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What is colorectal cancer
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What is colorectal cancer?

                      No one is ever too young to get colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer was once common among people over 50 years of age. According to new facts and figures rate of incidence is increasing among people younger than 50. It is not easy to read about the life-threatening disease but knowing about the red flags beforehand may help in early diagnosis. The earlier it is diagnosed the better is the prognosis.

What does colorectal cancer mean?

The colon is the terminal part of the large intestine and rectum connects it to the anus. Cancer that develops in the colon and rectum is called colorectal cancer. It starts in form of polyps. Polyps small abnormal flat bumps or mushroom-like outgrowths. These later evolve into carcinoma. If it diagnosed at the polyposis stage it can be easily treated with the most favorable outcomes.

In advanced stages, cancer can breach the bowel wall and spreads to lymph nodes and other organs like the liver, lungs, and other organs. This blog is determined to educate you more about colorectal cancer to create awareness and cure cancer within a lifetime.

Correlation of colorectal cancer with age

According to some recently done research, colorectal cancer is twice as common in young people. Registered cases of cancer are decreasing in older people. 10% of cases were registered with patients less than 50 years. In young people it is diagnosed at late stages and predominantly affects the distal part of the colon or rectum.

People with a family history of colorectal cancer or genetic predisposition must be screened before 50 years of age.

Learn some statistics 

It is the second leading cause of death in both men and women in the US. It is the third commonest diagnosed cancer.

Average risk in men= 1 in 23 men

Average risk in women= 1 in 28 women can be diagnosed with this cancer.

Ethnicity can also be a contributing factor; colorectal cancer is most commonly diagnosed among African Americans with the highest mortality rate.

When is the time to visit the doctor?

The top five risk factors are:
  1. Old age
  2. Ethnicity
  3. Positive family history
  4. History of inflammatory bowel disease
  5. Genetic disorders (Lynch syndrome)

The commonest symptom of colorectal cancer is that there is NO symptom. Majority of young patients present with no history of any specific signs and symptoms.

If there is any change in bowel habits

If you are experiencing alternate diarrhea and constipation intermittently or constantly you must visit your doctor. You can have the sensation of incomplete emptying after defecation.

If your stool has blood in it

The blood could be fresh, bright red or the stool can be black or brick red.

Have you been experiencing abdominal discomfort? 

In case of abdominal cramps, bloating and abdominal pain with other symptoms, it’s time to see your doctor.

Feeling fatigued with unexplained weight loss

The pet symptom of any cancer is feeling fatigued and tired along with weight loss in the past few months.

If you have a family history of colorectal cancer don’t wait for the symptoms to appear, the earlier you undergo screening for colorectal cancer the better the outcome.

How to manage the disease and its after-effects?

In the newly diagnosed patient stage of colorectal cancer directs further interventions.

What is the staging process?

Staging tells us to what extent cancer has spread in the bowel and surrounding areas.

A The only mucosa of the bowel wall is involved
B1 Cancer has spread to the muscular part but the serosa(outermost lining) is not involved
B2 Cancer has spread to serosa.
C1 Muscle wall plus local lymph nodes
C2 Serosa plus local lymph nodes
D Spread to distant organ

 

For stage A, Surgery is the main treatment option.

For stages B, C, and D, surgery with chemotherapy is preferable.

In stage D interventional radiological techniques are also applied.

After diagnosis, you can ask your doctor different questions like

  • What is the stage of cancer and what is the best treatment option for this stage?
  • You can ask about the side effects of chemotherapy.
  • You can get information about the local cancer support groups.
  • How much your work life will get affected by this treatment?
  • Will it affect the fertility rate if you are of childbearing age?
  • How many follow-ups and hospital visits are required?
Colorectal cancer and its psychological effects 

Getting to know that you are suffering from cancer is disturbing news. You may feel your life is coming to an end and you don’t understand a thing. After denial and anger, you may feel depressed.

It is better to talk to family members and seek help for depression. Know that it’s normal to feel this way but you have to take care of yourself by engaging in daily exercise, meditation, and mindful practices. Musical therapies are also present.

Conclusion:

Colorectal cancer diagnosis can change life 360 degrees. Through this blog, determined to make this overwhelming process a lot better. Different questions you can ask and the decision to choose the best treatment option can be made easier with different guidelines provided here.

 

Benfits of fasting
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Benefits of Fasting for Overall Health.

