All Blood Tests

What is Leukemia?
It is like other cancers, result from somatic mutations in the DNA which activate oncogenes or deactivate tumor suppressor genes, and disrupt the regulation of cell death, differentiation or division. These mutations may occur spontaneously or as a result of exposure to radiation or carcinogenic substances and are likely to be influenced by genetic factors. Cohort and case-control studies have linked exposure to petrochemicals, such as benzene, and hair dyes to the development of some forms of leukemia.

Types of Leukemia:
1. Acute lymphocytic leukemia (Also known as Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia or ALL) is the most common type of leukemia in young children. This disease also affects adults, especially at age 65 and older. This type of Leukemia is a cancer of the white blood cells, characterized by the overproduction and continuous multiplication of malignant and immature white blood in the bone marrow. It is a hematological malignancy.

2. Acute myelogenous leukemia (also known as Acute Myeloid Leukemia or AML) occurs more commonly in adults than in children. This type of leukemia was previously called acute nonlymphocytic leukemia.

3. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) most often affects adults over the age of 55. It sometimes occurs in younger adults, Children are never affected by CLL.

4. Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) occurs mainly in adults. A very small number of children also develop this disease. This type of leukemia characterized by increased and unregulated clonal production of predominantly myeloid cells in the bone marrow.

Leukemia is clinically and pathologically split into its acute and chronic forms.

Acute leukemia is characterized by the rapid growth of immature blood cells. This crowding makes the bone marrow unable to produce healthy blood cells. Acute forms of leukemia can occur in children and young adults. (In fact, it is a more common cause of death for children in the US than any other type of malignant disease). Immediate treatment is required in acute leukemia’s due to the rapid progression and accumulation of the malignant cells, which then spill over into the bloodstream and spread to other organs of the body. If left untreated, the patient will die within months or even weeks.

Chronic leukemia is distinguished by the excessive build up of relatively mature, but still abnormal, blood cells. Typically taking months to years to progress, the cells are produced at a much higher rate than normal cells, resulting in many abnormal white blood cells in the blood. Chronic leukemia mostly occurs in older people, but can theoretically occur in any age group.

Whereas acute leukemia must be treated immediately, chronic forms are sometimes monitored for some time before treatment to ensure maximum effectiveness of therapy.

Furthermore, the diseases are classified according to the type of abnormal cell found most in the blood.

When leukemia affects lymphoid cells (lymphocytes and plasma cells), it is called lymphocytic leukemia.

Causes of Leukemia:
The causes of Leukemia are not defined in general, as the causes of leukemia are different for different types of Leukemia. Researchers have strong suspicions about four possible causes:
i) natural or artificial ionizing radiation
ii) certain kinds of chemicals
iii) some viruses
iv) genetic predispositions

Regular and unprotected exposure to some chemicals can lead to the development of leukemia. However, exposure to chemicals while on the job is the cause of the leukemia. Persons with Down syndrome are also at a greater risk of developing leukemia than the general public. Anyone who has received chemotherapy treatments as treatment for another form of cancer is also much more likely to develop leukemia than a person who has never received chemotherapy treatments. Persons who suffer with the blood disease known as Myelodysplastic syndrome may also find themselves with a diagnosis of leukemia as a natural progression of their condition.

The leukemia specialist will determine the specific type of leukemia that has developed. It is easier to evaluate overall health conditions which come up with a leukemia treatment program that will be right for the leukemia patient. Radiation therapy may be determined to be the best leukemia treatment. For the next person, biological therapy may be seen as the right leukemia treatment.

The main cause of leukemia is the exposure to very high levels of radiation. However, radiation exposure at a nuclear reactor or being exposed to the massive amount of radiation released when an atomic bomb explodes definitely is linked to leukemia.

