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.

Lockdown and curfews mean that we cannot go outside of our house, no one is supposed to visit us in our homes, and we are meant to stay in our house, building, apartment or flat with only the people we normally live with. All domestic helpers are supposed to be on paid leave and should also stay in their respective homes. Working from home during a lockdown may or may not be similar for every person as we all have different personal and professional challenges in our lives.

Dr. Amanpreet Kaur, Clinical Psychologist and mental health researcher with The George Institute for Global Health suggests the following tips for staying psychologically, as well as physically, healthy during these challenging times.

Tips for staying psychologically and physically healthy during COVID-19 pandemic

Stick to routines and manage time:

We all are conditioned to feel relaxed and sleepy if we stay in our pajamas and do not have a shower or bath. It is indeed challenging to continue taking care of oneself like earlier times when facing a new routine. Therefore, set fixed times to get out of bed and go to sleep. You can’t go for a walk or to the gym or park, but you can set aside some time for stretching, yoga or meditation (whatever you like). Sit down to do your office work and meetings and spend time with your family in between or do the chores while taking frequent breaks.

Take care of yourself:

Just because you are stuck in your house, it doesn’t mean you need to live shabbily or not groom yourself. That would again make you feel lazy as if there is nothing new to be done and there is nothing exciting in life – let’s not reinforce such beliefs! Take care of yourself and if you don’t have appropriate grooming products left, do not worry, there are ways to use household items to take care of your skin, body, and health. Spend some time for yourself.

Eat healthy:

Try looking at cooking videos while using social media accounts. Who said we need exotic items in the kitchen to cook? If you live alone, or have access to food delivery, or would rather eat ready-to-eat food, try and include healthier substitutes, such as nuts, fruits, and vegetables in your free-time instead of binging on chocolate, candies or ice-cream. It’s a new situation for your body physically as well. Treat your body well, cook fresh and eat healthy.

Do physical exercise:

Try yoga, pranayama, jogging (include as part of your stretching) or moderate exercise. We are all eating as before, but our daily exercise and calorie usage have gone down since the lockdown. You should have an empty stomach for exercise (no food two hours beforehand), and you should try to exercise at night or early morning or evening, whichever time is suitable for you. But be active! Make use of YouTube videos to keep yourself occupied or motivated.

Practise Physical distancing NOT social distancing:

There are multiple online applications where you can play games with either your family members, friends or relatives – you just need your phones and internet connectivity. Connect with your friends and check upon their safety and health and see how they are doing mentally. You need to maintain a safe distance physically but not socially. As humans, we are all social animals and are lucky to be able to access the voices, pictures or videos of our loved ones through the internet. Use it well!

Watch a new TV series or shows:

Watch new TV series or shows on Netflix, Prime or Hotstar during lunch or dinner or before sleep, or why not catch the series you couldn’t watch before because of work commitments? Keep in touch with the news but don’t overdo it! Read or watch news first thing in the morning, be aware of updates and check the latest before your day ends. If you try and watch television continuously or are always checking for updates on websites, it will only distress you more.

Pursue Hobbies, activities, and interests:

Why not dive into reading those books you bought but never read, or those interests or hobbies which you never found time for? It could be reading, writing, singing, playing, gardening, cooking, teaching the kids something new, re-arranging your house or wardrobe, cleaning your stuff – give something new a try!

Be Mindful and practice Gratitude:

You can’t just stop yourself from being fearful, anxious, uncertain or upset about the whole situation. The foremost thing to keep in mind is to be aware of, or be conscious of, the fact you are overwhelmed by certain emotions. Remember to use your ‘breath’ as an anchor – the only thing which is in your present and free of any guilt or anxiety. Take deep breaths and remind yourself to be in the present moment where you are nothing but relaxed and aware. Look around and notice your garden, your environment, enjoy the flavours of your food (try to!) before you judge something or react against something. Accepting and attending to present with relaxed awareness doesn’t require any equipment. Practice gratitude daily where you can be thankful of all positive things, people or events in your life.

