This guy just had the first penis transplant in the US

Thomas Manning, who lost most of his penis to cancer, is recovering well after undergoing the US' first penis transplant operation. Photo: Reuters

A 64-year-old man became the first in the US to undergo a successful penis transplant in a procedure at Massachusetts General Hospital earlier this month, his doctors said.

Thomas Manning of Halifax, Massachusetts, had his penis amputated in 2012 when he was diagnosed with penile cancer.

He recently underwent a 15-hour surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston during which a penis provided by a donor was attached.

Doctors said the procedure was particularly important due to the heavy psychological toll the loss of genitals takes on a patient.

“We are hopeful that these reconstructive techniques will allow us to alleviate the suffering and despair of those who have experienced devastating genitourinary injuries and are often so despondent they consider taking their own lives,” Dr Curtis Cetrulo, one of the two surgeons who performed the procedure, said in a statement.

In the same statement, Manning thanked the doctors and said he hoped other patients needing similar surgeries would be more likely to receive organ donations as a result of his successful operation.

“Today I begin a new chapter filled with personal hope and hope for others who have suffered genital injuries, particularly for our service members who put their lives on the line and suffer serious damage as a result,” Manning said.

Doctors in South Africa became the first to perform the procedure successfully in 2014 after they attached a penis to a 21-year-old man whose organ had been amputated following a botched circumcision. – Reuters

Anti-Embolism ( TED Hose) vs. Medical Compression Stockings

The biggest difference between Anti-Embolism Stockings (TED Hose) and Medical Compression Stockings is the compression level and the medical reason for which it is worn. Anti- Embolism Stockings are usually 8–18mmHg, while medical compression stockings are a medically-measured 15–20mmHg or higher. In addition, the purpose of anti-embolism stockings is to maintain normal venous return in a bedridden patient.

MEDICAL Compression related products  are used to treat venous and lymphatic disorders in ambulatory patients. Graduated compression stockings are used for all stages of Chronic Venous Insufficiency, including varicose veins, edema, stasis skin changes and venous procedures. They may also be used in preventing and treating Post-Thrombotic Syndrome. According to medical research, ambulatory patients with Chronic Venous Disorders require more compression than is available in anti-embolism stockings.

A Simple Rule of Thumb:

If the patient is laying in the bed = anti-embolism stockings

If the patient is ambulatory = medical graduated compression stockings

Come by All Star Medical in either our Hermitage or Franklin Location and we will help you find the right type of compression stockings or socks.

Effects of Ketosteril in Lowering Creatinine

Ketosteril is generally known as Compound α-Ketoacid Tablets and it is used for preventing and treating renal damages due to protein metabolism disorder in chronic kidney disease(CKD)  and the effects are better with low-protein diets. It is usually applied to those that have glomerular filtration rate (GFR) less than 25ml/min and the standard of low-protein diet is 40g/day or less for adults.

There are many treatments for Chronic Kidney Failure and in recent years both eastern and western scholars advocate the use of ketosteril to treat chronic kidney disease and help lower creatinine level. Metabolic disorders of protein, amino acid are very common among renal failure patients and they are in a state of negative nitrogen balance. Ketosteril can supply amino acid and reduce the producing of urea and help lower the level of creatinine and urea nitrogen and at the same time improve the nutritional status.

The combination of ketosteril and low-protein diet can achieve the following functions:

1. Alleviate the symptoms of uremia. The symptoms and discomforts of uremia are caused by the excessive accumulation of metabolic wastes of proteins.

2. Protect the remaining renal functions and slow down the progression of illness conditions.

3. Guarantee the patients’ nutrition even with obvious reduction of protein intake.

4. Improve the metabolic complications due to renal insufficiency.

While ketosteril has so many effects in treating kidney disease, it still has many side effects. Read this article to learn more about it. Does Ketosteril Have Side Effects While Lowering Creatinine

Price: RM265 per box of 100s

Ketosteril does have certain effects on lowering creatinine, but it still depends on the patients’ illness and physical conditions and patients should not rely on ketosteril only. The root cause of increased creatinine level is the damage of renal intrinsic cells and tissues and the decreased ability of the glomerular filtration, therefore when the damaged parts are repaired and the glomerular filtration rate is improved the accumulated creatinine and other wastes will be filtered out of the body by the kidneys and the creatinine level will decrease naturally. Micro-Chinese Medicines Osmotherapy has the functions of softening and dilating blood vessels, anti-inflammation, anti-coagulation and degradation of extracellular matrix. It can block the process of renal fibrosis, repair damaged renal intrinsic cells and tissues and rebuild kidney structure and functions so as to lower creatinine naturally and from the root.

