Types of Cancer Treatments
Cancer is a disease in which some of the body’s cells grow uncontrollably and spread to other parts of the body. Cancer can start almost anywhere in the human body, which is made up of trillions of cells
Some people with cancer will have only one treatment. But most people have a combination of treatments, such as surgery with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy.
Common Cancer Treatment Options
Marrow Stem Cell Transplantation
A bone marrow transplant is a procedure that implants healthy blood-making stem cells into the body to replace damaged or diseased bone marrow. In cases where the bone marrow is not functioning or cannot produce enough healthy blood cells, a bone marrow transplant is required. Bone marrow transplants are of two types, autologous and allogeneic. Transplants in which cells from the human body are used are called autologous, and transplants from a donor or donor are called allogeneic transplants.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is a drug-based therapies. Chemotherapy is a special form of drug therapy that aims to stop or destroy the growth and proliferation of cancer cells that cause uncontrolled growth in the human body and damage healthy tissues.
Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy is a new dimension of drug therapy in cancer. Millions of cancer cells are born in our bodies every day. There are cells in the human immune system to defeat cancer cells. When the immune (immune) system recognizes cancer cells, it immediately takes action and destroys the cell. T cells (T lymphocytes) in the immune system fight these cancer cells and try to destroy them.
Interventional Radiology
Interventional Radiology is a field of radiology that includes techniques applied for diagnosis and treatment in many areas of medicine. The patient is usually administered local anesthesia; Interventional radiology, which includes the diagnosis and treatment methods performed by entering the body with very small means (in the size of a pinhole), enables diseases to be treated with much simpler interventions than before, without the need for open operations and diagnostic surgical applications, and to obtain clearer information about the disease.
Radiation Therapy
Radiotherapy, that is, beam therapy, aims to destroy cancer cells to a large extent by emitting radiation beams on cancer cells and to treat cancer with this process. Radiotherapy procedures are in the field of specialization in the medical science called radiation oncology.
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What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a metabolic disease that develops when the secretory gland called the pancreas does not produce enough insulin hormone in your body or the insulin hormone it produces cannot be used effectively.
Our digestive system breaks down the eating into nutrients. Carbohydrates or various sugars are broken down into glucose for use by the body and absorbed. Glucose is an important fuel source for many organs in our body. However, in order to use glucose as a fuel, the glucose molecule must enter the cell. For this reason, we need a special hormone. Beta cells in the pancreas produce a hormone called insulin.
Insulin is the chemical messenger necessary for the entry of glucose into the cell to regulate blood sugar levels that rise after a meal. Insulin is released into the bloodstream to trigger blood glucose to enter cells. Insulin lowers your blood sugar level, allowing glucose to enter the cell.
Not only insulin but also glucagon which has an effect on blood sugar levels. If your blood sugar levels are too low or you haven’t eaten for too long, glucagon inform the liver to release stored sugar.
The other active hormone in diabetes is GLP-1 which helps the pancreas for production of the right amount of insulin to move sugar from the blood into the cells. When blood sugar gets too high, GLP-1 stimulates beta cells to increase insulin production and also helps lower the amount of sugar converted by the liver. When blood sugar gets too high, insulin production increases. Metabolic disorders in these systems lead to diabetes.
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Seasonal Flu Vaccine
These days, autumn makes itself felt, unpredictable weather causes an increase in flu cases. It is possible to protect against influenza, which can be seen more frequently in crowded environments, by vaccination.
Influenza is an infectious disease which is disease that enters the body through the respiratory tract with viruses called “influenza”. Influenza can cause epidemics, especially in late autumn, winter, and early spring.
Healthy individuals injected with flu viruses usually heal spontaneously in one week. However, it can cause serious and fatal complications especially in the elderly, children, and people with chronic diseases
Influenza, which is a contagious virus infection, is a much more severe disease than the common cold. The flu virus, which can survive for weeks, especially in the winter, is very easy to transmit. One of the most important ways to protect against the flu is the flu vaccine.
The flu vaccine is inactive and is prepared each year according to the World Health Organization’s recommendations. After the flu vaccine is administered, the protective antibody level is formed on average, 10-15 days. It can prevent 70-90% of flu symptoms in healthy young adults.
Who can have the flu vaccine?