The fact of the Leukemia is that the viruses have also been linked to some forms of leukemia. Fanconi anemia is also a risk factor for developing leukemia. Until the cause or causes of leukemia are found, there is no way to prevent the disease. Even when the causes become known, they may prove to be things which are not readily controllable, such as naturally occurring background radiation, and therefore not especially helpful for prevention purposes.

We all know about blood gushing through our veins, but have we stopped to think what this very same blood is made of? Blood consists of Red Blood cells, White blood cells and platelets.

Introduction to Leukocytes

Leukocytes or White blood cells are those cells in your blood that have the responsibility of defending your body against infections and diseases. They not only fight infections but also guard the body against foreign objects like germs and bacteria. White blood cells and red blood cells are both produced from the stem cell of the bone marrow. There are more that 6000 white blood cells in every millimeter of blood in the body, which is equivalent to more than ½ million white blood cells in every drop of blood! The life expectancy of white blood cells in only 2 or 3 days, after which they die and destroyed by the other white blood cells in blood and replaced with new and fresh cells. Where the number of leukocytes in the blood increases, it is an indication of a disease or infection. Under normal conditions, there should be 4×109 and 11×109 white blood cells per liter or blood, which is equivalent to 1% of the healthy blood in the body. In case the body is suffering from leukemia, this count will be must higher and in case of leukopenia it will be much lower.

Composition of leukocytes

Leukocytes or White blood cells, as the name suggests are white or rather colorless. This is because they do not contain hemoglobin that is responsible for the red color in the red blood cells. They are rather asymmetrical in shape and consist of a nucleus, and much larger than red blood cells. These leukocytes can easily change their shape, which enable them to squeeze into walls of blood vessels and between other cells.

Types of Leukocytes

There are different types of leukocytes, though their most common classification is as per the presence of granules.

* Granulocytes – these are leukocytes that are commonly characterized by the presence of different granules in their cytoplasm. These types of leukocytes are responsible mainly for the digestion of endocytosed particles in the blood stream. There are three different type of Granulocytes: Neutrophils, Basophils and Eosinophils, these names are given according to their staining properties.
* Agranulocytes – these are leukocytes, which lack specific types of granules in the cytoplasm. There are two different types of Agranulocytes: Monocytes and Macrophages

Function of different types of leukocytes:

* Neutrophils – these types of leukocytes help in fighting and defending the body against infections of bacterial and fungal variety. They also play a part in minute inflammatory processes and also initially respond to microbial infections. Pus is formed in the body when these Neutrophils are active. These are also called polymorphonuclear leukocytes.
* Eosinophils – these are responsible for dealing with infections of the parasitic variety and an increase in these is the indication of such infections. Eosinophils are active in the body when the body is suffering from asthma, hay fever, hives and other parasitic infections.
* Basophils – the function of Basophils is to help the body fight against allergies and antigens, this is possible as they help in releasing chemical histamine.
* Monocytes – these leukocytes are the cleaners for Neutrophils. But other than that they are responsible for presenting the T cells with pathogens for their destruction.
* Macrophage – these are converted Monocytes that help in cleaning out the dead cells in the blood stream.

The first blood transfusion on humans was performed around 1600 with animal blood and the results were disastrous. It was in 1800s that James Blundell proposed the concept of using human blood transfusion for human beings. However, it was only in early 1900s that the four types of blood group were identified by Karl Landsteiner. This lead to successful blood transfusions in humans and better results were produced when the type of blood was the same in the donor and receiver.

Blood Types

A blood type, also known as the blood group is the classification of blood bases based on the presence or absence of antigens that we inherit from our parents and is present on the surface of the red blood cells. These antigens can be proteins, carbohydrates, glycoproteins or glycolipids and depends mainly on the blood group.

To identify the blood type, the presence or absence of these immunogenic blood group antigens, classified as antigen A, antigen B along with the antigen RhD is identified. The type is stated as a combination of either A or B along with the presence or absence of the RhD antigen, for example, A positive, B negative, etcetera. The blood type AB indicates the presence of both A and B antigens while the blood type O indicates the absence of both types of antigens.

