What is Plasma?

It is a light yellow liquid, which is an integral and essential part of your blood. You may never have thought about Plasma while talking about blood. Red Blood Cells and Platelets are more commonly used terms by the public. But the fact is that Plasma is the largest part of your blood. More than half of your blood (about 55%) is Plasma.

Why is Plasma important?

Plasma has so many uses and health benefits that some health organizations call it “the gift of life.” Here’s why:

• Plasma carries all parts of your blood through your circulatory system. It also transports hormones, proteins, other nutrients, water, salts, and enzymes to different parts of your body.
• Cells also discard their waste products into the Plasma. Thus, Plasma also helps remove this waste from the body.
• Plasma also contains vital components, including antibodies, clotting factors, and the albumin & fibrinogen proteins. All these parts of Plasma can be separated and concentrated into various products. These products are helpful in treatments of shock, trauma, burns, and other medical emergencies.
• The proteins and antibodies in Plasma are helpful in the treatment of several chronic conditions. These include hemophilia and autoimmune disorders. People with these conditions can live longer and more productive lives because of these treatments.

What is Convalescent Plasma Therapy?

Convalescent Plasma Therapy is not a new invention. It has been used for over 100 years. The idea of using plasma therapy took birth in the late 19th century. Physiologist Emil von Behring and Bacteriologist Kitasato Shibasaburou found out that they could use antibodies present in serum to fight the bacterial infection diphtheria. Serum is also a blood component. In fact, the first Nobel Prize was awarded to Behring for the use of serum to treat diphtheria.

On and off, doctors have been using passive antibody therapy at least since the 1930s. It has been used to treat or prevent bacterial as well as viral infections. These include some forms of pneumonia, measles, and meningitis.

This is the reason that researchers consider the Convalescent Plasma Therapy can help fight against COVID-19.

How does Convalescent Plasma Therapy work?

The principle behind the Convalescent Plasma Therapy is simple. Our blood contains antibodies that protect us from disease-causing pathogens. When people recover from an infection, their blood contains antibodies that have learned to identify and fight the pathogens responsible for that particular infection.

The Plasma in our blood carries these antibodies. Doctors take the Plasma of a person who has recovered from a particular infection and administer it to a patient currently fighting this infectious disease. This helps the patient’s immune system to reject the pathogen more efficiently.

COVID-19 is also an infection caused by a virus. So some researchers believe the Convalescent Plasma Therapy can help the patients of this disease too. While the research and trials are still going on, the results are promising. Many patients have shown positive effects when treated with Convalescent Plasma Therapy. However, so far, we can’t call it a sure-shot treatment to cure all COVID-19 patients.

Use of plasma therapy in previous pandemics

Convalescent plasma therapy has been trialed even during earlier coronavirus outbreaks. A few observational studies were done during the first SARS epidemic in 2003. The studies showed some improvement in patients after receiving convalescent plasma therapy, and no evidence of serious complications. However, most of these studies were just case reports and can’t be taken as full-scale research.

Even during the Ebola virus outbreak in 2013 – 2016, some doctors used convalescent plasma treatment and reported positive reports.

How to donate Plasma for convalescent plasma therapy?

You can donate Plasma at almost all reputable blood banks. You will have to go through a screening process to ensure your blood is safe and healthy. This is similar to the screening done for blood donations. If you pass, your blood will be drawn through a needle placed in a vein in your arm.

Then, a machine will separate your Plasma from the blood. This process is called plasmapheresis. The remaining blood components, including Red Blood Cells, will be returned to your body with a little saline solution.

Who can donate Plasma?

You can donate your Plasma if you are between the ages of 18-60 and have no sickness or comorbidities. You can safely donate your Plasma every 28 days, up to 13 times a year. If you have an AB blood type, then your Plasma is universal. This means that your Plasma can be administered to anyone.

If you want to donate your Plasma for convalescent plasma therapy against COVID-19, you can do so after three weeks of fully recovering from this infection. You must have tested negative for Covid-19 twice.

Find out further eligibility details at https://www.ilbs.in/plasma/.

The post Convalescent Plasma Therapy: Can it cure COVID-19? appeared first on WellnessHub Nourishing Your Mind, Body, and Soul.

