Category Archives: Dr. Dalal Akoury

Treating Diabetes With Stem Cells

May 2, 2015

Stem Cell Therapy for Diabetes

DiabetesDiabetes is a serious disease that has continued to debilitate the human race. This disease comes in two forms namely the diabetes type 1 which is also known as juvenile and the type 2 diabetes which is also known as adult diabetes. The type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder which occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks and kills the beta cells of the pancreas. When this happens the release of insulin in the body will be interfered with adversely. Consequently, sugar builds up in the blood instead of being used as energy. About five to 10 per cent of people with diabetes have type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes generally develops in childhood or adolescence, but can also develop in adulthood. Type 1 diabetes is always treated with insulin. However some dietary approaches can be used to help in keeping the sugar level right.

Diabetes is one of the top ten leading causes of death worldwide according to a recent WHO report; in 2012 the global prevalence of diabetes was estimated to be more than 10% among adults. The most prevalent type of diabetes is the type 2 and it is rampant in adult population. Diabetic patients develop hypertension and cardiovascular diseases, which account for high rates of morbidity and mortality among adult patients. In the past treatment of diabetes has been marred by different factors, oral medications that were the major form of treatment are not as effective as after sometime the patient may develop insulin dependence. Oral insulin medication is also not so effective since exogenous insulin cannot provide the tight glycemic control exerted by the pancreas-derived insulin secretion. Researchers consequently have been prompted to come up with better ways of addressing this menace. Stem cell therapy is the new effective way that is hoped to save the human race. It works by replacing the damaged cells and normalizing the blood sugar level.

Autologous stem cell transplant for treatment of diabetes

The stem cells are very important owing to their crucial functions in the body. These cells are present in the bone marrow and in the adipose tissues. Owing to their ability to form other cells and tissues, they can be harvested from either the bone marrows or the adipose tissues and be used to heal or replace cells in the affected places. When the harvest of the stem cells is done from the patient’s own body and the used within his body then it is called autologous stem cells transplant. Autologous stem cell transplant is safer since the cells are from the body and therefore there is no risk of them getting rejected neither to induce unpleasant allergic reaction nor require need for immunotherapy. The autologous stem cell therapy can be used to replace the affected cells and help restore proper functioning.

In autologous stem cell transplants, the doctors use peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. With peripheral blood stem cell transplantation, the stem cells are taken from blood. The growth factor G-CSF may be used to stimulate the growth of new stem cells so they spill over into the blood. G-CSF is a protein that is produced naturally in the body. The blood is removed from a vein and passed through a machine that separates the stem cells. The machine then returns the remaining blood through a needle in the person’s arm or through a central venous catheter. This way of collecting stem cells is called apheresis

Using mesenchymal cells yields best results

DiabetesBefore the use of autologous stem cell transplant, the islet transplantation was majorly used in cell based therapy for diabetes treatment. This method however successfully used in the past has its own disadvantages. Its major pitfalls included the following; limited donors, graft rejection, the need for continued immune suppression and exhaustion of the donor cell pool. To help fill these pitfalls that made this treatment unpleasurable, researchers targeted the stem cell therapy as a better alternative and they were not wrong, it has been noted that the stem cell therapy works better for diabetic patients who fail to control hyperglycemia even with insulin injection. This is because autologous cells are readily available and do not entail prolonged hospital stays or sustained immunotoxic therapy. Among autologous adult stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells therapy has been applied with varying degrees of success in both animal models and in clinical trials.

The cell based therapies had been introduced in treatment of diabetes for diabetes mellitus and it surely achieved success. It involved the use of islet transplantation. It was so successful especially in treatment of diabetes type 1 but it had some other failures that could not be overlooked and it’s these failures that are now addressed by the stem cell therapy. Stem cell therapy is a solution to some of the drawbacks of islet transplantation especially the shortage of donors. Autologous stem cell therapy allows for a person’s on organs to be used in the transplant.

