ABSTRACT
Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease [ADPKD] is the most common form of inherited kidney disease that results in renal failure. PKD currently has no causative therapy. However, some treatment options are available, ranging from symptomatic therapy to delaying the onset of end-stage renal failure. Early diagnosis of adult polycystic kidney disease is vital in order to prevent its complications. Ultrasonongraphy and genetic testing are the two preferred diagnostic techniques with defined limitations, mainly regarding age. Herein, we report a case of an ADPKD family whom visited the genetic counseling clinic for determining the disease risk in their symptom-free girls aged 16 and 22 years, and discussing other related issues such as their concern about fasting in Ramadan
ABSTRACT
Fasting does have remarkable benefits in the treatment of cancer and another diseases such as metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and a multitude of other chronic diseases. It has been determined that fasting could play an important role during cancer treatment and progression via the regulation of insulin-like growth factor-1 [IGF-1] as well as other growth factors. Also, it has been shown that fasting would enhance the chemotherapy effect in cancer patients, selectively protects normal cells and organisms from chemotherapy toxicity, while simultaneously sensitizing tumors. In this article, we discuss the benefits of fasting in the treatment of cancer through several different molecular pathways
ABSTRACT
Humans suffer transient or persistent starvation due to a lack of food intake, either because of fasting, voluntary dieting, or due to the scarcity of available food. At the cellular level it is possible to possess pathological starvation during ischemia and solid tumors. Blood provides many nutrients to our cells, and researchers provide these nutrients to cells in culture in the form of enriched culture medium plus serum from animal sources. In response to starvation, animals use hormonal cues to mobilize stored resources to provide nutrients to individual cells. Besides whole-body responses to nutrient deprivation, individual cells sense and react to lack of nutrients. At the cellular level, starvation triggers different responses such as cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Stop cycling for proliferating cells is the primary response to nutrient deprivation. Under certain conditions, the cell reacts to nutrient deprivation by engaging the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis. Thus, serum starvation is regarded as a procedure to prepare cells for an experiment in serum-free conditions such as induction cell cycle synchronization. Several researchers have used serum starvation as a tool to study molecular mechanisms involved in different cellular process, metabolic researches and evaluation of a drug effect
ABSTRACT
One day in spring, April 2010 a middle aged woman with her infant rushed into the emergency room at a local hospital. The patient was an infant, only 8 days old with a weight of 2300 grams. He had a weight loss of 400 grams since his birth. He had frequent vomits with no toleration to breast feeding. Because of severe dehydration and his poor physical condition, he was hospitalized in the newborn intensive care unit. The infant was firstly diagnosed with hypertrophic pyloric stenosis, but then his ultrasound did not confirm it. Four days later, the patient was referred to the surgery department with the diagnosis of esophageal atresia [EA]." This was a true story from my colleague working in the pediatric department. The patient was diagnosed with EA, type C, the most common form of EA, which the upper esophagus ends in a blind pouch and there is a tracheoesophageal fistula [TEF] that is connected to the distal esophagus. This type of TEF prevents the patient from swallowing anything, and management of dehydration and hypoglycemia is necessary for survival