The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to numerous problems. Weight gain is one of them. In a recent poll conducted by WebMD, a large number of responders reported weight gain during the lockdown. People are calling this weight gain Quarantine 15.

Why is lockdown leading to Quarantine 15 weight gain?

• Reduction in activity: As people are locked within their homes, they are living a less active life than before. They are not able to go walking, jogging, or exercising in gyms. This lack of exercise is leading to weight gain.
• Boredom and stress eating: When people feel bored or stressed, they tend to binge eat. This also leads to weight gain.
• Trying new recipes: Boredom is also making people try new recipes more often. Whether it is to keep the kids happy or for the joy of showing off culinary skills on social media, people are trying to put more variety in their meals. This ‘fancy eating’ is also responsible for Quarantine 15 weight gain during the lockdown.

How to lose weight during Coronavirus lockdown?

1. Eat healthy to fight of Quarantine 15:

You need to watch what you are eating. Reduce the intake of saturated and trans fats. Limit your sugar intake. Make healthier food choices by eating more fruits, vegetables, pulses, nuts, berries, etc. These will give you nutrition and keep your immunity strong. You need strong immunity to fight off the deadly COVID-19 infection.

2. Mind your moods:

Avoid binge eating because of boredom and stress. Choose other activities that can help you pass time and keep you relaxed. Take up a hobby. Learn some new courses. Talk to friends and family. Here are 51 things you can do to make your lockdown time useful.

3. Restrict fancy eating:

Trying new recipes is fun. But healthy eating is important too. So, put a limit to how often you’ll try a new recipe that is high in calories and fats. Instead, challenge yourself to try new healthy recipes.

4. Change your eating habits:

Changing your eating habits can also help you lose weight. For example, drinking water 20 minutes before the meals can prevent binge eating. Take frequent healthy snacks instead of eating heavy meals after a long gap. Concentrate on what you eat and eat slowly. Even using smaller plates can help. Check out more smart eating tips.

5. Exercise at home:

Just because you can’t go out doesn’t mean you can’t exercise. If you want to fight off Quarantine 15 weight gain, you need to keep yourself active. Find ways to exercise at home. Instead of binge-watching television, keep yourself active.

You can keep Quarantine 15 away

Quarantine 15 weight gain is troubling many people. But you can fight it off. Just stay active, eat healthy food, and stay happy. Don’t let your stress and anxiety ruin your health. At a time when a deadly infection is plaguing the world, you need to be extra careful of your health.

The post Quarantine 15: Prevent this lockdown side effect! appeared first on WellnessHub Nourishing Your Mind, Body, and Soul.

But work from home is WORK from home. It takes up as much time and energy as working from the office. Yes, it saves the time and hassle of commuting. But working from home is not without its own problems. I think the COVID-19 outbreaks is making many people realize that now.

When you work from home, self-discipline is of prime importance. Otherwise, you’ll either perform poorly or harm your health. I know because I’ve been there. And I had to quit an excellent and stable ‘work from home’ job because it had started affecting my health.

I’ve learned my lesson now and am able to enjoy a better work-life balance. Here are some work from home tips that are helping me and would be good for you too.

Work from home tips you should remember:

1. Maintain a healthy routine:

When people go to the office, their time gets regulated by a set routine. This is not as bad a thing as it sounds. Routine can save you from a lot of hassle and stress. It prevents procrastination. It also prevents your work from eating into your leisure time.

When you work from home, you need to be very strict with your time management. Employees with fixed login/logout time might find following a routine easier. But freelancers often get into the bad habit of following their mood instead of routine. This may result in unnecessary stress later on. You may waste four days trying to get into the mood for working. But then you may need to race against time on Friday. This will create stress, frustration, and will also result in poor work.

So, set up a routine that ensures a healthy work/life balance. And stick to it.

2. Maintain hygiene:

Working from home does not mean sitting in your pajamas all day. Getting ready and maintaining your hygiene must also be part of your routine. Working from home doesn’t mean you won’t shower for a week. Especially at a time when Coronavirus is threatening everyone, having a clean home and hygienic lifestyle is important. It will make you feel fresh, alert, and ready to take on the day’s work.

3. Don’t slouch:

When you are at home, you have the liberty to work from any chair, couch, and even your bed. But though it is comfortable, it is not healthy. While working on the computer, proper body posture is important. Bad body postures can hurt your spine, or give you neck and shoulder cramps and muscle aches. Bad posture while working on the computer might even harm your eyes.