Red Blood Cell Compatibility

* AB Group: Individuals with the blood group AB contain both antigen A and antigen B. Hence, they can receive blood from individuals of all blood groups but can donate blood only to people who have the AB blood group.
* A Group: Individuals with the blood group contain antigen A. Hence, they can receive blood from individuals who have the blood group A or O and can donate blood to people who have A or AB blood group.
* B Group: Individuals with the blood group contain antigen B. Hence, they can receive blood from individuals who have the blood group B or O and can donate blood to people who have B or AB blood group.
* O Group: Individuals with the blood group do not contain antigen A or antigen B. Hence, they can receive blood from individuals who have the blood group O and can donate blood to people who have A, B or AB blood group.

Apart from these, people who have the RhD antigen present in their blood can receive blood from people whose blood may or may not contain the antigen while people who do not have the RhD antigen present in their blood cannot receive blood which contains the antigen RhD. However, this particular antigen does not come into the picture when plasma is to be donated or received. The listing mentioned above holds good.

From the list above it is easy to understand as to why people with blood group O (especially O negative) are referred to as ‘universal donors’ and people with blood group AB (especially AB positive) are referred to as ‘universal recipients’.

Rare Blood Types

I was very surprised to read that the concentration of a blood group varies in ethnic groups and geographically too. In the United States of America, the rarest blood type is AB Negative. It has been estimated that only about 1 in about 170 people have this blood type. However, as people with this blood group can be transfused with all other blood groups, even in cases of low resources, there is not too much of an issue. Next in line is the B Negative blood type. About 1 in every 70 people has this blood type.

The most common blood group is the O Positive blood group. In a way this is our good fortune as people with this blood type can donate blood to all people who have any blood type with the RhD antigen present.

With the advance in technologies over the years, the human race has been able to understand as to which blood type of blood is best suitable for transfusion to a particular individual. It is up to us to use this information diligently. Be well advised so that when there is an emergency, you can take a well informed decision which will not lead to any unnecessary complications.

There are four fundamental blood types: A, B, AB and O. Each types is associated with an RH factor, which is positive or negative. This gives rise to eight blood types: A+, B+, AB+, O+, A-, B-, AB-, O-. In the United States, the distribution of these is as follows:

* O+ = 38%
* A+ = 34%
* B+ = 9%
* O- = 7%
* A- = 6%
* AB+ = 3%
* B- = 2%
* AB- = 1%

There are certain antigenic substances like carbohydrates, proteins, glycolipids and glycoproteins on the surface of red blood cells. The presence of these substances depends on inheritance. The presence or absence of these antigenic substances gives rise to blood type.

Human blood types systems
The International Society of Blood Transfusion acknowledges 29 blood type systems.

1 – ABO blood type system
This is the most significant system in human blood transfusion. The associated anti-A and anti-B antibodies are called as the Immunoglobulin M or IgM antibodies. These are developed during the initial phase of life due to sensitization to environmental substances like viruses, bacteria and food.

2 – Rhesus blood type system
This is the second most significant system in human blood transfusion. RhD antigen is a most significant Rhesus antigen as it is the most immunogenic. RhD negative individuals do not have any anti-RhD IgG or IgM antibodies, but may have IgG anti-RhD antibodies due to a sensitizing occurrence.

3 – Other blood type systems
These are:

* MNS system
* Kell system
* Lewis system

These and other systems have been named according to the patients in whom the antibodies were detected.

