Tag: health

  • Laughing puts the brain in a meditative state

    Laughing puts the brain in a meditative state

    Buddha

    According to mind unleashed laughing could dramatically improve your health – and be as good for you as a deep state of meditation, researchers have found.

    Studying the effects of the stress hormone cortisol on the brain, the researchers of the Loma Linda University in the U.S. decided to investigate whether laughter could affect its destructive impact on the body.

    They found that laughter reduces the negative effects of cortisol and could be used as a therapy, offering a pleasant solution to the patients with hypertension, diabetes or heart problems.

    “Things are simple: the less stress one has, the better his memory is,” says Dr. Lee Berk, who took part in the study.“Humor reduces the destructive action of hormones associated with stress such as cortisol, which acts on hippocampal neurons responsible for memory function, and reduces the levels of blood pressure, thus improving our mood” explains the researcher.

    “Laughter stimulates the release of endorphins and dopamine in the brain, giving us a sense of satisfaction and reward. These beneficial neurochemical changes, in turn, make the immune system work better,” says Dr. Berk

    As shown by the results of the study, laughter causes changes in the brain waves, specifically, gamma waves, which seems to boost memory retrieval processes.

    “Laughter leads to the production of brainwave frequencies similar to those observed in people in a meditative state,” adds Dr. Berk.

    As part of their study, the scientists showed funny videos lasting 20 minutes to a group of healthy elderly people and a group of elderly diabetic patients. Then they asked the volunteers to complete a questionnaire to assess their skills towards learning, memory retrieval and visual recognition. Finally, the results were compared to those of a control group who had the same age but did not watch the videos.

    The researchers went on to measure the levels of cortisol both at the beginning and at the end of the experiment. As a result, they detected a significant reduction in levels of the stress hormone in both groups who had watched the videos and showed improvement in the ability to recall their memories compared to the control group.

    Specifically, the largest decline in the levels of cortisol was detected in the case of the group of patients with diabetes, while the members of the group of healthy volunteers showed the highest score in the memory test.

    “The findings of our study provide potential clinical benefits that could find application in particular in the case of older people,” says study author Dr. Gurinder Singh Bains.

    “Despite the fact that elderly people experience memory problems related to their advanced age, pleasant complementary humor therapy could further help these patients,” concludes the expert.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Anna LeMind of www.learning-mind.com – Staff Writer For The Mind Unleashed

    Hi, I like learning new things and sharing my knowledge with others! I post science, psychology, self improvement and other related topics. Add me to your circles on Google Plus or follow me on Twitter to stay updated on my new articles.

    Sources:

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk

    Time Magazine

  • Turkish President Signs Bill that Criminalizes Emergency Medical Care

    Turkish President Signs Bill that Criminalizes Emergency Medical Care

    Turkish President Signs Bill that Criminalizes Emergency Medical Care

    PHR and Leading Medical Groups Oppose the Legislation

    Media Contact

    Vesna Jaksic Lowe, MS

    Media Relations Manager, New York

    vjaksiclowe [at] phrusa [dot] org

    Tel: 917-679-0110

    New York, NY – 01/17/2014

    ELCINphoto-800_550

    Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) expressed concern today over the Turkish president’s signing of a bill that will criminalize certain aspects of emergency care, and punish medical professionals with fines and jail time for providing care in emergencies.

    PHR, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, the World Medical Association, the British Medical Association, the German Medical Association, and other leading medical groups have all criticized the bill, which could compromise everyone’s access to emergency medical care in Turkey.

    “Passing a bill that criminalizes emergency care and punishes those who care for injured protestors is part of the Turkish government’s relentless effort to silence any opposing voices,” said Dr. Vincent Iacopino, PHR’s senior medical advisor. “This kind of targeting of the medical community is not only repugnant, but puts everyone’s health at risk. The legislation conflicts with Turkey’s own laws, and must now be blocked through Turkey’s constitutional court.”

    In addition to violating international standards and medical ethics, the bill conflicts with the Turkish Penal Code, which makes it a crime for doctors to neglect their duty of providing medical care.

    Abdullah Gül, president of the Turkish Republic, today signed the bill into law. Medical professionals could be imprisoned for up to three years and fined up to approximately $985,000 for providing essential medical services. The bill will put doctors in direct conflict with their ethical and professional responsibilities to care for the sick and wounded. It is part of the Turkish government’s continuing effort to harass the medical community for treating those in need, including demonstrators injured during last summer’s anti-government protests.

    PHR has documented the Turkish authorities’ unlawful use of force and tear gas, as well as deliberate attacks on the medical community. PHR’s report on last summer’s protests discussed the authorities’ detention of medical staff who treated those injured by the police, as well as the government’s efforts to collect the names of injured demonstrators and those treating them.

    via Physicians for Human Rights – Turkish President Signs Bill that Criminalizes Emergency Medical Care.