The mesenchymal stem cells are used as they are able to proliferate and form new more effective cells replacing the damaged cells. They are mostly harvested in both the bone marrow and the adipose tissues where they are available in the highest amount. The mesenchymal stem cells help maintain the capacity of multilineage differentiation potential, both within and across lineage barriers. They are easy to cultivate and expand, and maintain pluripotentiality after prolonged culture conditions.

Diabetes is a killer disease; visit us at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Centre at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) an expert in integrative and regenerative medicine will be able to help.

Stem Cell Therapy for Diabetes

 

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Understanding the Distress in People with Cancer

May 2, 2015

Understanding the Distress in People with Cancer: What is normal or abnormal?

Understanding the Distress in People with Cancer

Understanding the Distress in People with Cancer will help in offering quality ant timely treatment solutions.

With the prevalence of chronic diseases like cancer, there are certain questions that we need to answer well if we want to keep distance from such diseases. Being distressful is one common problem that is associated with cancer, and this brings us to the first question to respond to. “How do you know when your distress level is normal or more serious?” according to the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center, responding to this question directly may be very difficult due to the fact that some distress are normal and are expected when one is struggling with cancer. However doctor Akoury, who is also the founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center, says that certain signs and symptoms can warn you that your distress level is too high and is becoming serious. Some of those sign and symptoms may include:

  • Feeling flabbergasted to the point of panic
  • Being overcome by a sense of anxiety
  • Being overwhelmed with sadness to the point that you think you won’t make it through treatment
  • Being unusually irritable and angry
  • Feeling unable to cope with pain, tiredness, and nausea
  • Poor concentration, fuzzy thinking and sudden memory problems
  • Having difficulties in making certain decisions including very little and simple things.
  • Feeling hopeless – wondering if there is any point in going on
  • Thinking about cancer and death all the time
  • Trouble getting to sleep or early waking (getting less than 4 hours of sleep a night)
  • Trouble eating (a decrease in appetite, or no appetite) for a few weeks
  • Family conflicts and issues that seem impossible to resolve
  • Questioning your faith and religious beliefs that once gave you comfort
  • Feeling worthless and useless

Understanding the distress in people with cancer can be very complicated because a lot of things can be involved. Like for instance in some cases and many of them historical things from the past may put you or your loved one in danger of greater distress and in need of help. The following are some examples of past events that can cause distress to be worse when you have cancer:

  • Having a loved one who died from cancer
  • Having a recent serious illness or death of someone close to you
  • Having had depression or suicidal thoughts in the past
  • Memories of painful events from your past that come back as nightmares or panic attacks

If any of these describe you or a loved one, then you need to talk to your doctor immediately for direction. This could be an indication that you need help in dealing with distress. Remember that currently doctors and nurses and even other health professionals have established that emotional distress is closely associated with having cancer and should be treated along with the physical symptoms of cancer. If you are looking for the best cancer treatment centers, remember to have this problem of distress treatment in mind. Look for facilities that offer both cancer and distress treatment all together.

Understanding the Distress in People with Cancer: Tools to help measure distress

Sometimes it’s hard to talk about distress in a way that helps your cancer care team understand how much distress you’re having and how it’s affecting you. There’s a distress tool that’s much like a pain scale to help measure your distress. The pain scale works like this:

When asking about pain, the doctor might say, “How is your pain right now on a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 being no pain and 10 the worst pain you can imagine?” This has proved to be a helpful way to measure pain. A score above 5 is a sign of significant pain, and tells the cancer care team that the patient needs more help to manage it.

Some cancer teams measure distress in the same way, using a 0 to 10 scale. Just as with the pain scale, you are asked to choose the number from 0 to 10 that reflects how much distress you feel today and how much you felt over the past week. Ten is the highest level of distress you can imagine, and 0 is no distress. Most people can use this scale to rate their distress in a way that helps the cancer team. If your response is 4 or more, you are likely to have a moderate-to-high degree of distress. Your doctor and/or cancer team should find out more and offer some help with your distress.