Blood transfusion of the Blood types

* O+ can be given to patients with type O+, A+, B+, AB+ and can receive type O+, O-.
* A+ can be given to patients with type A+, AB+ and can receive type O+, A+, O-, A-.
* B+ can be given to patients with type B+, AB+ and can receive type O+, B+, O-, B-.
* AB+ can be given to patients with type AB+ and can receive type O+, A+, B+, AB+, O-, A-, B-, AB-
* O- can be given to patients with type O+, A+, B+, AB+, O-, A-, B-, AB- and can receive type O-
* A- can be given to patients with type A+, AB+, A-, AB- and can receive type O-, A-
* B- can be given to patients with type B+, AB+, B-, AB- and can receive type O-, B-
* AB- can be given to patients with type AB+, AB- and can receive type O-, A-, B-, AB-

Allele
An Allele is a form of genetic information that can be found in the DNA at a particular location and on a particular chromosome. Such co-dominant alleles decide the human blood types. These are of three types:

* IA called as A
* IB called as B
* i called as O

Every individual has a couple of ABO blood type alleles. One is inherited from the biological mother and the other from the biological father. A description of this pair in the offspring’s DNA is termed as a “genotype”. These genotypes are of six types:

* if one allele is A and other is A, the genotype of the offspring is AA and the blood type of the offspring is A
* if one allele is A and other is B, the genotype of the offspring is AB and the blood type of the offspring is AB
* if one allele is A and other is O, the genotype of the offspring is AO and the blood type of the offspring is A
* if one allele is B and other is B, the genotype of the offspring is BB and the blood type is B
* if one allele is B and other is O, the genotype of the offspring is BO and the blood type is B
* if one allele is O and other is O, the genotype of the offspring is OO and the blood type is O

In the case of Cerebral Palsy there is no one cause of this severe condition. There are many things that may increase the risk of this condition but will not cause cerebral palsy all the time. In the majority of cases and average of seventy percent, it results from brain injury before the child is even born this is known as congenital cerebral palsy this would be present from birth but may take months even years to diagnose depending on how severe it illness is. There is also a chance of acquired cerebral palsy which could happen through there being a case of meningitis or brain injuries.

Below are some factors that can increase the chances of cerebral palsy. None of the above will definitely lead to cerebral palsy. Before birth: Prematurely, long difficult labor, lack of oxygen to the child, Bacterial infection of the mother during birth, low birth weight, severe jaundice, viral, diseases in early pregnancy, attack of the child’s central nervous system, lack of oxygen / nutrients from the placenta to the fetus and incompatible blood types between the mother and child. After birth: Viral encephalitis, brain tumors, head injuries and Meningitis

Cerebral palsy is broken down into three main types: Ataxic cp, Athetoid cp, Spastic cp.

Ataxic CP – this is the rarest of the three and occurs when the cerebellum has been damaged this part of the brain controls balance. It will be difficult fop the child to coordinate their movements and they will have problems below with balancing.

Along with the three types of cp some children will have a combination of them all.

Athetiod CP – This type of cp occurs when the basal ganglion has been damaged and as a result causes involuntary, uncoordinated and uncontrolled movements of the muscles. This causing uncontrolled and jerky movements as well as twisting of the fingers and wrists may affect all limbs. When walking, it will tend to cause the child to stumble with poor coordination.

Spastic CP – This type of CP is the most common of the three it occurs when there has been damage to the cortex, which is the part of the brain controlling thought movement and sensation. Causes mainly tightness of the muscles, in both the arms and legs of the inflicted. The arms will tend to be flat against the side of the body with the hands bent up against the forearm. Depending on the damage the legs will either be greatly effected or only mildly it may be only slightly obvious that there is a problem when the child walks or in worse cases both legs are affected and they will be crossed with the toes pointing. If the muscles are not exercised often enough this can cause the child to become wheelchair bound.

I started to have problems when in my teens, feeling upset about growing up without a father. I self-harmed, then attempted suicide when 16. After getting in trouble with the police at 16, I was isolated and felt my life to be futile. Although I was seeing a psychiatrist, he stopped the treatment, and feeling betrayed as well as cut off from my old friends and family, aged 18, I stood in front of a fast train.