Stay connected to your colleagues, manager and your work-self:

Communicate realistic goals, worries, plans and updates with your colleagues and manager on a regular basis. Fieldwork can’t happen now but try figuring out how you can complete other tasks. Focus on previously unattainable goals, any grants, articles you may want to write or any pending tasks.

Conclusion:

We are all in this together, and together we can flatten the curve by following the rules and guidelines. Above all, consider your physical and psychological well-being as a priority. Do not ignore your mental health while adjusting to this new pattern and system of lockdown.

The post How to stay psychologically and physically strong during COVID-19 pandemic? appeared first on WellnessHub Nourishing Your Mind, Body, and Soul.

Adults can understand all this and restrict their movements. But it is very hard for children to understand why they cannot step out of their home or why they need to stay away from the isolated family member. Parents need to be very careful to keep children safe from Coronavirus. They must also ensure kids are happy and relaxed and not getting terrified by the situation.

If you are a parent worried about your children, here are some important things you need to understand:

Are Coronavirus symptoms different in children?

It will be a relief for you to know that Coronavirus symptoms in children are usually milder than adults. Of course, in some cases, the children can become critically ill too from COVID-19. But the percentage of such cases is less compared to adults. Also, infants might have more severe symptoms than toddlers and older children. This is because infants’ immunity isn’t as developed as that of the older kids.

One study in China has revealed the following about children affected by COVID-19:

• Infants: 11% have severe symptoms.
• 1 to 5 years old: 7% have severe symptoms
• 6 to 10 year old: 4% have severe symptoms
• 11 to 15 year old: 4% have severe symptoms
• 16 years or older: 3% have severe symptoms.

Among the children studied in China, it was also revealed that about 4 percent of them were asymptomatic. That is, they had no symptoms of the illness. 51 percent of the affected children had mild illness. 39 percent of the affected children had moderate illness. And about 6 percent of children developed critical illness. This is much less when compared to 18.5 percent of adults. It must be noted that children with a pre-existing medical condition and special healthcare needs may be more at risk of developing severe symptoms.

As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), coronavirus symptoms in children and adults are similar. But children might also develop vomiting and diarrhea.

How to keep your children safe from Coronavirus?

While children are less likely to develop serious symptoms from COVID-19, you must still try to keep them safe from it. This is especially important if someone in your home has the infection.

• Don’t let your children go to crowded areas like public parks. Try to keep them engaged at home.
• If you develop symptoms of COVID-19, isolate yourself. Teach your children why you need to stay away from them.
• If you develop symptoms of COVID-19, wash the toys you might have touched recently before letting children play with them.
• Keep the high-traffic areas clean and sanitized. These include door handles and other surfaces children often touch.
• Designate a caregiver among friends, family, neighbors to take care of your children if you need to isolate yourself and have nobody else in the home to look after kids.

How to talk to your children about Coronavirus?

We may think children don’t know what is happening in the world. But if you are listening to the news all day and discussing the coronavirus pandemic at home, your kids have heard and seen enough to make them scared. They might not reveal their fears to you. So, it is up to you to talk to children and remove their anxiety. This is especially important if anyone at home is in self-isolation or quarantine.

• Talk to your children in age-appropriate language and educate them about the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Use the example of other viruses like influenza to explain Coronavirus effects.
• Explain how social distancing and staying inside the home will keep them safe.
• If a family member is under self-isolation or quarantine, explain to the children why they need to stay away from such people.
• Being confined within homes can be hard for children. Keep them engaged in interesting activities.
• Teach your children the importance of washing their hands with soap and water carefully and frequently.
• Assure your children this is a temporary problem and all will be well soon. Answer their questions patiently and try to alleviate their fears.

Conclusion:

Keeping children safe and happy is a top priority for all parents. Not an easy task even at the best of times. COVID-19 has made it even harder now. But with proper care and precautions, your children can stay safe from the Coronavirus as well as anxiety and boredom it might cause them.

The post How to keep children safe from Coronavirus? Here are 3 things you need to know. appeared first on WellnessHub Nourishing Your Mind, Body, and Soul.