All you need to know about liver transplant

Liver transplant is the second most common type of transplant surgery performed, with the first one being kidney transplants. With the advancements in medical technologies, the transplant procedures have become simpler and less risky.

What is liver transplantation?

Liver transplantation involves surgical removal of the severely diseased liver that has no hope of regeneration and replacing it with a healthy donor liver or a portion of it.

Liver transplant surgery is recommended for people with severe liver conditions since it can save the life of the patient or improve the quality of life. Though liver transplants come with significant risks and complications, it has a very high success rate.

Types of liver transplants

There are two types of liver transplants depending on the type of donor.

      Deceased Donor Liver Transplant (DDLT)

•      This involves obtaining a healthy liver from a brain-dead person. This person might have donated his/her organs previous to his/her death, or consent would be received from the family members for organ donation later.

      Live Donor Liver Transplant (LDLT)

• Liver is a regenerative organ which means that it can replace the lost tissues by growing the remaining ones. Thus a part of a healthy liver from a living patient can be used as transplant and is completely safe for the donor and the recipient. There is no need for lifelong medications, and women can have normal pregnancy and motherhood.

• The live donor is usually a blood relative or spouse of the patient. A detailed evaluation of the prospective donor is done to ensure minimize the health risks involved and help in complete recovery.

What does liver transplant involve?

      First stage

      A team of specialists will first evaluate the patient with a review of medical history and other investigations to determine whether liver transplant is the best option or if there is a different option.

      Second stage

      If the patient is found to be suitable for liver transplant, we proceed to the second stage. In this stage, the patient’s name is placed on the waiting list, and the priority is determined on the scoring system based on the medical criteria and severity of the condition.

     Third stage

     This is when the donor becomes available, and the patient is contacted and informed about the donor’s medical condition. If the patient consents for the transplant, some basic tests are repeated to ensure the safety of his/her condition. After this, surgeons and anesthetists involved in the transplant will meet the patient and brief him/her about the procedure. If the test results are satisfactory, we then proceed to surgery.

Also Read: Liver Diseases – Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment

Liver transplant procedure

Usually, the liver transplant procedure takes about 8 to 12 hours to complete, after which the patient is shifted to ICU. The patient might want to stay there for 3 to 7 days, but these aspects of the surgery might differ according to his/her condition.

After the patient is moved to ICU, many tubes are connected to his/her body to carry out the natural functions which are removed when deemed appropriate. After this, the patient is shifted to the room for 2-3 weeks, and thus in total, the patient might want to stay for 3-4 weeks in the hospital for the entirety of the procedure.

Liver transplant – discharge and recovery

Once the patient is regarded as stable by the doctors, he/she can be discharged from the hospital. But a follow-up schedule is recommended for the patient to ensure complete recovery. The patients and the family members are educated about the medications and necessary precautions before discharge. The dose of medications will reduce with time, and the pace of recovery depends on several factors. Usually, a patient is expected to resume daily activities within a month and go back to work after 3 months after the liver transplant surgery.

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Kidney Transplantation

Kidney transplant is one of the most common organ transplants performed today. This surgical procedure involves replacing a kidney which no longer functions properly with a healthy kidney got from a deceased or living donor.

Usually, dialysis is performed for people whose kidneys have failed. This involves mechanically filtering the waste in the bloodstream. But this requires frequent visits to the dialysis center which might turn labor-intensive with time. Thus if a person qualifies for getting a kidney transplant, it can free him/her from the time-consuming dialysis process.

Immunosuppressive drugs

There are also some complications involved with the kidney transplant procedure. During the procedure, a new organ is introduced into the body, and thus there is a risk of it being rejected by the body’s immune system. Immunosuppressive drugs are recommended to prevent the aggressive reaction of the body’s immune system to the transplant and for the transplant to perform its designated function.

Risk factors involved

When administering the immunosuppressive drugs, there are a few factors to consider.

·        If the dosage of immunosuppressive drugs is too high, the body’s immunity level becomes too low, making it prone to different infections.

·        On the other hand, if the dosage is lesser than the needed level, the immune system might start attacking the transplant.

Thus kidney transplantation is a procedure that needs to be done carefully from start to the end.

Also Read: Know the Signs of Kidney Failure

Advancements in treatment

Though kidney transplantation is a complicated procedure, there have been a lot of advancements that have happened in the medical industry. The success rate of kidney transplantation has climbed to 95-99% from a measly 20% over the 50 years.

New medicines and surgical procedures have been developed, and this involves identifying the complications that might occur and successfully treating them.

A ticket for new life

Recent advancements in treatments have made the procedure much easier to deal with and many people have started getting the same. If you have any serious complications with kidney and if you are eligible to get the transplant, you can proceed with the procedure instead of living in fear.

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What is Dementia?

We all would have heard about dementia. But how many of us know that it not only relates to loss of memory but also less concentration attention, difficulty in judgment, perception problems etc? There are different types of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and vascular dementia. Who is more susceptible to dementia? Watch Dr. Sivarajan explaining to us the good news that dementia can be identified and treated, thereby slowing down its progression.

As dementia progresses, behavioral problems become challenging. Consulting the doctor early is the key to stopping its progression.

Also Read: Challenge your Brain in order to ward off dementia

What is Black Fungus ?

We hear about black fungus, aka Mucormycosis, everywhere now. However, it has been with us for a long time. Who are more vulnerable to Mucormycosis? What are the early symptoms of this disease? Why is there a necessity to keep diabetes under control? Watch Dr. Vijayalakshmi Balakrishnan from Kauvery Hospital highlight the importance of taking COVID-19 vaccination and taking only the needed medicines when affected with COVID-19. The take-home message is that if we have diabetes under control, COVID-19 nor black fungus can affect us.

Also Read: Why should you know about Mucormycosis?