However, when I saw the driver’s screaming face as the train neared me, I changed my mind and moved to the side, as I did not want to cause him trauma. The train, however, struck me and hurled me through the air and I landed on the platform. My pelvis was badly fractured and I had received substantial injuries but after extensive emergency surgery, I survived.

A slow and painful recovery lay ahead, with hope but also setbacks, until I finally left hospital after extensive reconstructive surgery. When I left, I soon decided a change of place might do me good and went to Devon to live and work in a cultural centre. Whilst there, I had problems with the people there, who it turned out were something of a cult, and they called the police to have me removed. I was placed in a psychiatric hospital but my brothers rescued me and brought me back to London.

However, I was homeless and suffering the stress of isolation, despite my brother having allowed me to stay with him. One night, I was admitted to hospital and whilst there, a doctor told me I was manic-depressive. I thought this to be false and hated the idea. When I was prescribed Lithium, mood stabilisers and anti-depressants, I refused them and was sectioned under The Mental Health Act.

Finally, I was discharged from the unit and vowed to stop taking the medication, which was destroying my future as a writer by preventing me from reading and writing, due to making my eyes water continuously. This I did, with the support of all my friends and family. Even though it was a rollercoaster—I went up and down whilst trying to come off the stuff—I did it and eventually even told my psychiatrist. As I told him I would fight him every inch of the way if he sectioned me or tried to force me to take the drugs, he let things stand.

I moved from a halfway house to a privately rented room in a house and started going to a weekly meditation group that helped a lot. I read self-help books and developed self-esteem, published poems and began to write my memoir. I trained as a therapist finally, in order to give back and help others; I am now a master of hypnotherapy, Time Line Therapy® and NLP.

In the year 2000, I was advised by several people to try Eat Right For Your Blood Type to help alleviate a stomach problem I had been having. I found out I was blood type O and a non-secretor, and that Type O non-secretors have a high risk factor for developing manic depression. Although, highly sceptical at first, my symptoms were so severe, I was willing to give anything a try.

I began a diet and lifestyle plan for my specific blood type and am on it to this day. I was brought up as a vegetarian but the advice for type O is to eat a high protein diet and I do, with spectacularly good results. Having spent the last seven years researching more about the link between our genetics, our blood type and health conditions, I am 100% convinced of it’s scientific validity and importance.

I eat a diet that minimises my risk of having dopamine dips or spikes and thus my moods are very stable and even my friends who have been sceptical have now started following the plan, with the same excellent results. I have also noted the correlation between the health conditions many thousands of people I meet have and their blood types and find that the accuracy of the complete blood type literature by Doctor Peter J. D’Adamo (Eat Right For Your Type, Live Right For Your Type, Cook Right For Your Type and The Complete Blood Type Encyclopaedia) is proven to my satisfaction every single time.

My conclusion is that manic-depression was falsely applied to me and that labelling someone is never a useful exercise; neither is medicating without fully exploring other options. Had I been offered the blood type literature from the start of my problems, I am certain all of them would have been helped dramatically, if not averted entirely. Diet plays a key role in mental illness yet how often do psychiatrists or medical doctors even ask or advise about someone’s diet?

The idea of people being different and thus needing different diets may be easy to dismiss by those who have not the scientific-minded curiosity to read the literature by Dr D’Adamo, and nevertheless, we are different and some swear by vegetarianism whereas others swear by meat being healthy, yet both are right, depending on your blood type.

”I feel euphoric when I eat foods that have a lot of calories.” That awareness is the beginning of solving the mystery behind the cause of obesity. The mystery is in your mind and psyche.

Ask yourself these questions to shed light on why certain food makes you feel euphoric:

• Was this a food I ate for comfort as a child?

• Was I offered food as a child when I was unhappy to ‘feel’ better?

• Are there wonderful memories of happy times connected with eating this food?

• Are there people that I associate with the food?

• Was food the focal point for family gatherings?