9 tips to sleep better

You made the resolution to sleep better but you still feel a lack of sleep? Here are few tips to sleep better and keep your resolutions!

1) Don’t drink to much caffeine. It has been proved, a cup of coffee six hours before sleeping cuts your sleep by one hour. Try to limit your consumption to the morning, and eventually after lunch but not in the afternoon.

2) Don’t do exciting activities before you go to bed. Playing video games, watching TV or surfing the Internet keep your brain awake and that’s not what you need before going to bed. Favorise calming activities such as reading.

3) Schedule your sleep. You think that you don’t sleep enough? Whatever the excuse is, try to schedule 8 hours a night, and within a week you will feel the difference. Your sleep duration depends of your needs but you actually need at least 7 hours per night to give your brain and body enough rest.

4) Keep your bedroom in the dark. Even a digital alarm clock which produce a really low light can disturb your sleep. If you can’t cover all the light sources, go to bed with a sleeping mask.

5) Don’t eat heavy food in the evening. You are not supposed to digest while you sleep, that’s why a big meal before going to bed can keep you awake at night. For example, proteins are really hard to digest; When you eat before going to bed, eat something light.

6) Keep the same sleep schedule during the weekend. It sounds like torture but changing your sleep habits during the weekend has the same effect as jet lag while traveling. Staying awake late in the night or waking late in the morning can modify your internal sleeping clock and you will have difficulties sleeping on Sunday night and you will be tired on Monday… that is definitely not what you need !

7) Breathe deeply. Simple breath exercises can help you to relax before going to bed. Deep breathing will make your body think that you are already relaxed, and after a few deep breaths you will already feel more calm and that’s exactly what you need before sleeping.

8) Fight snoring… At least 30% of the population snores. It doesn’t only disturb your sleeping partner, but also affects the quality of your sleep and brings drowsiness during the day. Try not to sleep on your back, as it seems to be the worst position for people who snore. Try sleeping on your side.

9) Analyze your sleep. With an activity and sleep tracker such as  iHealth Edge, have a look to your different stages of sleep. Get the facts on the number of hours spent sleeping and wake up gently thanks to its vibrating alarm.

You now know how you can fight your sleep troubles… Try these nine tips at home and tell us if you sleep better.

Scientists warn of 'global sleep crisis' due to social pressures, with Singapore having lowest average amount

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Social pressures are forcing people to cut back on their sleep, contributing to a "global sleep crisis", according to a new study based on research collected through a smartphone app that also shows people in Singapore having the lowest average amount of sleep.

The app enabled scientists from the University of Michigan to track sleep patterns around the world - gathering data about how age, gender and the amount of natural light to which people are exposed affect sleep patterns in 100 countries - and better understand how cultural pressures can override biological rhythms.

"The effects of society on sleep remain largely unquantified," says the study published on Friday (May 6) in the journal Science Advances. "We find that social pressures weaken and/or conceal biological drives in the evening, leading individuals to delay their bedtime and shorten their sleep."

Lack of sleep is mostly affected by the time people go to bed, the study found.

Middle-aged men get the least amount of sleep, less than the recommended seven to eight hours.

And age is the main factor determining amount of sleep.

The research is based on data collected through the free smartphone app Entrain, launched in 2014 to help users fight jetlag.

Scientists asked some 6,000 people 15 and older to send anonymous data about sleep, wake-up and lighting environment, enabling the scientists to obtain a large amount of data about sleep patterns worldwide.

The app also asks users to input information about their ages, gender, countries and time zones.

The average amount of sleep in the world varies from a minimum of seven hours 24 minutes in Singapore and Japan to a maximum of eight hours 12 minutes in the Netherlands, the study found.

Although a difference of 48 minutes may seem inconsequential, a lack of sleep for half an hour can have significant effects on cognitive function and health, the researchers said.

People who need sleep suffer a reduction in their cognitive abilities without really being conscious of it, the new study says.

"Impaired sleep presents an immediate and pressing threat to human health," it says.

Sleep is driven by an internal "circadian" clock, a cluster of 20,000 nerve cells the size of a grain of rice located behind the eyes, and adjusted according to the amount of light captured, especially natural light.

A recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found one in three American adults is not sleeping the recommended minimum of seven hours.

Chronic lack of sleep increases the risk of obesity, diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease, according to the CDC.

The new study also found that women sleep 30 minutes longer than men on average by going to bed earlier and rising later, and that people exposed longer to natural light every day often go to bed earlier.

Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/

It is now possible to create human sperm from skin cells

Scientist Carlos Simon and his team managed to reprogramme mature skin cells by introducing a cocktail of genes needed to create gametes. Photo: AFP

Scientists in Spain recently announced they had created human sperm from skin cells, a medical feat which could eventually lead to a treatment for infertility.

The researchers said they were working to find a solution for the roughly 15% of couples worldwide who are unable to have children and whose only option is to use donated sperm or eggs.

“What to do when someone who wants to have a child lacks gametes (eggs or sperm)?” asked Carlos Simon, the scientific director of the Valencian Infertility Institute, Spain’s first medical institution fully dedicated to assisted reproduction.

“This is the problem we want to address to be able to create gametes in people who do not have them.”

The result of their research, which was carried out with Standford University in the US, was published in Scientific Reports, the online journal of nature.

They were inspired by the work of Japan’s Shinya Yamanaka and Britain’s John Gordon who in 2012 shared a Nobel prize for the discovery that adult cells can be transformed back into embryo-like stem cells.

Simon and his team managed to reprogramme mature skin cells by introducing a cocktail of genes needed to create gametes.

Within a month the skin cell was transformed to become a germ cell, which can develop into sperm or an egg, but it did not have the ability to fertilise, they found.

“This is a sperm but it needs a further maturation phase to become a gamete. This is just the beginning,” Simon said.

It is a step further than that reached by Chinese researchers who earlier this year announced they had created mice from artificial sperm.

“With the human species we must do much more testing because we are talking about the birth of child,” Simon said.

The researchers also must take into account legal constraints since the technique involves the creation of artificial embryos which right now is only allowed in some countries.

“We are talking about a long process,” Simon said. – AFP Relaxnews

Can birth control pill cause weight gain?

The connection between oral contraceptives and weight gain has been the subject of many studies. One of the main conclusions of these studies is that birth control pills are able to cause weight gain in more than one way. Fortunately, there are ways of minimizing this side effect.

Comparison between the Effects of Various Contraceptives

According to several studies, both birth control pills and contraceptive shots, such as DeproProvera, can have weight gain as a side effect. The test involved teenagers who used these contraceptive measures for one year. After this period, the average weight gain of contraceptive shot users was of 6.6 pounds, while the teenagers that took birth control pillshad an average weight gain of 5.3 pounds. In 7 percent of birth control pills users, the weight gain exceeded 10 percent. On the other hand, the weight gain exceeded 10 percent of the body weight in 25 percent of contraceptive shot users.

Oral Contraceptives and Water Retention

Birth control pills based on estrogen often lead to water retention. The amount of fluid that is retained is directly proportional with the quantity of estrogen found in the pill. The explanation is given by the fact thatestrogen directly stimulates several compounds from the kidneys that lead to fluid retention. The compounds are known as renin-angiotensin. Oral contraceptives that contain around 20 mcg of estrogen are recommended for women who want to avoid fluid retention. Such a low concentration is known to be safe, according to several studies.

Birth Control Pills as Appetite Stimulants

The oral contraceptives that were developed in the past affected insulin resistance, and to some extent even the newer pills are able to elevate insulin levels. When these levels rise, the energy obtained from the ingested carbohydrates is distributed mainly to fat cells. As a consequence, weight loss is prevented, even when a diet is followed.

However, not all women who take birth control pills are predisposed to weight gain. This side effect of oral contraceptives is most frequently observed in women with an abnormal glucose metabolism. Insulin resistance should be analyzed if there are no other explanations for weight gain when taking birth control pills.

Measures to Minimize Weight Gain

As explained before, there is a tight connection between the estrogen concentration found in oral contraceptives and the number of extra pounds gained. Consequently, women are recommended to take birth control pills that contain as little estrogen as possible. At the moment, there are no contraceptives with less than 20 mcg of estrogen. You are highly recommended to talk to your health care provider if you gain weight while taking birth control pills with more estrogen. If the gained weight exceeds 5 percent of the body weight, this may indicate that you have either an abnormal glucose metabolism or insulin resistance. Besides changing the type of oral contraceptive that you take, you can also follow a diet that is low in carbohydrates, as these are the main cause of weight gain when you have an unusual glucose metabolism. By taking these measures, you may be able to avoid gaining extra pounds.

Yasmin   : Ethinlyestradiol 0.03mg
Yaz         : Ethinlyestradiol 0.02mg
Diane35 :Ethinlyestradiol 0.035mg