Flu vaccines are suitable for most people with rare exceptions
- people 50 years and older
- People with chronic diseases in a nursing home
- People with chronic diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (asthma, chronic bronchitis, etc.), heart patients, diabetics, chronic liver and kidney patients,
- Those with immunologic diseases.
- Those with immune-suppressed diseases suppressed immune system (HIV/AIDS patients, cancer patients, organ and bone marrow transplant recipients, chemotherapy, radiotherapy patients, steroids)
- Between 6 months and 18 months and taking long-term aspirin therapy (to reduce the risk of developing Reye’s syndrome),
- Pregnant women (within the knowledge of the patient’s physician),
- Babies older than six months (trivalent inactivated flu vaccine), older than thirty-six months (3 years old) (trivalent or quadrivalent flu vaccine can be administered),
- Health workers,
- All healthy individuals who want to be protected by vaccination can get vaccinated.
Coronavirus in Kids
Unfortunately, Coronavirus does not affect only adults, children can also develop COVID-19.
Most of the cases are not showing the symptoms and Covid-19 in children usually have milder symptoms when compared to adults. However, some children might develop severe complications and need to hospitalize.
The symptoms of Covid in children are similar and we list few main Covid-19 symptoms;
If you are suspicious that your kid might have a Covid-19 infection, you should get a PCR test and isolate the kid from family members and visitors. And of course, the kid should stay home until receiving the result of the PCR test. If the symptoms get any worse, you should call your doctor or admit to the closest ER.
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Can I Get COVID-19 Again?
Getting Covid-19 again seems to be rare but you have a still possible to get Covid-19 again after the recovery of it.
It is called reinfection. According to the knowledge from similar viruses, reinfections are expected.
This situation is also valid for vaccinated people. If you got the shot of Covid Vaccine and still virus can infect you again and thanks to the vaccine, the risk of severe illness and death decrease significantly.
There is a study called SARS-CoV-2 Immunity and Reinfection Evaluation (SIREN) which was conducted by the Department of Health and Social Care and Public Health in England. The study showed that the possibility of reinfection is decreased by 83% for at least five months due to the responses of the immune from the previous infection.
The results from the same study suggested that cases of reinfection are rare and the ratio of occurrence is fewer than 1% of about 6.600 participants who had already been infected by the COVID-19 virus.
Reinfection is a rare situation but it is significant to take precautions such as wearing masks, handwashing, and social distancing.
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What are the Covid-19 Variants?
The pandemic of Covid-19 continues to affect our lives and thankfully vaccines are coming with hope to fight this pandemic. However, new versions of the Covid-19 virus are reported and put us in a stressful place again.
Let’s see what is the variant Of Covid-19 and how does it affect us?
The mutation is responsible for the formation of new variants of the virus and some of these variants continue to spread and some of them are disappeared.
As we know, new variants of Covid-19 are reported. One of them is detected in the UK and called B.1.1.7. It is more contagious when compared to their variants.
Last October, in South Africa, named with B.1.351 variant was determined and lastly, P.1 variant was detected passenger from Brasil at the airport in Japan.
Easily and fast spreading of these variants cause the number of infected people, a requirement of the health services, hospital admission, and finally to death.
Therefore, protective strategies such as physical distance, mask, hand hygiene, isolation, and quarantine limit the spreading of the Covid-19 virus and protect public health.
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What about the Vaccines?
Current vaccines were based on the previous version of the virus. However, scientists believe that they would be effective for new types of viruses.
The first result of BioNTech/Pfizer vaccines provides protection but less effective to new variants.
Two new vaccines (from Novavax and Jannsen) to be approved sooner would provide the protection as well. Experts from Oxford-AstraZeneca explained that their vaccine is protective against to new English variant.
Experts state that although this vaccine still provides protection against severe Covid-19 diseases, it is less effective against the South African variant.
Preliminary results from Moderna also show that the vaccine is effective against the South African variant. However, experts point out that the immune response may not be strong and long-lasting in this variant.
Experts say that many different variants may emerge in the future, but even in the worst-case scenario, vaccines can be redesigned or modified within a few weeks or months.
It is stated that the flu vaccine is updated to cover new strains every year, as well as the coronavirus vaccines, can be renewed.
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