Bariatric surgery prolongs lifespan in obese

Bariatric surgery reduced the death rate than the use of traditional medical treatment in obese patients over a 10-year period. The study was by Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and the Clalit Research Institute in Israel, which has one of the highest rates of bariatric surgery in the world. The rate of death in individuals who did not have surgery was 2.3 percent compared to 1.3 percent in those who had surgery.

The study compared 8,385 people who had the surgery (65 percent women and 35 percent men) to 25,155 who did not. The average age of a person in the study was 46 years old with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 40, the equivalent of being 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 265 pounds. BMI is a measure of body fat based on weight in relation to height.

Bariatric surgery is an increasingly frequent treatment for severe obesity, It's highly effective in promoting weight loss but also invasive and can lead to short- and long-term complications. The short-term benefits of weight loss surgery-such as weight loss and better control of diabetes and blood pressure are known, there is concern about complications from the surgery.

 Among the concerns are malabsorption of nutrients including vitamin deficiency, anemia and protein deficiency. But there was not a higher rate of anemia, vitamin or protein deficiency among those who had surgery in this study. The study looked at three types of bariatric surgery compared to the usual care by a primary care physician, which may include dietary counseling and behavior modification.

The surgery types included roux-en-Y gastric bypass (creating a pouch at the top of the stomach that limits the amount a person can comfortably eat and bypassing the first part of the small intestine), laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (restricting the amount of food the stomach can hold with an adjustable band) and sleeve gastrectomy (reducing the size of the stomach).
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Drug for breast cancer gene

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved drug  for treating metastatic breast cancers linked to the BRCA gene mutation. These mutated genes, called BRCA1 and BRCA2, first came to prominence in five years ago. According to FDA, expanding approval of Lynparza (olaparib) to include use against BRCA-linked tumors that have spread beyond the breast. Lynparza is one of a group of powerful new cancer drugs known as PARP inhibitors, and it's the first such drug to be approved for use against breast cancer.

 This approval demonstrates the current paradigm of developing drugs that target the underlying genetic causes of a cancer, often across cancer types. BRCA mutations are involved in up to one in every four breast cancers that are thought to have a hereditary component. These aberrant genes are also implicated in between 5 and 10 percent of non-hereditary breast tumors. When it's functioning properly, BRCA actually helps repair damaged cellular DNA and prevent tumors, but when BRCA1 and BRCA2 go awry they instead encourage breast cancers.

PARP inhibitor medicines such as Lynparza appear to interfere with the function of mutated BRCA with breast cells, causing them to die rather replicate-slowing tumor growth. The safety and effectiveness of Lynparza for women with advanced BRCA-linked breast cancers was established after a trial on patients. The trial measured the length of time the tumors did not have significant growth after treatment. The median progression-free survival for patients taking Lynparza was 7 months compared to 4.2months for patients taking chemotherapy only.

Common side effects of Lynparza include anemia, low white blood cell counts, nausea, fatigue, vomiting, headache, joint pain, increased susceptibility to colds and other respiratory tract infections, and other effects. Because Lynparza can harm a developing fetus, women are advised to use contraception while on the drug. Women should also not breast-feed while using Lynparza.
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Fat cells for treating leukemia

Killing cancer cells indirectly by powering up fat cells in the bone marrow could help acute myeloid leukemia patients. Researchers discovered that boosting adipocytes, or fat cells, located in the bone morrow suppressed cancerous leukemia cells.

The production of healthy red blood cells is critical for those with acute myeloid leukemia but is sometimes overlooked as conventional treatments focus on killing the leukemia cells alone. Patients with this disease suffer from anemia and infection due to the failure of healthy blood production.

A drug used to moderate diabetes that induces fat cell production in the bone marrow was used for leukemia patients and was found to help foster red blood cell production as well as suppress leukemic disease.

The drug suppressed the cancer cells and bolstered the healthy cells, allowing them to regenerate in the new drug-induced environment. The drug activates blood regeneration and may provide benefits for those waiting for bone marrow transplants by activating their healthy cells.
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How HIV affects the immune system

Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a lentivirus that causes HIV and later AIDS. Early signs of HIV are: fever, joint pain, sore throat and skin rashes.

A T-cell is a type of lymphocyte - white blood cell that defend the body against disease, HIV infects a cell by attaching itself to T-cell, multiplies its virus and destroy the T-cell.

CD4 count shows the strength of one's immune system which is between 500 1500 for healthy people, being infected with HIV without treatment will reduce the count below 200.

 HIV  exposes the infected person to opportunistic  infections like: pneumonia, toxoplasmosis, thrush, and tuberculosis.

Presently, there is no cure for HIV. Antiretroviral therapy is recommended for people living with HIV virus.

Common side effects of Antiretroviral drugs are: glucose intolerance, kidney failure, hepatitis of the liver, insulin resistance, osteoporosis, anemia and inflamed pancreas.

Sickle Cell Trait increase rate of Kidney Failure for Blacks

Sickle cell disease occurs when a person inherits two abnormal copies of the haemoglobin gene from each parent.

The most common type is sickle cell anemia, it results in an abnormality in the oxygen-carrying protein haemoglobin found in red blood cells and this leads to a rigid sickle-like shape of cell.

Someone who has one gene from one parent have a trait for sickle cell, sickle cell trait are common among black people

Sickle - cell crisis are acute conditions occurring in patients with sickle-cell disease.

Studies have shown that sickle cell trait is found in eight percent of black people. Black people with sickle cell trait are at the risk of kidney disease.