given an intravenous infusion of immune globulin that replaces the harmful antibodies present in the body. It also helps in preventing the antibodies from returning and fights infections.
The result of the study were released in New England Journal of Medicine, Hopkins team found that plasmapheresis treatment worked on 211 of 215 patients that were treated from February 1998 until December 2009. Out of 211 patients that benefited from this treatment, 81 percent of the patients were alive after 8 years.
The process of desensitization comes with its own set of minor problems. Some people who went through this treatment complained of problems like headache, rashes, nausea, itching and shortness of breath. A few patients also complained of serious side-effects like allergic reaction to the treatment that led to dangerous swelling.
However, the researchers of the study have emphasized that benefits of the treatment outweighed the risk associated with the treatment. If people adopted this treatment, they will have to spend less time on dialysis and get kidney transplant sooner.
Studies prove antibiotics are effective in treating urinary tract infection
People who take cranberry capsule to deal with their urinary tract infection can look at antibiotics to deal with the problem. According to a report in Reuters, a recent study conducted in Netherlands has proved that antibiotics are better than cranberry capsules if you want to prevent the recurrence of urinary tract infection.
Most people believe that cranberry capsules are best for treating Urinary Tract Infection but intensive studies have shown that mixed results on the effectiveness of these capsules.
The study in Netherland was conducted on 221 premenopausal women who had suffered at least 3 urinary tract infections in the past year. The study was led by Dr. Marielle Beerepoot of Amsterdam’s Academic Medical. To study the effects of cranberry and antibiotics, women were asked to take cranberry capsules and antibiotic trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole every day.
It was found that women who took antibiotics had fewer urinary tract infections when compared to women who took cranberry capsules. In some cases, women who took antibiotics had 50 percent less urinary tract infection than the group that took cranberry capsules. However, women who took antibiotics also built resistance to the antibiotic which means that their body will not respond to the drug if it was needed for some other infection.
According to experts, many people still prefer taking cranberry capsules over antibiotics even if they known that it is not as effective as antibiotics. This is because it is natural and has fewer side effects when compared to antibiotics.