• Do I eat the same things over and over, because they make me feel good, and remind me of happier times?

There is a chemical affect that the food is giving you. Certain foods cause your brain to secrete endorphins (”happy juice”) that make you feel euphoric. Chocolate is one of them. You can also create extra endorphins by doing other things, like exercising, getting hugs, making love, playing with animals, engaging in a hobby, stimulating conversation, etc. None of these are fattening!

Research on body types reveals Sweet Crunchy foods are appealing to more people than Crunchy Pungent foods. And if you check the majority of processed food, crunchy or otherwise you will note there is a plethora of sweetners in the majority of products—Corn syrup, Glucose, Glucose syrup, Sucrose, Dextrose, Maltose are the most frequently used, as well as artificial sweetners—aspartame, saccharine, acesulfame k and sorbitol.

Armed with the research that Sweet Crunchy foods are appealing to more people than pungent foods, food manufacturers have teams of psychologists and researchers to create food that is esthetically enticing. For example: The red juice from beef is not the natural blood of cattle. The majority of blood is drained from the meat during processing and is replaced with red dyed water. Why? Because the actual color of beef is considered an unappealing blue/gray color. Look at the veins in the back of your hand or pulse point. It appears to be blue, which is the same effect with beef. Red dye is toxic, however, meat processors are compelled to use the red dye to satisfy consumers’ preference to have beef appear ‘blood red.’ Red dye in meat is seldom used in other countries.

McDonald’s spent considerable time and money researching the content of their French fry ‘mixture’—they are not whole cut potatoes. McDonald’s French fries are made from mashed potatoes extruded through a press. By using the pre-cooked potatoes many additives are used to create the flavor the majority of people’s taste buds like. Research on body types indicates Sweet Crunchy foods are appealing to more people than Crunchy Pungent foods. And if you check the majority of processed food, crunchy or otherwise you will note there is a plethora of sweetners in the majority of products—Corn syrup, Glucose, Glucose syrup, Sucrose, Dextrose, Maltose are the most frequently used, as well as artificial sweetners—aspartame, saccharine, acesulfame k and sorbitol.

Thus, eating high calorie foods begins at 6 months when solid baby foods with sweetners are introduced. The child soon learns sweet high calorie foods satisfy hunger feelings and a feeling of comfort.

Fortunately, humans are born with the most important effective food management tool—a hypothalamus, which helps to regulate the amount of food required for maintaining optimum health and weight. The main function of the hypothalamus is homeostasis, or maintaining the body’s status quo. Factors such as blood pressure, body temperature, fluid and electrolyte balance, and body weight are held to a precise value called the set-point. Although this set-point can migrate over time, from day to day it is remarkably fixed.

Unfortunately, well-meaning parent(s) encourage children to ‘override’ this homeostasis mechanism, by insisting, threatening, bribery, begging, number of tries, if you eat one bite, “You can have dessert (something sweet),” to eat everything on their plate. Thus, by age 5 or 6 the hypothalamus is rendered inoperative and the child is no longer listening to their body signals regarding the appropriate intake of food.

You can retrain your mind and psyche to create a hypothalamus driven eating habit by knowing your blood and body type. Each blood type is better fueled by certain foods. And each body type has a unique like or dislike to certain textures and tastes. Deepak Chopra, MD author of “Perfect Health: Complete Mind/Body Guide” identifies three body types: The thin, restless Vata; enterprising, efficient Pitta; tranquil, steady Kapha; or any combination of these three. These body types become the basis for a specific Ayurvedic food plan for optimum health, stress reduction, neuromuscular integration, exercise and daily routines. The result is a total plan, tailor-made for each individual, to reestablish the body’s essential balance with nature; to strengthen the mind body connection; and to use the power of quantum healing to transcend the ordinary limitations of disease and aging—in short, for achieving Perfect health.