Not only does this tool tell your team about your emotional health, but it also gives you a chance to talk and work out problems during your visit. Surveys done in cancer clinics have shown that up to 4 in 10 patients have significant levels of distress. It therefore means that no matter how distressful you may be, you are not alone in your distress situation.

Another part of the distress tool is the “Problem List,” or a list of things that may be causing your distress. For this, you read through a list of common problems and mark possible reasons for your distress. This helps your doctor to know whom you need to see to get help. The list of physical problems helps you remember those you should tell your treatment team about.

Understanding the Distress in People with Cancer: Do you need extra help for your distress?

People are affected differently with some people having a higher risk of serious distress. Like for instance if you have any of these experiences, then you will need some extra help:

  • Have had depression or other major mental health problems in the past
  • Have made a suicide attempt in the past
  • Suffer from other serious medical problems besides cancer
  • Have communication problems (such as a different language, trouble reading, or hearing problems)
  • Have some type of social or family problems
  • Have ever been physically or sexually abused
  • Are younger
  • Are female
  • Live alone
  • Have limited access to medical care
  • Have young children in the home
  • Lived with very high stress levels (even before the cancer)
  • Have ever abused alcohol or drugs
  • Have financial problems
  • Have spiritual or religious concerns
  • Have uncontrolled symptoms

Both you and your cancer care team may also notice when there are times when you are at risk for greater distress during the course of illness and treatment. Cancer is often said to be “like being on a roller coaster.” These times for more distress are often at points of change in the illness and treatment:

  • Finding a suspicious new symptom
  • During work-up and diagnosis
  • Waiting to start treatment
  • Changing treatment
  • Going home from the hospital
  • Finishing treatment
  • Going back to your cancer doctor for follow-up visits
  • Going back to a “normal” life after treatment
  • Cancer comes back
  • Treatment doesn’t work
  • Cancer gets worse or becomes advanced
  • Nearing the end of life
  • Going into hospice care

If your distress reaches moderate to severe levels at these times, you may need extra help. And up on understanding the distress in people with cancer, you can schedule for an appointment with doctor Dalal Akoury today for that much needed professional help.

Understanding the Distress in People with Cancer: What is normal or abnormal?

 

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Identifying Distress in People with Cancer

May 2, 2015

Identifying Distress in People with Cancer: What is distress?

Identifying Distress in People with Cancer

Identifying Distress in People with Cancer. Distress suffering is not just physical but also emotional and psychological

If you have been in company of any cancer patient you need not to be told o the suffering those cancer patients go through. The suffering is not just physical but also emotional and psychological. These put together brings a lot of distress to patients and if not addressed, treatment becomes very difficult. It is because of this reasons that we want to focus our discussion towards identifying distress in people with cancer. To do this we are going to be speaking to experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the able leadership of Doctor Akoury’s care. Distress is a word with many connotations. However for our discussion we are going to use “distress” to describe unpleasant feelings or emotions that may cause problems for you as you cope with cancer disease and its treatment. It is also important to note that distress is also common with the family members and loved ones of people with cancer. Doctor Akoury says that distress is a big hindrance in cancer treatment and can make it harder to deal with all the changes that come with a cancer diagnosis. When we talk about being distressed in normal circumstances it would mean that you are feeling:

  • Unhappy or sad
  • Hopeless
  • Powerless or helpless
  • Afraid and fearful
  • Guilty
  • Anxious
  • Panic
  • Discouraged
  • Depressed
  • Uncertain

The impact of stress can be very complicated when dealing with cancer since it may affect areas of your life other than your feelings. It can affect your thoughts, your behavior, and how you interact with others says doctor Akoury.

Identifying Distress in People with Cancer: How to know when your distress level is normal or more serious?

Being stressed or distressful can be normal in our daily lives. Actually we all at one time have been stressed while handling our daily activities. The same applies with certain amount of distress when you or a loved one has cancer. These kinds of distress are caused, in part, because of the attitudes and fears people have about cancer. Like for instance, one of the greatest fears people have is that cancer means death or will ultimately lead to death. Nonetheless this idea of cancer leading to death is not true and unfounded. The truth is that today we have millions of people who have had cancer but have survived through the available treatment available in various health facilities.