Benefits of Fasting:

Fasting carries enormous health benefits. It can work wonders for human health. Nearly all the body organs and systems are benefited from it. Fasting is a powerful weight-loss tool. It improves brain functions, creates new proteins, accelerates ketone body formation. Slow aging, repair tissue, reduces inflammation, improves liver and heart functions, reduces insulin resistance. Reduce symptoms of multiple sclerosis, reduce LDL level, help in the repair of tissue, and increase Human Growth Hormone level.

Introduction:

“Fasting and its effects on human health” subjected to enormous research during recent years. The comforts, luxury, and ease of modern lifestyle turned us into couch potatoes. As the proverb goes,” everything comes at a price”, so our lifestyle, which has cost us our very precious commodity, our health. Modern humans are fighting with obesity, diabetes, metabolic diseases, and other countless ailments that were unheard of in the past. The human body never designed to be fed with calories rich diet three times a day. With snacks in between and with little or no physical activity.

In Detail:

Misuse and carelessness towards our natural tendencies and devastating effects on our overall health. As result hypertension, obesity, diabetes, elevated triglycerides, muscle lethargy and a slew of other diseases attack us at a very early age and we have to live with regular medication intake and speedy aging. Ramadan Fasting a gift from Allah, that overhauls, maintain, and repairs our body tissue. To negate a few of the negatives effects of a sedentary lifestyle.

Benefits of Fasting:

Ramadan Fasting immensely beneficial for our overall health. Here we explain some benefits of fasting.

  • Fasting prompts weight loss. How? Liver stores glucose as a preferential form of energy before turning to burn body fats. Research shows that it takes nearly 10 hours to deplete liver stores of energy and turning to the use of body fat.
  • People who fast regularly may experience less brain damage in case of stroke. As they are better capable to resist oxygen and energy deprivation.
  • Fasting carries robust-disease-modifying benefits esp in case of chronic diseases like obesity. Diabetes, cancer, bowel diseases, and neurodegenerative brain diseases.
  • It found that fasting improves health indicators and can slow or even reverse aging and disease processes.
  • Human studies of fasting found that independent of weight loss. improvement in disease indicators such as insulin resistance. Blood fat abnormality, hypertension, and inflammation are seen.
  • The patient of multiple sclerosis experience marked a reduction in symptoms just after two months of regular fasting.
  • More about the benefits of fasting:
  • Fasting can prompt recovery from injuries.
  • During fasting, a new protein is formed. Cells obtain protein from nonessential sources, break them down into amino acids, and these amino acids used to build new proteins. Then After Iftar, a lot of new proteins formed in the brain and elsewhere.
  • During fasting, fats used for energy, giving rise to the production of ketones. These ketones are known to influence many molecules and proteins involved in various health functions and aging.
  • A very wonderful benefit of fasting its effect on the Human Growth Hormone. HGH can skyrocket during fasting ( some research claims as much as 5 fold increase is observed).

In short, there are a lot of Benefits of Fasting and a very powerful mechanism. That reduces inflammation, protects from heart disease, reduces LDL, slows down aging. Prevents cancer, and promotes the growth of new nerve cells in the brain.

Fasting unparalleled and it has no alternative. So

Keep Fasting, Stay Healthy.

Organ Donation in Islam
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Organ Donation in Islam, Is Organ Donations Permissible?

Is Organ Donations Permissible?

Organ donation in general and deceased organ donation, in particular, is a very sensitive topic in Muslim societies. Utter a word about it, and you open a Pandora box of arguments and disagreements Organ Donation in Islam. Most of us are contemporary Muslims, and with only superficial and knowledge about our Deen. Would immediately declare also organ donations as unislamic.

Islam is a complete code of life and it can offer a solution to every problem. The pillars of Sharia, Quran, Sunnah, Ijtihad, Qayas, and Ijma allow Muslim scholars. To find answers to any question that arises at any time according to Islamic jurisprudence. Organ donation is one such contemporary question. Organ donation is a new medical procedure so does Islam lacks any defining guidelines, not at all. Unfortunately, organ donation is considered as unislamic and unethical by many Pakistanis. That is the reason that very few Pakistanis volunteer for organ donation and the country consequently faces severe organ shortage. What is Islamic guidance? let’s have a look without any further ado.

Organ Donation in Islam

Nearly all Islamic scholars unanimously agree upon the topic of living organ donation. According to prominent Islamic Scholars Islam not only permits but also encourages living organ donation if it is used to save lives and no harm is intended to the donor. Most agree that living donations carry enormous rewards and an act of Islamic brotherhood.