Coupled with “Eat Right for Your Type” by Peter D’Adamo there is a clear, simple food plan for each blood type that anyone can follow. For example there is a direct connection between stress, autoimmune disorders and red meat in the Type B system. I can attest to this research. Long before “Eat Right for Your Type” was published, I discovered red meat caused me to feel stressful due to pain in my stomach and nerve endings. It felt like my stomach lining and nerve endings had been scraped until they were raw. I discovered this pain was prevalent after eating red meat, thus, I stopped eating red meat and the pain in my stomach and nerve endings ceased. Many years later without knowing my blood type, I read “Eat Right for Your Type” and wondered if my blood type was B. After checking my blood type, I was not surprised to discover my blood type is B positive.

The process of changing your eating habits might seem insurmountable. However, consider the end result and the effort is worth any falsely perceived difficulty.

If you aren’t happy with what you see in the mirror but don’t want to harm your health with some crazy fad diet, try these tips that might help you take off a few pounds in a healthy way:

- Why not consult a physician? A dietician can have a good background of your health and thus advise you of a fitted diet for your health condition.

- Water as have been said, remains to be a good cleansing element for the body. Water theraphy is a good treatment that’s also good for your skin. Drink lots of water and get rid of those toxins!

- When you’re hungry; there’s a greater tendency to indulge on overeating on a latter time so please, don’t skip meals.

- Exercise! Try to jog or brisk walk at least 30 minutes every single day. This is also good for your heart.

- Do no go into crash diet; slowly aim in losing 2 or less pounds a week. Sticking into a faster but harder diet can get you depressed and thus intend you to give up easily; the result? You will gain more weight.

- Learn while dieting! Read good books on how to count your calories; how to choose or make of delicious but nutritious foods that do not overdo your weight; etc.

- Learn the value of discipline. Obesity may also be aggravated by people who do not monitor their diet.

When all your efforts have been wasted and you finally decided to go with the flow; there are numerous fad diets available today. Fad diets are food selections which you will have to follow in a regular pattern. Select the best way to loose these calories! Here is a list of the latest fad-diet:

1. Atkin diet suggests you to lessen your carb intake. So you’ll say, this is quite easy; all you have to do is eat milk, cookies or ice cream with low carbohydrate! Well, think again, with atkin diet, there are surprisingly 2 dieters who already died due to health problems such as kidney stones, constipation, increase of blood acidity, etc.

2. Blood type diet is quite interesting too! If you’re Blood Type is O, you require meat in your diet; Blood type B needs dairy products whereas those under type A need vegetables. Most people do not know their blood types leading to poor diet; but on the other hand, a balance diet is vital for a healthy body. So consider this, will the blood type diet be effective if you’ll loose some foods needed for nourishment?

3. You can also try the South Beach diet. This diet will not limit your intake of food; however, it will discourage you to eat those processed foods with saturated or high fat components. As a replacement, having large servings of vegetables and whole grains in your meals are highly recommended.

4. Soup Diet. As the name implies, your meals will be composed heavily of soups! It can be chicken and cabbage soups which can be accompanied by little servings of steamed vegetables, fruits or brown sugar.

5. The Chocolate Diet sounds tempting isn’t it?! Included in the menus are the well-loved chocolates, popcorn and pasta. Just make sure that pasta sauces have low fat ingredients and that fruits are included in the recipes. Excluded are sodas or alcoholic beverages, oily or fried foods, caffeine, foods with high calories and high sugar content etc.

6. You can also choose the Fruit juice Diet; the well-known is the Grapefruit Diet. You will have to follow the prescribed diet with fruit juices, some low-carb meals and a good amount of water for 18 weeks. A recent survey shows that many patients who undertook this diet lost more than 10 pounds in a 12-week average diet plan.

So now that you have a list of pretty good dietary programs, which is well-known nowadays, the moral will all lay in your hands. Good amount of discipline is necessary; and precautious moves should always be on a top priority.