Of course, people are upset when they learn they have cancer no matter how much progress has been made in treating it. There are many things that suddenly seem uncertain further explaining why identifying distress in people with cancer is very important. The challenges that people have include the worries about changes that will happen to their bodies when attacked by cancer. How their loved ones will cope with this situation and all other things that are likely to happen. The fear of a bleak future dons on them and people often wonder in silence or aloud that “Am I going to die?” and worries as to “why is this happening to me?”

And because cancer is hereditary, once you learn that you or a loved one has cancer, you may no longer feel safe. You may feel afraid, exposed, weak, and vulnerable. Such feelings often last through treatment, and you may feel anxiety and sadness, too. Doctor Akoury says that it’s normal to worry, especially at certain times, such as at the commencement of treatment. A recovering cancer patient acknowledges that, the worst time for him was waiting for that first chemo treatment. “Once it was over, and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, I was OK. I actually felt better because I was finally doing something about the cancer” says the patient.

Identifying Distress in People with Cancer: Cancer Surgery

Waiting for surgery is another time of major concern. People often worry about the operation itself, but also about whether the cancer is growing while they wait. Fears about the changes that surgery will cause can be a major source of distress, too. Then there are concerns about work and home life and how they may change. Insurance and financial issues often add to the worries. For some people, one of the hardest times is after cancer treatment. Rather than feeling happy that treatment is over, they feel even greater distress. One patient put it this way: “I’m on my own now and I’m just waiting to see what will happen next.” From that statement you notice that this patient is very distress even though treatment has been concluded.

Seeing the oncologist (cancer doctor) after treatment can feel quite scary. Nearly everyone has some fear the cancer will come back (recur). This is normal, too. “Every time I have aches and pains, I’m convinced it’s the cancer coming back even if it’s a pain in my big toe,” one patient said.

Identifying Distress in People with Cancer: Everything about cancer is Stressful

Dealing with the side effects of treatment such as tiredness (fatigue), hair loss, weight changes, and how disrupted your life seems is also stressful. In fact, everything about having cancer is stressful. Being upset and worried are part of it, so a certain amount of distress is expected when you find you have cancer. But sometimes distress can go from the expected level to one that interferes with your treatment, makes it hard for you to cope with the illness, and affects all parts of your life.

It’s not a sign of weakness that you become so distressed that it interferes with your ability to do your usual activities. When you visit us at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center, our team of experts will explain for you the range of distress from what is considered normal to very high and offer some ideas about how to handle your feelings in ways that will be helpful. The very first thing you need to do in coping with distress is consulting with your doctors and cancer support team. Talking to them about how you feel will make you feel much safer. Their purpose is to help you get better and if they notice something that needs to be addressed, then they will direct you to the help you need. Remember that these people are only here to help you not just for the cancer treatment, but they are also counting on you to tell them how you are doing and what you are feeling. This is one assignment that you are the only one that can do and no one else.

Finally when addressing distress of cancer patients, the scope is not just limited to them but it is also applies to their loved ones. These people are a strong source of support, and their well-being is important, too in the delivery of successful treatment. Therefore if you are a loved one and feel distressed, it’s OK to let the cancer care team knows that you need help. You can also schedule for an appointment with doctor Dalal Akoury for much more professional assistance.

Identifying Distress in People with Cancer: What is distress?