So, sit up straight while working and don’t slouch. Maintaining a proper body posture while working will keep you alert for longer too. Reclining on your couch or bed may be more comfortable. But it will make you feel lazy and sleepy and is bad for your neck, spine, and eyes too.

4. Have a distraction-free workplace:

Try to create a separate ‘office space’ in your home. Reserve a separate desk and comfortable chair for your workspace. Having such a designated workplace will save you from household distractions. Distractions waste your time. And then, you might end up working till later to make up for the lost time.

5. Maintain proper mealtime:

When you are in office, you have timely lunch and tea breaks. Having meals at the proper time and interval is important to keep your metabolism revved up. These breaks also relax and rejuvenate you so you can get back to work with renewed energy.

But when you are working from home, you often keep pushing your break time till you have finished the work in hand. Or like I did, you might continue working while having meals. You might even reach out for a quick-fix meal like a sandwich or frozen pizza. But none of this is healthy. Working without proper breaks will exhaust you and raise your stress level. And skipping meals or racing through them will deprive you of the nutrition you need.

For employees working from home, taking lunch or dinner breaks gets harder. When I was working from home with a staffing agency, my office-based colleagues didn’t seem to realize that I needed food too. Their habit was to send me work before they went for the lunch break and expect the work to be done before their return. That’s why I ended up working through my meals.

Don’t fall into that trap. Be strict with your mealtimes, and make sure your coworkers respect it too.

6. Rest your eyes:

Working on the computer for long hours is harmful to your eyes. When you stare intently on the computer screen, you blink less frequently. This increases the risk of dry eyes. Your eyes feel fatigued, and you may experience headaches and pain in or around eyes. Bad body postures while working may aggravate eye strain. If you stare at the computer in dark, the Blue Light emitted by the screen might make it harder to fall asleep too.

My work from home job was also a night-shift job. Staring at the computer through the night took its toll on my eyes. Eye problems have become a constant for me. And I’m now forced to take up less work because my eyes get strained too soon.

So be very careful about your eyes while you work online. Take frequent short breaks to rest your eyes. Many experts recommend the 20-20-20 rule. As per this rule, after every 20 minutes of staring at the computer screen, look at something 20 feet away from you for 20 seconds. I use a chrome extension called Eye Care that rings an alarm every 20 minutes. This helps me in taking frequent time-out to rest my eyes.

Also, use a Blue Light filter on your computer to reduce the strain on your eyes. Windows 10 has this as Night Light. If your computer doesn’t have it, there are several software programs you can download. F.lux is one of the most popular such software.

7. Don’t become glued to your chair:

It’s not just your eyes that need breaks. Your body also needs to relax. When we are caught in a hectic workload, we end up sitting and working continuously for several hours. Long hours of uninterrupted sitting can cause you a lot of harm. It can hurt your spinal structure, damage discs, strain your tailbone, and give you neck and shoulder cramps. Worse, sitting continuously all day also increases the risk of obesity, hypertension, elevated cholesterol, diabetes, and muscle degeneration.

So, take 5 minutes’ break after every 30 minutes and walk about a little or do body stretching exercises. These breaks will relax your body muscles, rest your eyes, and reduce your stress. You may get more work done by working continuously. But sooner or later, it will impact your health, and that will also impact your performance. So take care of your body before it’s too late.

8. Keep all communications clear:

When you work from home, it is very important to keep a record of all important communications. I am telling you this from my personal experience. Some of your colleagues may give you half the information or wrong information. But they will not admit to it if something goes wrong as a result. Also, keep a record of the information that flows from you. Because someone might end up declaring you didn’t tell them anything.

Also, office politics might come into play with this. And office politics is very hard to fight against when you are not in the office. People can say anything against you because you are not there to defend yourself. Also, it is easier for the manager to believe the employees working in the office than the ones working from home.

This not only lowers your reputation in your company, but it also creates unnecessary stress and frustration too. So, while you are working from home, keep a meticulous record of every important information you give or receive.

9. Say no to stress and overwork:

Another problem with working from home is that your colleagues and manager can’t see you working. And that makes it harder for them to realize your workload. As a result, no matter how much you work, people would still feel you are sitting idle at home. And so, they’ll push more work your way.