There are a lot of ways to stay fit, it is your choice on whether to stay obese and unhealthy or be happy and strong! You owe yourself and your future family a longer life span and sustainable health which can be useful for you and the society.

Low blood sugar treatment is needed by people suffering from hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). Hypoglycemia isn’t really a disease but is a condition that is a result of different causes. Low blood sugar is commonly caused by complications brought about by diabetes treatment or better known as diabetic hypoglycemia. This condition can be developed due to excessive intake of insulin and other diabetic medications.

Low blood sugar may also result from least common causes like simple medications such as aspirin to medications for diseases that affect the kidneys, pancreas, liver and other vital organs in the body and or inherited metabolism problems.

Hypoglycemia is a highly manageable and curable condition. There are several different types of low blood sugar treatment that you can try including the following:

1. Low blood sugar treatment kit – To be able to determine your level of blood sugar it is a must to perform a blood glucose check. This is basically the first treatment needed for hypoglycemia. You can perform this test at the comfort of your home. It works by piercing your fingertip using a lancet and putting a small drop of blood onto a strip. Afterwards the strip will be placed inside the meter to check the results. The results come in numeric reading that corresponds to your blood sugar level.

2. Medications – Another type of low blood sugar treatment is by taking oral and intravenous solutions like dextrose. Adrenal deficiency is normally treated by intake of Cortisol tablets or as an IV infusion. For young children with growth hormone insufficiency, growth hormone injections are used as treatment. Your doctor may also prescribe drugs that make the pancreas produce lesser insulin.

3. Surgery – This is the most complicated low blood sugar treatment for people suffering from hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia can be brought about by pancreatic tumors called “insulinomas” that may be benign or malignant. Surgery is considered the most effective option for this kind of growth. If in case the tumor is malignant or inoperable, there are specific medications that allow the pancreas to produce lesser insulin.

4. Proper meal planning – This type of low blood sugar treatment is the most convenient and most practical among the treatments that were already discussed. You can ask a physician or dietitian to prepare you a diet to help increase your blood sugar level. The dietitian may advise you to eat sweets like candies, chocolate bars or drink sodas that can balance your blood glucose level.

Low blood sugar or hypoglycemia is a condition that can be managed and treated with the proper guidance from your physician.

Your blood circulates throughout your whole body. It supplies food, oxygen, hormones and other chemicals to all the body’s cells. It also helps to remove waste products and is important in fighting infection and in controlling bleeding. Blood consists of 60% plasma (fluid) and 40% blood cells. The three most important types of cells are red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Although we think of blood as a fluid, it is actually made up of both fluid and cells. These can be seen under a microscope.

Bone Marrow is the “blood cell factory” which is found filling up the cavities of bones. All blood cells originate and are produced from a single “stem cell” whose progeny grow and mature into different types of blood cells. This stem cell can and does renew itself as required by our body.

Red blood cells (erythrocytes) carry oxygen from your lungs to all parts of your body. If you don’t have enough red blood cells you have anemia.

Anemia can make you look pale and may make you feel tired, dizzy, irritable and short of breath. Red blood cells also pick up wastes on their way around the body, carrying them to the lungs to be breathed out as carbon dioxide.

White blood cells (leucocytes) are the body’s infection fighters. There are three main groups of white blood cells: granulocytes, lymphocytes and monocytes. Their job is to rid your body of disease-causing bacteria, viruses, fungi and to destroy the body’s dead or defective cells. If we do not have enough white blood cells we are at risk of catching all types of infections.

Platelets are small cells that prevent bleeding and makes blood clot following an injury. When a blood vessel is damaged or cut, platelets rush to the area and clump together to plug the bleeding site. If we do not have enough platelets easy bruising, nose bleeds, prolonged bleeding from cuts, or internal bleeding from the bowel or bladder may occur.

When the body is healthy, the numbers of red cells, white cells and platelets in the blood are kept in balance.