 

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Treating COPD with Adipose Derived Stem Cell Therapy

May 1, 2015

Adipose Derived Stem Cells Treatment for COPD and Respiratory Disease

COPDCOPD is an acronym that stands for chronic obstructive lung diseases. COPD are conditions where the linings of the airways are thickened and inflamed. As a result of the inflammations and thickening of the linings of the airways the air become trapped in the lungs hence leading to shortness of breath, wheezing, weakness and severe fatigue. COPD causes coughing, increased production of mucus, and constriction of the chest. COPD is a serious respiratory disease that must be addressed failure to which the problem might escalate and eventually cause death. This disease is mostly caused by cigarette smoking but exposure to dangerous chemical especially in the industrial environment, dust, air pollutants, and chronic asthma can lead to the inflammation of the walls of the lungs and lead to their constriction. people who are suffering from asthma have higher chances of developing COPD since asthma is a chronic lung disease that cause inflammation and narrows the breathing airways leading to COPD. though this COPD is majorly caused by exposure to toxins that leads to inflammation of walls of the lungs, this disease is also hereditary with a major contributor being a rare genetic condition where people have low levels of the protein made in the liver known as alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT). This rare condition may make you more susceptible to lung irritants, causing COPD to progress more aggressively.

Most people may be suffering from COPD without even knowing as it is a progressive disease that takes time to develop but worsens over a time a reason to why people suffering from the disease are often late in realizing they are suffering from it. COPD patients often require supplemental oxygen and daily medications just to be able to breathe. However these medications may not be of much help as they never correct the damage on the lung tissues but only address the symptoms temporarily. Till now there is no conventional treatment that has been found to be effective in treating COPD.

Those suffering from COPD often exhibit two main characteristics namely; Chronic Bronchitis and Emphysema. Chronic Bronchitis results in the thickening of the airways inner lining due to mucus formation, which leads to a decrease in lung capacity while emphysema results in destruction of the air sacs in the lungs, which leads to fewer air sacs and ultimately a reduction in gas exchange.

Why stem cell therapy?

Stem cells are very special, powerful cells found in both humans and also in other animals. Stem cells are the precursors of all cells in the human body. What makes stem cells special is that they are regenerative and malleable. They have the ability to replicate themselves and to repair and replace other tissues in the human body. Some tissues, like skin, need constant renewal, which could not take place without skin stem cells. Other stem cells repair damage to the body’s tissues, for example, rebuilding damaged or degenerating muscle tissue. The stem cells have unique abilities that other cells in the body like the nerve cells and muscle cells do not have. Some of the unique abilities of the stem cells are that they are unspecified and can form different types of cells that can be used in healing or replacing the cells that have defects in the body.

In COPD the stem cells can work by causing regeneration of the affected cells of the lung tissues. The stem cells are delivered to diseased tissues or organs, where they will ultimately restore tissue and organ function. The stem cells can be harvested from the adipose tissues where they are available in high amounts and be used on the affected lung linings. When these stem cells are harvested from the adipose tissues of the same patient, it is referred to as autologous stem cell transplant and it is safer than when the cells are harvested from outside the patient’s body. With regeneration the aims of the treatment will be to awaken cells that are not functional or have malfunctions in the lung tissues. Stem cell therapy has been used successfully for other diseases and its applicability is not limited to COPD and with it there is hope for affordable healthcare solutions that heal the body wholly without life threatening side effects.

Treating COPD with Adipose Derived Stem Cell Therapy

COPDIt has been observed that adipose-derived stem cells exhibit immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties that doctors hope will help repair the airways and improve the elasticity of the patient’s lungs. When injected into the body, the mesenchymal stem cells first congregate in the lungs for several days, gathering cell signal information from the rest of the body and learning where disease and disability are located. When the lungs themselves are damaged, stem cells remain in the lungs, providing an enhanced opportunity to stimulate the repair of damaged lung tissue.

Here at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center we are committed to availing the best integrative approaches to treatment of diseases. We advocate for dietary as well as natural healing to diseases wherever possible. Visit as at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) will be of help.

