First cross-liver transplant in India a success

Nigerian Tot, Mumbai Woman Benefit From Rare Surgery Kounteya Sinha | TNN  New Delhi: Three months ago, nobody could have guessed their fates would be tied, but a little Nigerian boy and a woman from Mumbai were brought together in Delhi by—of all things—terminal liver failure.      Unable to find suitable donors with matching blood types for both 18-month-old Dike Ezeanya and 44-year-old Priya Ahuja, doctors at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital decided to attempt a liver swap, similar to a swap kidney transplant which is now a fairly common procedure. Thus Dike and Priya have become India's first patients to successfully undergo such liver surgery.      Five months after his birth, Dike was diagnosed with Billiary Atresia—a rare condition in newborns in which the common bile duct between the liver and the small intestine is blocked or absent. This condition can lead to liver failure, which is exactly what happened to little Dike.      Priya's state was also critical. On top of advanced liver failure due to Hepatitis C infection, she was diagnosed with tuberculosis.      With transplants their only hope, doctors were at a loss when compatible cadaver donors could not be found. It was fortuitous that Drs A K Soin (chief of liver transplant unit), Neelam Mohan (paediatric hepatologist) and Sanjiv Saigal (transplant hepatologist) discovered that Dike's mother Chinwe had the same blood group (A) as Priya, and that Priya's husband Haresh had the Type B blood, as did Dike. Liver swap carried out in 16 hrs in 4 theatres  New Delhi: Doctors at Delhi's Ganga Ram Hospital, unable to find suitable liver donors for Nigerian toddler Dike Ezeanya and Mumbai resident Priya Ahuja, decided to attempt a swap liver transplant surgery after learning that Dike's mother Chinwe had the same blood type as Priya, and that Priya's husband Haresh shared the blood group of Dike. A 35-member surgical team then took 50% of Chinwe's liver and transplanted it into Priya, while Haresh gave 20% of his liver to save Dike. Almost two months after the surgery, both Dike and Priya are doing well.      "While the donors' blood groups did not match the recipient they were related to, they were suitable for the other recipient. Dike's father had the same blood group as the kid but he had a fatty liver and wasn't a suitable donor. When we suggested donor exchange—also called paired donation—both families jumped at the opportunity,'' Said Dr Neelam Mohan, paediatric hepatologist at Ganga Ram Hospital.      Dr A K Soin, who heads Ganga Ram Hospital's liver transplant unit, added, "The biggest challenge in paired donation transplants is that both must take place simultaneously, otherwise the donor for the second transplant (first recipient's relative) may refuse to undergo surgery once his own loved one has been transplanted.''      "While donor swaps are common in kidney transplantation, which takes two hours, they have not been previously attempted in liver transplantation as conducting two simultaneous living donor liver transplants (four operations) is a daunting task that takes 10-12 hours per person. The swap transplant was carried out over 16 hours in four operating theatres on June 25,'' Dr Soin said. Dr B K Rao, chairman of Ganga Ram Hospital said, "This swap transplantation is a blessing at the time of acute organ donor shortage. Around 30% of rejected donors can become suitable swap donors, increasing transplant rates by 30%.''      India at present requires 30,000 liver transplants a year. Unfortunately, due to the country's low level of cadaver donation, doctors end up doing just 400-odd transplants a year. Transplant hepatologist Dr Sanjiv Saigal said, "We have now instituted the registration of patients with medically suitable family donors who don't match their own recipients due to inappropriate blood groups or liver size. This opens up opportunities for matching donors and recipients from different families, helping us save more lives." AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER: Eighteen-month-old Dike Ezeanya of Nigeria is the toast of doctors, his mother (L) and the Ahuja couple (R) at Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi

Coorect way of eating Fruits

 

We all think eating fruits means just buying fruits, cutting it and just popping it into our mouths. It's not as easy as you think It's important to know how and when to eat..

 

What is the correct way of eating fruits?

 

IT MEANS NOT EATING FRUITS AFTER YOUR MEALS! - FRUITS SHOULD BE EATEN ON AN EMPTY STOMACH.

 

If you eat fruit on an empty stomach, it will play a major role to detoxify your system, supplying you with a great deal of energy for weight loss and other life activities.

 

FRUIT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FOOD - Let's say you eat two slices of bread and then a slice of fruit.. The slice of fruit is ready to go straight through the stomach into the intestines, but it is prevented from doing so.

 

In the meantime the whole meal rots and ferments and turns to acid.. The minute the fruit comes into contact with the food in the stomach and digestive juices, the entire mass of food begins to spoil.

 

So please eat your fruits on an empty stomach or before your meals! You have heard people complaining - every time I eat water-melon I burp, when I eat durian (fruit from Asia with a foul smell yet delicious flavor) my stomach bloats up, when I eat a banana I feel like running to the toilet etc. - actually all this will not arise if you eat the fruit on an empty stomach. The fruit mixes with the putrefying other food and produces gas and hence you will bloat!

 

Graying hair, balding, nervous outburst, and dark circles under the eyes - all these will not happen if you take fruits on an empty stomach.

 

There is no such thing as some fruits, like orange and lemon are acidic, because all fruits become alkaline in our body, according to Dr. Herbert Shelton who did research on this matter. If you have mastered the correct way of eating fruits, you have the Secret of beauty, longevity, health, energy, happiness and normal weight.

 

When you need to drink fruit juice - drink only fresh fruit juice, NOT from the cans.. Don't even drink juice that has been heated up. Don't eat cooked fruits because you don't get the nutrients at all. You only get to taste.
Cooking destroys all the vitamins.

 

But eating a whole fruit is better than drinking the juice. If you should drink the juice, drink it mouthful by mouthful slowly, because you must let it mix with your saliva before swallowing it.

 

You can go on a 3-day fruit fast to cleanse your body. Just eat fruits and drink fruit juice throughout the 3 days and you will be surprised when your friends tell you how radiant you look!

 

KIWI: Tiny but mighty. This is a good source of potassium, magnesium, vitamin E & fiber. Its vitamin C content is twice that of an orange.

 

 

APPLE: An apple a day keeps the doctor away? Although an apple has a low vitamin C content, it has antioxidants & flavonoid which enhances the activity of vitamin C thereby helping to lower the risks of colon cancer, heart attack & stroke.

 

 

STRAWBERRY: Protective Fruit. Strawberries have the highest total antioxidant power among major fruits & protect the body from cancer-causing, blood vessel-clogging free radicals.

 

 

ORANGE: Sweetest medicine, eating 2 to 4 oranges a day may help keep colds away, lower cholesterol, prevent & dissolve kidney stones as well as lessens the risk of colon cancer.

 

 

WATERMELON: Coolest thirst quencher. Composed of 92% water, it is also packed with a giant dose of glutathione, which helps boost our immune system. They are also a key source of lycopene - the cancer fighting oxidant. Other nutrients found in watermelon are vitamin C & Potassium.

 

 

GUAVA & PAPAYA: Top awards for vitamin C. They are the clear winners for their high vitamin C content. Guava is also rich in fiber, which helps prevent constipation. Papaya is rich in carotene; this is good for your eyes.