  • Istanbul man finds blood donor in Bangalore

    Istanbul man finds blood donor in Bangalore

    BANGALORE: A 70-year-old from Istanbul in Turkey needed blood and help came from Bangalore. Ahmed, while undergoing medical tests, was found to have Bombay O+ blood group. Seven days later, he was diagnosed with lung cancer.

    The hospital in Turkey required three units of blood to conduct his surgery. And that’s when it became clear how rare the Bombay blood group was.

    But luck prevailed. On February 20, Sankalp India Foundation in Bangalore received a blood request from the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Istanbul University, Turkey. They had come across an initiative of the Foundation, which networks Bombay Blood Group donors, needy and associated blood banks in India.

    Ten days ago, Ahmed’s 21-year-old son Zirak Ahmed flew back to Istanbul from Bangalore, after collecting blood units from the Sankalp blood bank. Such happy endings have been facilitated many times by the Foundation.

    Four months ago, a 60-year-old patient at M S Ramaiah hospital was looking for the same blood group for his heart ailment. “We had to airlift the blood units of Bombay blood group from a donor in Mumbai. Persons with this rare blood group are usually found in Maharashtra, north coastal Karnataka and West Bengal. But due to migration, such patients can be seen utside India also,” said Dr V Nandakishore, chief of blood bank at M S Ramaiah hospital.

    He says there are cases where patients with Bombay blood phenotype have donated blood to themselves in what is called autologous process. “In case of non-availability of blood during surgeries, we draw required units of blood from the same patient and use it during the surgery. Autologous blood transfusion can be done depending upon the stability of patients,” said Dr Nandakishore.

    WHAT IS BOMBAY BLOOD GROUP?

    Bombay Blood Group is present in 0.0004% of global human population, belonging to O+ve category. In India, one among 10,000-17,000 persons has this blood group. Individuals with this blood group can only be transfused with similar blood.

    This phenotype was discovered by Dr Y N Bhende in Bombay in 1952. Individuals with this blood group lack ‘H’ antigen or protein or substance in their red blood cells, which is a rarity.

    According to Dr C Shiva Ram, vice-chairman, Indian Society of Blood Transfusion and Immunohaematology, four years ago, there were only 4-6 such donors in Bangalore, but now the number is around 600. But this number is limited compared to the number of requests we get.

    “We have maintained a database of donors. When a patient with Bombay blood group is identified, closer relatives will also be screened. Because this is a rare blood group,

    Such patients must also have details of donors. Not all blood banks will have units of this blood group ,” said Dr Shiva Ram.

    No registry in India

    Unlike US and UK, in India there is no registry maintained by the government to help persons with rare blood groups. “We are making our efforts to form such a registry which can save many lives,” said Dr Shiva Ram. In the absence of such registry, Sankalp India Foundation has established , that provides the network among persons with the rare blood group.

    via Istanbul man finds blood donor in Bangalore – The Times of India.

  • Plan B from Istanbul

    Plan B from Istanbul

    All countries have their unique qualities, and any one place might seem wonderful to some and a great deal less so to others. But it’s my guess that most people who have had a chance to spend some time in Turkey would agree with me when I say that it really is a special place. Take Istanbul, perhaps the only city in the world that neatly straddles two continents. And not only geographically—Istanbul’s personality is clearly forged from both its European and Asian ties. That mix comes out in everything from the food to the politics to the language to the personalities of people you meet. (Turkey was long considered a candidate for admission to the European Union, but wasn’t admitted—and now can appreciate the fact that its economy is relatively booming, unshadowed by the deep problems of the EU.)

    Johns Hopkins Medicine has strong ties to Istanbul through its affiliate there, Anadolu Medical Center. Anadolu, too, is unique, even by Istanbul’s standards. Most health care in Turkey comes through the government, though there is an increasing presence of private sector hospitals and clinics. But Anadolu, funded by a large foundation, is relatively special in being a non-government, not-for-profit institution, in some ways resembling a U.S. academic medical center. The academic part is a work in progress, but the hospital offers much the same sort of leading-edge facilities and expertise you’d find at many U.S. medical centers. That includes two linear accelerators for nuclear medicine, robotic surgery equipment and cutting-edge imaging capabilities, with the professional staff to match. All of that has helped Anadolu establish a top-notch reputation in areas including oncology and cardiac surgery; in addition, it will soon have an organ-transplant program.

    There has never really been anything like it anywhere in the region. As a result, Anadolu attracts patients from Eastern Europe, Russia and the Middle East. Many of them are affluent, and can afford the costs of travel and of non-government-subsidized health care. Other, less-affluent patients have made considerable sacrifices to receive a higher level of care and a better chance of good outcomes for themselves and their loved ones.