Adipose Derived Stem Cells Treatment for COPD and Respiratory Disease

 

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Stem Cell Treatment for Back Pain and Joint Disease

May 1, 2015

Relieve Chronic Pain without Surgery Stem Cell Treatment for Back Pain and Joint Disease

Joint diseaseJoint diseases are known for the pain they cause. Then there is the back pain that many people are tied to without relief. There is little that is done to avail the much needed permanent relief to the patients enduring the chronic back and joint pains. To some people pain may be synonymous to addiction as that is where their addiction stemmed from. The common way of dealing with pain is to give the patients pain medication that in most the case is to help them endure the pain rather than correcting the mishap in the joints and promote healing. The opioids that are mostly used by pain patients often cause addiction and dependence when used for a long time. However there is now a ray of hope for these patients suffering from chronic back pain and joint diseases.

It has been reported that Medical researchers are trying a new treatment for low back pain. Their hope is that harvesting and then re-injecting the body’s own bone marrow which is rich in stem cells may repair worn-out discs in the spine and promote recovery. The stem cells have been a center of focus in degenerative medicine and several experiments that have been done on the use of stem cells for treatment of degenerative disease have raised hope of patients. Already there are doctors using the stem cell therapy in treating their patients suffering from various diseases.

The researchers are reported to have done a small study in which none of the patients reported any adverse effects on their pain after they were treated with the bone marrow derived stem cells. Therefore the study is deemed safe and effective. However the team of researchers admitted that there is still more research that is needed to be done on the area but still they maintained that it is a promising cutting-edge treatment.

“I tell everybody that this is experimental, with a capital E,” said Dr. Joseph Meyer Jr., an anesthesiologist and pain medicine specialist at the Columbia Interventional Pain Center, in St. Louis. “We don’t know if it works. I do believe that it’s safe, but it might not do anything for you.”

For the study, Meyer and his colleagues reviewed the case histories of 24 patients who were injected with their own bone marrow aspirate cellular concentrate (BMAC). Bone marrow concentrate contains adult stem cells, which have been called the body’s own repair kit because they can change into different cells and tissues in the body and potentially heal different kinds of tissues that are often affected by various diseases.

The patients that Dr. Meyer used in the experiment were reported to have suffered from chronic low back pain for anywhere from three months to 12 years and had had shown some evidence of degeneration, or damage, to the discs that cushion the bones of the spine. Disc degeneration is common with age, and it is thought to be a major cause of low back pain. Most of the times patients will be advise to exercise and reduce weight but if these methods fail to give any desirable results then the only option available for the patients has been invasive spinal fusion surgery.

“Fusion is a big, big step with questionable effectiveness,” he said. “Often, you’re back in the same boat a year later.”

As noted by Dr. Meyer, the invasive spinal fusion surgery is not really a lasting solution but rather helps temporarily as the problem will reoccur later most even more unbearable. He therefore opines that the stem cell treatment is potentially the best treatment that patients should consider before delving into spinal fusion surgery.

The healing potential of the stem cells

Joint diseaseFrom the experiment that Dr. Meyer conducted, a procedure that he did by using a long needle with which he harvested stem cells from the bone marrow of the patients and re-injected it into the spinal discs that had problems, half the patients used in the in the experiment went back to their other procedures over the next 30 months, making it impossible to know what might have affected their back pain. Of the other 12 who had no other kinds of treatment, 10 reported that their pain lessened in the two to four months after their injections. After a year, eight patients were still reporting significant pain relief, while three said their back pain had not improved. One patient had not yet reached the 12-month mark. After two years, five said their back pain was better, and three had no improvement. For the other four, it was still too early to tell.

Nevertheless, the healing powers of the mesenchymal stem cells have been hailed by different doctors, institutions and researchers. The stem cells owe their ability to treat to their unique properties; they are capable of dividing and renewing themselves for long periods; they are unspecialized; and they can give rise to specialized cell types. It is these distinct characteristics of the stem cells that make them effective in treatment of degenerative diseases.

With research that has been done on the effects of stem cells injection in healing the patients suffering from joint pain and other pains, it can be concluded that there is more hope for those suffering from these diseases. Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) is an expert in integrative medicine and a founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Center located at Myrtle Beach South Caroline. Visit her for more information on most lifestyle diseases.

Relieve Chronic Pain without Surgery Stem Cell Treatment for Back Pain and Joint Disease

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