You must stay on your guard against this. Otherwise, your workload will go on increasing and still the people will think you are free for more work. Ultimately, you’ll feel frustrated, stressed out, and might even experience a burnout. I did, and suffered several adverse effects as a result. Don’t let it happen to you.

Conclusion:

Working from home may save you from commuting and watchful eyes of your manager. But it is not as comfortable as it sounds. And if you are not careful, you can damage your health and fall prey to office politics and work stress. Working from home can get lonely and depressing too. So stay in touch with your friends and colleagues and keep yourself motivated. And you must discipline yourself and manage your time and routine strictly. If you do that, you can enjoy the advantages of working from home without suffering its negative effects.

The post 9 work from home tips to stay productive & avoid burnout appeared first on WellnessHub Nourishing Your Mind, Body, and Soul.

To save ourselves and our family from COVID-19, it is necessary to follow the instruction of the government and administration.
Stay at home, wash your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds, use sanitizer, use a face mask, follow social distancing. Don’t leave your home until and unless it is very urgent.

People are neglecting the use of a protective face mask or not using it correctly. This can be hazardous for you and your family. You may wonder, is facemask really a shield from infectious diseases such as COVID-19? Is there any correct or incorrect way of using and discarding face masks? Keep reading to find out.

Protective face mask types:

Surgical Face Mask:

A surgical mask is a three-ply layered mask as shown in the image above. A three-ply surgical mask helps in blocking the transmission of small to large particle microorganisms from droplets, dust particles, and splashes. It also helps to reduce hand to face contact.

The three-layers work as follows:

• Outer layer repels water droplets, cough droplets, blood, and other body fluids.
• Middle layer filters certain pathogens.
• Inner layer absorbs moisture and sweat from exhaled air.

However, the edges of surgical masks don’t form a tight seal around your nose or mouth. Leakage occurs around the edge of the mask when the user inhales.

N95 Respirator Mask:

The N95 respirator is protective gear designed to attain a facial fit and effective filtration of airborne particles. There are fewer chances of airborne particles to leak in around the side of the mask.

The Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention does not recommend it for general purpose use. It is recommended only for health care workers and medical staff.

The N95 filtration process is more efficient than the surgical mask. And it filters pathogens in the air better than a surgical mask. Certified respirators can block 95% trusted source as tiny as 0.3 microns.
If properly worn, the filtration capabilities of N95 respirators far exceed those of surgical mask. However, even properly fitted N95 doesn’t guarantee complete safety from infection.

According to all top medical bodies and government agencies worldwide, the best way to keep COVID-19 or Coronavirus away from you and your family is practicing social distancing and frequent hand washing.

When should we wear a surgical mask?

World Health Organization‘ also advises how and when you should use the mask:

• If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with suspected 2019-COVID infection.
• Wear a mask if you are coughing or sneezing.
• Masks are effective only when used in combination with frequent hand-cleaning with an alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
• If you wear a mask, then you must know how to use it and dispose it off properly.

Many countries have now made the mask necessary if you step out of your home. Follow the government’s recommendations.

Steps to put Mask:

• Before putting on a mask, clean hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
• Cover mouth and nose with mask and make sure there are no gaps between your face and the mask.
• Avoid touching the mask while using it; if you do, clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
• Replace the mask with a new one as soon as it is damp and do not re-use single-use masks.
• To remove the mask: remove it from behind (do not touch the front of the mask); discard immediately in a closed bin; clean hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.

Most masks are labeled as single-use and disposable. If your mask is damaged or breathing becomes difficult, remove it and discard it properly. Place it in a plastic bag and put it in the dustbin. Wash your hands after handling the used one. If your face mask is washable and reusable, it’s a good idea to wash it after every use.

What works best to keep Infection away

• Social distancing, stay at home, come out only when it is urgent and that too not in a group. Avoid social gathering even if you are not infected.
• Quarantine or Self-Quarantine if you have been exposed to COVID-19, especially if you have been near people who have travel history to affected countries.
• Use hand sanitizer every time you go out or come back home. In fact, keep one handy when you are out. Use sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol rushed Source.
• Wash your hand regularly for at least 20 seconds if at home also.
• Avoid touching your face, mouth, and eyes.

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