    Some might say these traveler-patients are part of the “medical tourism” movement. If you’ve been reading my blog, you know how I feel about that term. I don’t like it because it blurs the distinction between two very different groups of patients: Those who shop internationally for a “good deal” in medical treatment, and who may even apply the savings to actual tourism; and those who travel because they want or need access to higher quality or more immediate care, or services that may not be available at all in their own regions. Though most of the hype you read about medical tourism applies to the former group, I think that group is actually a much smaller one than it’s made out to be—but more on that in another post.

    The point I want to make here is one that was driven home to me recently in a conversation with Bob Kiely, the head of Anadolu Medical Center, who came to the job last year after a long and much-celebrated career in U.S. hospitals. Bob’s not a physician, but he told me that he goes on rounds there every single day, just to visit with patients and families and see what’s going on in the very front lines. Each day, he makes a point of stopping by the pediatric ward and visiting some of several dozen Iraqi children who are there at any given time, having been brought to Turkey for complex treatments they couldn’t have gotten back home—typically cardiac surgery, sometimes performed at Anadolu on infants as young as six weeks old.

    You might think that a group of sick children makes for a heartbreaking scene, but Bob says it’s actually a lot of big smiles around there. The smiles are from mothers who are finally seeing their children on the road to recovery, staff who are happy to be making a difference and kids who are, well, just being kids. For Bob—and for me, too—it’s a great reminder about why we do what we do, wherever it is in the world we’re doing it.

    Call these kids medical tourists, if you want. As far as I’m concerned, they’re patients who need and deserve good care. Ideally, these patients could get that care down the block or across the city. But this is the best option they have right now, given that the people of Iraq are working to rebuild their country. While that work progresses, the staff of the Anadolu Medical Center are doing an amazing job caring for these patients and their families. I’m so proud that Hopkins and its affiliates can help provide a Plan B.

    via Plan B from Istanbul.

  • Turkish hospital performs world’s first triple limb transplant, separate face transplant

    Turkish hospital performs world’s first triple limb transplant, separate face transplant

    By Associated Press, Published: January 21

    97768746 20100713212551 320 240ANKARA, Turkey — A hospital in southern Turkey on Saturday performed the world’s first triple limb transplant, attaching two arms and one leg to a 34-year-old man, an official said.

    At the same time, a team of doctors at Akdeniz University Hospital, in the Mediterranean coastal city of Antalya, transplanted the face of the same donor onto another patient — a 19-year-old man. It was Turkey’s first face transplant.

    “Today, we have put our signature on a world success,” Dr. Israfil Kurtcephe, the university hospital’s rector, told reporters after the two operations. “For the first time a hospital has transplanted two arms and a leg on one patient.”

    via Turkish hospital performs world’s first triple limb transplant, separate face transplant – The Washington Post.

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  • 1st Turkish Total Artificial Heart Patient Discharged Using Free

    1st Turkish Total Artificial Heart Patient Discharged Using Free

    45-Year-Old Father of 3 Discharged from Florence Nightingale Hospital in Istanbul to Wait for Matching Donor Heart at Home with Family

    Tucson AZ – SynCardia Systems, Inc. manufacturer of the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart, announced today that Florence Nightingale Hospital in Istanbul has discharged Turkey’s first Total Artificial Heart patient to wait for a matching donor heart at home using the Freedom portable driver. Weighing 13.5 pounds, the Freedom driver is the world’s first wearable portable driver designed to power SynCardia’s Total Artificial Heart both inside and outside the hospital.

    “Initially, we had concerns about switching our patient to the Freedom driver because he is really a big guy,” said surgeon Prof. Dr. Deniz Suha Kucukaksu. “However, our patient experienced no differences with this wearable driver. We are excited to be able to discharge him with his Total Artificial Heart. The Freedom driver is so powerful that he can live a near normal life outside of the hospital while waiting for transplantation under safe conditions.”

    Omer Bayrak, 45, had been suffering from congestive heart failure since 2001. Four years ago, he underwent cardiac resynchronization therapy and received an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). Last year, he was hospitalized 11 times for inotropic support.

    For 15 days prior to receiving SynCardia’s Total Artificial Heart, Mr. Bayrak had been in the cardiac intensive care unit. He was on the urgent list for heart transplantation but his cardiac function continued to worsen. As a result, he became the hospital’s first patient to receive SynCardia’s Total Artificial Heart.

    “I can do almost everything with my Freedom driver,” said Mr. Bayrak, who was discharged from the hospital on May 20. “Although I have no biological heart, I still have emotions. Before this illness period, I was against organ donation, but now I understand the importance of it.”

    The Freedom portable driver is CE approved for use in Europe and undergoing an FDA-approved Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) clinical study in the U.S. SynCardia recognizes and thanks Ufuk Yaranli and Natura Medikal Urunler Ltd., the Turkish distributor for the Total Artificial Heart, for their commitment and on-going support of Florence Nightingale Hospital.

    SOURCE: SynCardia Systems, Inc.

    via 1st Turkish Total Artificial Heart Patient Discharged Using Free.