Earth Essences.Com

Double lung transplant saves Chicago man with terminal cancer

Doctors have successfully performed a double lung transplant on a non-smoker with terminal lung cancer in an 'extremely uncommon' procedure that will give hope to others with advanced stages of the deadly disease. 

Albert Khoury, 54, underwent a seven-hour surgery to receive his new lungs at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago on September 25, 2021.

Khoury had been working as a cement finisher for the City of Chicago when, in early 2020, he experienced pain and coughed up blood. 

He first assumed he had Covid but was diagnosed with stage 1 lung cancer which, despite chemotherapy, advanced quickly and he was told he had no chance of survival. 

Now, six months after his surgery, the lungs are working well and he has no signs of cancer in his body and is leading a normal life. He is even able to go to the gym without needing breathing support.  

Provided by Daily Mail Albert Khoury (pictured), 54 - a non-smoker - is now cancer-free six months after a double lung transplant saved his life, giving hope to others with advanced stages of the disease.

 He said: 'My life went from zero to 100 because of Northwestern Medicine. You didn't see this smile on my face for over a year, but now I can't stop smiling.'

Surgeons are generally reluctant to proceed with such transplants because if there are even a few cancerous cells remaining, there is a strong chance they will regrow in a patient taking immune-suppressing medications to prevent organ rejection.

The few such procedures in the past have not been successful, but since then, advances have allowed doctors to better understand cancer's spread.   

 'Lung transplantation for lung cancer is extremely uncommon with few cases reported,' Ankit Bharat, chief of thoracic surgery at Northwestern Medicine, said in a statement. 

'For patients with stage 4 cancer, lung transplantation is considered a complete 'no-no,' but because Albert's cancer was confined only to his chest, we were confident we could clear all the cancer during surgery and save his life.' 

In early 2020, Khoury was working as a cement finisher for the city of Chicago, when he began to experience back pain, sneezing, chills, cough and mucus. At first he assumed it was Covid, but called his doctor when he coughed up blood.

'They discovered stage 1 lung cancer, but due to the Covid-19 surge, I couldn't begin treatment right away,' he said in a statement.

By July 2020, his cancer progressed to stage 2, and, despite several rounds of chemotherapy, kept growing to stage 3 and stage 4.

He was told there was no chance of survival, but his sister told him about the pioneering lung transplants at Northwestern. 

In 2020, Bharat led a team that performed the first double lung transplant on a woman in her twenties whose lungs had been decimated by Covid.

Khoury came under the care of oncologist Young Chae at Northwestern who wanted first to try other cancer-fighting treatments - but his health kept declining, leaving him in an intensive care unit with pneumonia and sepsis.

It was determined that he was in fact a candidate for transplant since the cancer, despite being stage 4, had not spread to other organs, and he received his new lungs after a two-week wait.The team had to remove 'trillions' of cancer cells all over his lungs within a six hour time frame, all the while taking care not to spill material into his chest cavity or blood stream.

'It was an exciting night,' said Bharat.   

Based on the success, Bharat and Chae are developing a new set of protocols to determine who else might be eligible for such treatment.

Lung cancer is by far the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States making up almost 25 percent of all cancer mortalities.  

Oral health: Tonsil stones, GERD, or certain medications can cause bad breath

Bad Breath is said to affect more than 50 percent of the general population. "Bad breath is caused by bacteria in the mouth, which is why it typically arises from poor oral hygiene," says Doctor Lea Q. Lisowski. "However, in some instances, it can be caused by underlying medical conditions or lifestyle choices, ranging from a virus to the ketogenic diet."

Five surprising reasons for your bad breath may include:

• Tonsil stones
• Tonsil stones can cause bad breath though they're usually not painful or harmful.
• They're also called tonsilliths.
• You can usually treat tonsil stones at home.
• But in some cases, you may need surgery to remove the tonsils.

Getty Images Oral health: Causes

Sinusitis and post-nasal drip

Swollen sinus and nasal passages create both dry mouth and postnasal drip conditions, along with the added effect that "lumps" of bacterial colonies are hiding out inside your sinuses.