Deceased organ donation is the most misinterpreted topic among many Muslim countries. Some consider it unIslamic/unethical, others term it straight as dishonoring/mutilation of dead bodies. Islam believes in saving lives and removing the hardships, of other Muslim brethren. so how on earth can we term organ donation against Islam?. The world Muslim League (WML leading body of international Islamic scholars), permitted and encouraged organ donation both living and deceased since 1985. Prominent scholars from all over the world are of the view that organ donation is permissible in Islam. Recently Sindh Institute of Urology has arranged a seminar, on this topic with the collaboration of the UK Muslim Board. where the attending Islamic Ulema expressed their views about the permissibility of organ donation according to Sharia.

– Detailed Insights

All Islamic countries, that have organ transplant facilities permit and encourage organ donation. Deceased organ donation is by no means mutilation or dishonoring the dead body. It is a proper surgical procedure where a dead body is kept intact and is permissible according to Sharia law. Islamic scholars all over the world agree that organ donation after death and post mortem procedure to find the cause of death is not against the teaching of Islam.

Organ donation is saving lives, a selfless act that carries enormous Ajar and is the highest form of Sadaq e Jaria. Due to misconception and very few people volunteer as organ donors in Pakistan. Even practicing Muslims have doubts in their mind and don’t venture into this arena. We need to change this and we need to save lives. lives of those patients who die every year in this country and waiting for organ donations.

Clear your doubts about organ donations. for further guidelines also feel free to contact us.

Dr. Faisal Dar (Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute, Lahore)

Call us at: 0341–0543883, 042-111 117 554

Email: info@faisaldar.com

organ donation awarnance month
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Organ Donation, Why Donate Organs:

Human organ have no alternative, so for patients with end stage organ failure the only hope is organ donation. Organ transplantation an established form of treatment, a life saving procedure, that performed by highly trained medical professionals. It wonderful outcome in saving lives and mitigating miseries. Organ transplantation performed according to, ” who need it the most” criteria. There is shortage of organs both nationally and internationally. In Pakistan an estimated 50000 people die each year waiting for organ donation. Many of these lives can saved by living and deceased organ donations. Anyone sufficiently healthy can opt for living organ donation. Blood, kidney, part of liver, part of lung, part of bone marrow, and skin tissue can donate without any complications.

Why Donate:

Organ donation is a medical procedure that involves surgical removal of an organ, part of an organ or tissue and transplanting it into a patient with end stage organ failure. Both living and deceased organ donations are performed these days. Deceased organ donation include kidney, liver, bone marrow, cornea, pancreas, intestine, heart, skin and other body tissue donation after death. Living organ donation, donation of part of liver, part of bone marrow, excessive skin tissue, bone and one organ among the anatomically paired organs like donation of a single kidney.

Organ donation and transplantation is a robust medical procedure performed by highly trained transplant professionals. So the question arises, why donate organs? The answer is, despite much medical advancement we are not yet able to produce human organs artificially in lab. So the only procedure left donate organs from living or deceased donors. Organ transplantation an establish mode of treatment and only performed in advanced stage organ failure, where normal life functions are severely impaired or there a risk of early death.

Save Lives:

For many organ donations is the only hope and new chance at life. Organs transplant often lead to increased life expectancy, proper functioning, end of miserable life and increased enthusiasm about life. Organ transplantation performed on the basis of who needs it the most, so medical community always face shortage of donated organs year in year out. More and more patients are registered for organ transplants every day and the waiting lists seem unending. There is a wide gap in the no of donors and recipients both nationally and internationally. In Pakistan alone a conservative estimate shows that more then 50000 patients die of organ failure each year including 15000 kidney, 10000 liver and 6500 heart failures cases. Many of these lives can saved by organ donations.

What organ can you donate

As a living donor you can donate an organ, part of an organ and tissue for transplantation to a patient during life. You can donate organ to your family members, friends or to any one if the prerequisite matching criteria meets. An organ, part of a an organ or tissue can donated during life. This include:

  • Blood may be donated every few months.
  • Bone marrow may donated to a person with bone marrow failure and certain types of cancer.
  • After hip replacement surgery part of the bone that removed can donated.
  • Kidneys occur in pair so you can donate one of your kidney if you rendered fit for donations by certified transplant professional.
  • Part of the liver can donated. Liver the wonderful capability of regeneration and it can grow back to its full size within weeks.
  • Part of the lungs can donated.
  • Skin the largest human organ that’s why skin tissue can donated without any complication or scar formation.

Who can donate:

Anyone can become an organ donor. If you are between the age of 18 to 60 and sufficiently healthy you can register for organ donation.

Who can not donate:

There are a very few absolute contradictions for organ donations. People with certain infections diseases and Cancer can not opt for donations, those with not properly functioning kidneys and individuals who specifically told by their health professional not to donate. Organ donation highly specific and personal decision and every individual monitored for any possibility that can contraindicate organ donation.