Kauvery Hospital – Diabetes Helpline Number

Diabetes is a highly prevalent disease among Indians and keeps on increasing rapidly. Research suggests that 8 in 10 persons show symptoms of diabetes.

It is common for people to have a lot of questions related to the disease, but there aren’t many professional sources to give you reliable answers. Kauvery Hospital has launched a 24/7 diabetes helpline number that can help you connect with the diabetologists along with cardiologists, nephrologists, and team who can answer your diabetes-related queries.

Diabetes Helpline Number: +91 88802 88802

You can dial the number to get answers to the questions related to

•         Causes
•         Symptoms
•         Lifestyle changes you can make to avoid diabetes
•         Diet management
•         Medications, dosage, and side effects
•         Exercises

Also Read: COVID-19: What Diabetics should know!

You can feel free to contact this helpline number for any queries, or make use of the diabetes specialist near me option to get a consultation.

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Cancer and Tobacco

Tobacco is one of the most discussed but also an easily ignored topic. Tobacco is the leading cause of cancer and the deaths resulting from it. Estimates show that the deaths due to smoking contribute to 10 million each year worldwide, and we have 120 million smokers in our country.

Tobacco smoke has about 7000 chemicals in it of which 72 are carcinogens with the ability to cause cancer. There are two forms of tobacco.

1.       Smokeless Tobacco

This is the most common and prevalent type, especially in India. Tobacco is chewed with betel nuts, and this is considered to be the major contributing factor of the increased oral cancer in India.

Chewing tobacco with betel nuts and storing it in the mouth can cause infections, leading to oral cancer. Ingestion of this juice is also known to cause food pipe cancer.

Other forms of smokeless tobacco like paan and gutkha are also in increase. These contain chemicals that aid in the induction of OSMF and later oral cancer. Snuff which is inhaled through the nasal cavity can cause nose cancer.

2.      Smoke Tobacco (Cigarettes)

Nicotine is a substance that is present in the tobacco which makes it addictive for the user. With cigarettes the nicotine enters the bloodstream through the lungs and with smokeless tobacco it reaches through gums and digestive system.

Also Read: What you eat can help you fight cancer

Smoking can cause lung cancer, prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, stomach cancer, and many more cancers. Smoking can also lead to the onset of other problems like heart diseases, sexual-related problems and such.

Passive Smoking: Most of us assume ourselves to be safe given we don’t smoke. But as mentioned before, tobacco smoke contains carcinogens, and regular exposure to the smoke while the other person is smoking can also cause cancer. Thus you must avoid tobacco on the whole and stay away from exposure.

Treatment

Cancer can be treated and even cured if diagnosed in the early stages. Thus if you have smoking problem meet a cancer specialist who can help you with the early diagnosis and oral cancer treatment or any cancer-related problems.

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Basic Stretches and Mobility Exercises

The pandemic has taught us to appreciate things that we normally wouldn’t mind, for eg., a walk to the grocery shop or lunch with our colleagues. While there are many questions and worries in our mind about the future, we are at a place while we can do nothing but to wait for it to pass over.

With the lockdown in effect, boredom has become one of the negative psychological effects of the quarantine. But as law-abiding citizens and responsible human beings it is important to stay at home and help stop the spread of virus.

At Hamsa spine and brain rehab, we treat patients with severe disabilities, both physical and mental, in tandem with best orthopaedic surgeons. Here we give you some basic stretches and mobility exercises that you can do at your home to take care of your physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.

Calf Stretch

•         Stand with support of a table/chair
•           Place the edge of your foot over the wooden block/a step
•          Lower your heel to stretch your calf muscles

Quadriceps Stretch

•          Stand with the support of a table/chair
•          Bend your knee as much as you can with the help of your hand until you feel the stretch of the thigh muscles

Backward bending

•          Stand straight and place the hands over your hips
•          Now bend backward as much as you can and hold for a few seconds.

Forward Bending

•          Stand straight and place the hands over your hips
•          Now bend forward as much as you can and hold for a few seconds.

Left Turn

•          Stand straight and place your hands over the opposite shoulder
•          Rotate towards the left side

Right Turn

•         Stand straight and place your hands over the opposite shoulder
•         Rotate towards the right side

Side bend – Right

•          Stand straight and tilt your body towards the right side

Sides bend – Left

•          Stand straight and tilt your body towards the left side

Hamstring Stretch

•         Lie down straight on your back
•          Bend your hip and knee
•         Hold your thigh and straighten your leg as much as you can and feel the stretch behind your thigh

Also Read: The importance of Physiotherapy after Orthopedic surgeries

Gluteal Stretch

•          Lie down straight on your back
•         Bend one side hip and knee and cross your leg over the other leg
•          Press the bent leg over the knee towards you to feel the stretch of your lower back/gluteal muscle

Bridging

•         Lie down straight on your back
•         Raise your hip up and maintain the posture for 5-10 seconds before gently bringing it back.
•         Feel the tightness in the lower back and the gluteal muscles

Curls Up

•          Lie down straight on your back
•          Raise your head up, reach forward, and hold the posture for few seconds.

Hip Extension

•          Lie down on your stomach
•          Raise one leg up and lower it down
•          Repeat this for few times

Spine Extension

•         Lie down on your stomach.
•          Raise your head and shoulder up and then lower it down
•          Repeat it for few times

Child Pose / Name’s Pose

•         Kneel with your buttock touching your heel
•          Reach forward with your hands to feel your back stretch

Bird Dog

•          Kneel on your knees and hands
•          Raise one hand and opposite leg and hold the pose for few seconds
•          Repeat this exercise for the other side doing each 5-6 times.

Quarantine can be the time to focus on you and get yourself fit and healthy. Hope you find this useful. For more details visit us at www.hamsarehab.com

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