These colonies exacerbate bad breath and make it hard to combat, even after addressing symptoms like postnasal drip.

Drinking plenty of water helps thin out the mucus build up in your sinuses, making it easier to drain.

Frequent gargling with warm water and salt as well as tongue scraping also help prevent bad breath.

Foods and drinks

Onions and garlic are probably the most common and most well-known instigators of bad breath.

Other foods and drinks which may be increasing your bad breath include:

• Teas and coffees
• Alcohol
• Protein
• Canned fish
• Sugar
• Acidic foods.

Getty Images Oral health: Medications

GERD

GERD is a chronic condition marked by persistent acid reflux, or the rise of stomach acid in the oesophagus.

The misplaced stomach acid may be the cause for unexplained bad breath but is often paired with other symptoms.

If you tend to have heartburn or reflux, your bad breath could be related to the excess acid produced by your digestive tract.

Those acids can have a sour odour, affecting your breath.

Medications

Many medicines are associated with bad breath, usually because they dry out the mouth.

Offenders include antihistamines, sedatives, amphetamines, antidepressants, diuretics, decongestants, anticholinergics and some antipsychotics.

Certain vitamin supplements (especially in high doses) are also culprits. 

Reference: Daily Express: Jessica Knibbs

Pancreatic cancer treated in mice by loading tumour cells with tetanus

Immunity gained through childhood tetanus vaccinations could help the body to fight off pancreatic cancer, according to a study.

Currently, most patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer survive only months with just 10 per cent of patients still alive five years after detection.

A team of scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York released new findings showing that listeria bacteria, known to be naturally attracted to tumours, can selectively deliver inactivated forms of tetanus toxins to pancreatic cancer tumours in mice, subsequently causing the activation of cancer-killing immune response T-cells within the tumour.

Since most adults have already been vaccinated against tetanus as children, the immune system can detect the disease if it enters the body. This means pancreatic cancer cells loaded with tetanus should be visible to the immune system and are therefore vulnerable to the immune system’s attack, the researchers said.

Provided by The Independent Most adults were vaccinated against tetanus as children (Rachel Palmer/Save the Children)

“Today’s checkpoint inhibitor drugs work well against some types of cancer but only rarely help people with pancreatic cancer,” said Claudia Gravekamp, PhD, associate professor of microbiology and immunology at Albert Einstein School of Medicine. “The problem is that pancreatic tumors aren’t sufficiently ‘foreign’ to attract the immune system’s attention and can usually suppress whatever immune responses do occur. Essentially, our new therapy makes immunologically ‘cold’ tumors hot enough for the immune system to attack and destroy them.”

Researchers gave tetanus vaccines to young mice specimens that were specially engineered to develop pancreatic cancer as they age to test the treatment.

When the mice developed advanced pancreatic cancer, listeria bacteria containing tetanus were injected into the mice's abdomen.

“The Listeria bacteria are quite weak and are readily killed off by the immune systems of people and animals—everywhere, that is, except in tumor areas,” said Gravekamp. “Our treatment strategy actually takes advantage of the fact that pancreatic tumors are so good at suppressing the immune system to protect themselves. This means that only those Listeria bacteria in the tumor region survive long enough to infect pancreatic tumor cells and that healthy cells don’t become infected.”

The study published in Science Translational Medicine found that mice treated with the tetanus vaccines reduced tumour size by 80 per cent and reduced cancer spread by 87 per cent resulting in a 40 per cent survival rate compared to non-treated mice.

Ms Gravekamp and her colleagues are now planning clinical trials to assess whether weakened listeria bacteria can be safely injected into people as a possible treatment option which will see the tetanus-loaded listeria in people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

“The findings indicate that this treatment approach could be a useful immunotherapy for pancreatic cancer as well as other types of cancer, such as ovarian cancer, that remain difficult to treat,” said Ms Gravekamp. 