Organ donation a selfless act and great service to humanity. If you need any help don’t hesitate to reach us.

Dr. Faisal Dar (Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute, Lahore)

Call us at: 0341–0543883, 042-111 117 554

Chronic Pancreatitis Diagnosis & Treatment
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Chronic Pancreatitis Diagnosis & Treatment

Early diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis crucial in a healthy outcome. Various techniques are used for differential diagnosis of pancreatitis. Clinical findings of abdominal pain, foul-smelling stool. diabetes often positive in chronic pancreatitis. Lab tests not very specific but secretin and trypsinogen test shows relative specificity.

Abdominal ultrasound is performed to aid in diagnosis. Abdominal CT, MRI, and endoscopic examination are non-invasive and highly specific procedures for the diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis.

Treatment options consist of medicine for pain, diabetes, vitamin deficiency, and other associated symptoms management, a therapeutic endoscopic procedure, and surgery.

Introduction:

Chronic pancreatitis is inflammation of the pancreas with progressive and destructive changes. Altering the structure and function of the pancreas. 

Diagnosis:

The gold standard for the diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis is tissue. but due to its invasive nature and it rarely performed. Our professional at Dr. Faisal Dar Liver Clinic Quaid e Azam hospital, use a combination of clinical findings, radiography, and functional findings to diagnose it. Here a brief breakdown of various procedures used for the diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis.

Clinical Findings:

Highly trained professionals at Dr. Faisal Dar clinic, use a physical examination to look for any symptoms of pancreatic disorders. Differential diagnoses decided by expert evaluation of the clinical data. Abdominal pain the most commonly presented complaint, epigastric pain radiating towards the back, worse after a meal, and relieved by leaning forward a positive sign.

Foul-smelling, grey, bulky, fatty stools are often present. Diabetes a late complication also, but if present helps us in the differential diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis.

Lab Tests:

Dr. Faisal Dar Clinic at Quaid e Azam hospital provides all diagnostic facilities under one roof. The liver function test, stool examination, and serum trypsinogen are carried out to diagnose chronic pancreatitis. These tests are not super specific, and often only positive in the advanced stage of the disease. The secretin stimulation test considered the best test for its diagnosis.

Abdominal Ultrasound:

Abdominal Ultrasound is performed but few limation. Findings suggestive of chronic pancreatitis include dilatation of the pancreatic duct and presence of pancreatic ductal stones, gland atrophy or enlargement, irregular gland margins, pseudocysts, and changes in the parenchymal echotexture.

Computed Tomography of the Abdomen

This procedure is non-invasive, widely available, and very good sensitivity for diagnosing moderate, to severe chronic pancreatitis. Findings suggestive of chronic pancreatitis include calcifications within the pancreatic ducts or parenchyma and/or dilated main pancreatic ducts. Our experts at Quaid e Azam hospital use thin 5mm slices with helical computed tomography for Optimal evaluation of the pancreas.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging:

This is a relatively new technique and not often performed except in a few specialized cases. It is useful for patients with gastric outlet obstruction, and surgically altered anatomy.

Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography

If other non-invasive procedure fails to support diagnosis, we often perform ERCP. It widely available and can use for therapeutic intervention. ERCP considered the gold standard for diagnosis, but it needs operator expertise. We ensure you with unparalleled expertise in early diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis.

Treatment:

Treatment of chronic pancreatitis needs expert supervision and performed by staff specifically trained for this purpose. We  have one of a kind specialized diagnostic and treatment facility, So you can reach us with confidence and ease of mind.

Treatment options for chronic pancreatitis include:

  • Medicine for pain management, diarrhea, and other symptoms. Vitamins and other nutrients in case of malabsorption.
  • Chronic pancreatitis leads to diabetes. If you get diabetes we will help you control diabetes by making eating plans, routine medicine, and blood glucose monitoring. Medicine to help your digestion prescribed.
  • Surgery to remove a blockage, or damaged/ infected part of the pancreas. Endoscopy therapeutic procedures also offered by Dr. Faisal Dar and the team.
  • If it a very advanced stage and there is no other option then we may remove the whole pancreas, followed by hormone-secreting islets transplantation into the liver. A very complicated surgery and only performed by the highest qualified and experienced team of surgeons at Dr. Faisal Dar clinic, Quaid e Azam Hospital Islamabad.
  • Treatment of alcohol dependence, lifestyle, and eating habits changes are important factors in its successful treatment.
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