Reference: Independent:  Thomas Kingsley

15 simple yet effective sciatica exercises to soothe ongoing pain, according to a top chiropractor

Sciatica exercises can be a #blessing when it comes to easing the pesky (… understatement of the century) nerve pain. Sure, ideally we’d put preventative measures in place to stop sciatica developing, but there are things you can do to help if it does — whether that's with the NHS' sciatica exercises, knowing which exercises to avoid if you've got sciatica, or the best sciatica exercises to do in bed. If you ended up with sciatica amid pregnancy, or as a result of a slapdash WFH setup, these exercises all apply.

We caught up with Catherine Quinn, president of the British Chiropractic Association, for everything you need to know.

What is sciatica?

‘Sciatica refers to the condition when the sciatic nerve, which runs from your lower back to your feet, is irritated or compressed,’ Quinn explains. ‘This can be due to a slipped disc and can cause a lot of discomfort.’

In a nutshell, there are discs in between each vertebrae, that are a bit like washers. If one starts to press into the sciatic nerve, when it moves from the position it’s meant to be in, which can happen when twisting or turning to lift an object, it can cause a whole world of ouch.

Sciatica symptoms

Quinn tells us the following could be signs of sciatica:

• Moderate to severe pain in the lower back, which can extend to legs and feet
• Pins and needles
• Tingling
• Numbness
• Weakness
• Inability to flex the foot
• Reduction in the knee-jerk reflex

What causes sciatica?

Sciatica isn’t picky — anyone can get it, though there are a few things that make it more likely.

‘It is suggested that pregnant women can be more susceptible to sciatica due to changing pressures on the spine and pelvis,’ says Quinn.

In fact, 50-80% of woman suffer from sciatica-like symptoms and back pain during pregnancy, especially in the third trimester — and the usual suspects can be to blame: weight gain, fluid retention, the growing uterus, the shifted centre or gravity, even the baby’s head — and, less often, a slipped disc.

‘Individuals with very high BMI (Body Mass Index) are also more likely to suffer from the condition, especially between the ages of 35 and 50,’ says Quinn.

Weight makes a difference as it increases the pressure in the lower back and pelvis, especially if it’s carried around the stomach. It figures.

That poor posture we’re getting used to when walking around and sitting at a desk, particularly when WFH and using laptops, can stress the vertebrae in your lower back as well. And you guessed it: hello, higher risk of sciatica.

It’s all about making sure we support the spine and, if it comes to it, incorporating sciatica exercises.

What are the best exercises for sciatica?

‘There are many preventative measures which can be taken into consideration, such as leading a healthy lifestyle, take regular breaks from staying seated, sleeping on a firm mattress, maintaining good posture — including at your work space, and regular exercise,’ explains Quinn.

‘But, if these preventative measures fail, there are a number of exercises that can be done to ease symptoms, such as using a foam roller to massage the glute area and a variety of yoga poses aimed at opening the hip flexor, and stretching the outer hamstring, lower back and glute. Remember there’s not one solution that fits all and you need to find the best solution for your body.’

As well as returning to work, activity and gentle rhythmic movement, like swimming, cycling and gentle walking, as soon as possible, there are some specific sciatica exercises you can do in bed or lying down on the floor. Respect the pain, go gently and stop if you experience any discomfort.

The best NHS-recommended sciatica exercises

The NHS advises sciatica exercises specific to the cause (which you'll need to get firmed up by your GP, first and foremost). Once you've got that nailed down, here's what you need to do.

Exercise 1

• Cross your legs and draw them up towards the chest.
• Activate your abdominals and hold for 10 seconds.
• Repeat three times.

Exercise 2

• Bring your knees up towards your chest and move them across to the opposite shoulder of the problem side.
• Move your knees from side to side to mobilise and free up the piriformis, while engaging the abdominal muscles.

Exercise 1

• Lie on your stomach with two pillows below the lower back to open it up and take pressure off.
• Stay in this position for a few minutes.

Exercise 2

• Lie on your side, with the problem side up and a pillow between your knees.
• Lie back and put a pillow or chair beneath the knees to soften the lower back.
• Lying down, slowly tilt the pelvis.
• With the lumbar arch in the lower back pressed down to the bed or floor, hold for five seconds.
• Repeat 10 times.

Exercise 3

• Squeeze your buttocks as hard as you can for five seconds.
• Repeat 10 times.