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All you need to know about your Kidney

What is Chronic Kidney Disease? Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a progressive loss in kidney function over a period of months or years. Each of your kidneys has about a million tiny filters, called nephrons. If nephrons are damaged, they stop working. For a while, healthy nephrons can take on the extra work. But if the damage continues, more and more nephrons shut down. After a certain point, the nephrons that are left cannot filter your blood well enough to keep you healthy. When kidney function falls below a certain point, it is called kidney failure. Kidney failure affects your whole body and can make you feel very ill. Untreated kidney failure can be life-threatening. What you should not forget: Early chronic kidney disease has no signs or symptoms. Chronic kidney disease usually does not go away. Kidney disease can be treated. The earlier you know you have it, the better your chances of receiving effective treatment. Blood and urine tests are used to check for kidney disease. Kidney disease can progress to kidney failure. Kidney Diseases are Common, Harmful and often Treatable Common: Between 8 and 10% of the adult population have some form of kidney damage, and every year millions die prematurely of complications related to Chronic Kidney Diseases (CKD). Harmful: The first consequence of undetected CKD is the risk of developing progressive loss of kidney function that can lead to kidney failure (also called end-stage renal disease, ESRD) which means regular dialysis treatment or a kidney transplant is needed to survive. The second consequence of CKD is that it increases the risk of premature death from associated cardiovascular disease (i.e. heart attacks and strokes). Individuals who appear to be healthy who are then found to have CKD have an increased risk of dying prematurely from cardiovascular disease regardless of whether they ever develop kidney failure. Treatable: If CKD is detected early and managed appropriately, the deterioration in kidney function can be slowed or even stopped, and the risk of associated cardiovascular complications can be reduced. How is kidney function measured? The main indicator of kidney function is your blood level of creatinine, a waste product of the body produced by muscles and excreted by the kidneys. If kidney function is reduced, creatinine accumulates in the blood leading to an elevated level when a blood test is checked. Kidney function is best measured by an indicator called GFR (Glomerular Filtration Rate) which measures the blood filtration rate by kidneys. This indicator allows doctors to determine if the kidney function is normal, and if not, to what level the reduced kidney function has deteriorated. In everyday practice, GFR can easily be estimated (eGFR), from the measurement of the blood creatinine level, and taking into account, age, ethnicity, and gender. Stages of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Usually, kidney disease starts slowly and silently and progresses over a number of years. Not everyone progresses from Stage 1 to Stage 5. Stage 5 is also known as End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). Stage Description GFR Level Normal Kidney Function Healthy Kidneys 90mL/min or more Stage 1 Kidney damage with normal or high GFR 90ml/min or more Stage 2 Kidney damage and a mild decrease in GFR 60 to 89mL/min Stage 3 Moderate decrease in GFR 30 to 59mL/min Stage 4 Severe decrease in GFR 15 to 29 mL/min Stage 5 (ESKD) Established kidney failure Less than 15mL/min or on dialysis GFR: Glomerular Filtration Rate CGA: Cause, GFR and Albuminuria categories   Causes of CKD High blood pressure (hypertension) and diabetes are the most common causes of kidney disease. The high blood pressure causes just over a quarter of all cases of kidney failure. Diabetes has been established as the cause of around one-third of all cases and is the commonest cause of ESRD in most developed countries. Other less common conditions include inflammation (glomerulonephritis) or infections (pyelonephritis). Sometimes CKD is inherited (such as polycystic disease) or the result of longstanding blockage to the urinary system (such as enlarged prostate or kidney stones). Some drugs can cause CKD, especially some pain-killing drugs (analgesics) if taken over a long time. Often doctors cannot determine what caused the problem. Symptoms A person can lose up to 90% of their kidney functions before experiencing any symptoms. Most people have no symptoms until CKD is advanced. Signs of advancing CKD include swollen ankles, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, decreased appetite, blood in the urine and foamy urine. The majority of individuals with early stages of CKD go undiagnosed. On WKD we are calling on everyone to check if they are at risk for kidney disease and encouraging people with any risk factors to take a simple kidney function test. Kidney disease usually progresses silently, often destroying most of the kidney function before causing any symptoms. The early detection of failing kidney function is crucial because it allows suitable treatment before kidney damage or deterioration manifests itself through other complications. Simple laboratory tests are done on small samples of blood (to measure creatinine content and estimate GFR) and on urine (to measure creatinine and albumin excretion). Your doctor uses the results of your Serum Creatinine measured in the blood to estimate your overall kidney function, or Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) and your blood sugar to be sure you do not have diabetes. A simple “dipstick” test may be used to detect excess protein in the urine. Serum Creatinine: Creatinine is a waste product in your blood that comes from muscle activity. It is normally removed from your blood by your kidneys, but when kidney function slows down, the creatinine level rises. Your doctor can use the results of your serum creatinine test to calculate your kidney function or GFR. Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR): Your GFR tells how much total kidney function you have. It may be estimated from your blood level of creatinine. Normal is about 100 ml/min, so lower values indicate the percentage of normal kidney function which you have. If your GFR falls below 60 ml/min you will usually need to see a kidney disease specialist (called a nephrologist) If the treatment you receive from the nephrologist does not prevent a further reduction in GFR, your nephrologist will speak to you about treatments for kidney failure like dialysis or kidney transplant. A GFR below 15 indicates that you may need to start one of these treatments soon. Urine albumin. The presence of excess protein in the urine is also a marker of CKD and is a better indicator of the risk for progression and for premature heart attacks and strokes than GFR alone. Excess protein in the urine can be screened for by placing a small plastic strip embedded with chemicals that change color when protein is present (urine dipstick) into a fresh urine specimen or can be measured more accurately with a laboratory test on the urine. Treating CKD There is no cure for chronic kidney disease, although treatment can slow or halt the progression of the disease and can prevent other serious conditions developing. The main treatments are a proper diet and medications, and for those who reach ESRD, long term dialysis treatment or kidney transplantation. In the early stages of kidney disease, a proper diet and medications may help to maintain the critical balances in the body that your kidneys would normally control. However, when you have kidney failure, wastes and fluids accumulate in your body and you need dialysis treatments to remove these wastes and excess fluid from your blood, dialysis can be done either by a machine (hemodialysis) or by using fluid in your abdomen (peritoneal dialysis). In suitable patients, a kidney transplant combined with medications and a healthy diet can restore normal kidney function. Dialysis and kidney transplantation are known as renal replacement therapies (RRT) because they attempt to “replace” the normal functioning of the kidneys and are discussed in more detail below. Kidney Transplantation A kidney transplant is an operation to place a healthy (donor) kidney in your body to perform the functions your own diseased kidneys can no longer perform. Kidney transplantation is considered the best treatment for many people with severe CKD because the quality of life and survival are often better than in people who use dialysis. However, there is a shortage of organs available for donation. Many people who are candidates for kidney transplantation are put on a transplant waiting list and require dialysis until an organ is available. A kidney can come from a living relative, a living unrelated person, or from a person who has died (deceased or cadaver donor); only one kidney is required to survive. In general, organs from living donors function better and for longer periods of time than those from donors who are deceased. Overall, transplant success rates are very good. Transplants from deceased donors have an 85 to 90% success rate for the first year. That means that after one year, 85 to 90 out of every 100 transplanted kidneys are still functioning. Live donor transplants have a 90 to 95% success rate. Long-term success is good for people of all ages. WKD 2012 was devoted to spreading the message about the importance of organ donation and kidney transplantation for people with ESRD. Dialysis Healthy kidneys clean blood and remove extra fluid in the form of urine. They also make substances that keep our body healthy. Dialysis replaces blood cleaning functions when kidneys no longer work. There are two types of dialysis: hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis. In hemodialysis, your blood is pumped through a dialysis machine to remove waste products and excess fluids. You are connected to the dialysis machine through a needle in a vein that is surgically enlarged (vascular access) or through a temporary plastic catheter placed in a vein. This allows blood to be removed from the body, circulate through the dialysis machine for cleansing, and then return to the body. Hemodialysis can be done at a dialysis center or at home. When done in a center, it is generally done three times a week and takes between three and five hours per session. Home dialysis is generally done three to seven times per week and takes between three and ten hours per session (often while sleeping). Peritoneal dialysis is another form of dialysis used to remove waste products and excess water. It works on the same principle as hemodialysis, but your blood is cleaned while still inside your body rather than in a machine by adding clean fluid to your abdomen, letting it accumulate waste products from the blood and then draining it out. It is typically done at home. Some patients can perform peritoneal dialysis continuously while going about normal daily activities (continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis, CAPD) To find out more about these possible treatments and how they work, visit http://www.uptodate.com/contents/dialysis-or-kidney-transplantation-which-is-right-for-me-beyond-the-basics Prevalence of CKD About 1 in 10 people have some degree of CKD. It can develop at any age and various conditions can lead to CKD. Kidney disease can affect people of all ages and races. African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians and people of South Asian origin (those from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka or Pakistan) have a higher risk of CKD. This risk is due in part to high rates of diabetes and high blood pressure in these communities. CKD can occur at any age, but r becomes more common with increasing age and is more common in women. Although about half of people aged 75 or more have some degree of CKD, many of these people do not actually have diseases of their kidneys; they have normal aging of their kidneys. Simple blood and urine tests can detect CKD and simple, low-cost treatments can slow the progression of the disease, reduce the risk of associated heart attacks and strokes and improve quality of life. Cost of CKD The prevalence of kidney disease is increasing dramatically and the cost of treating this growing epidemic represents an enormous burden on healthcare systems worldwide. Even in high-income countries, the very high cost of long term dialysis for increasing numbers of people is a problem. In low and middle-income countries long term dialysis is unaffordable. The best hope for reducing the human and economic costs of chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease, therefore, lies in prevention, for the following reasons: Chronic kidney diseases are not curable and can cause people to need care for the rest of their lives. If CKD is not detected early enough, the patient may progress to kidney failure which requires Renal Replacement Therapy (dialysis or transplantation) that is extremely costly and weighs heavily on healthcare budgets. Chronic Kidney Diseases trigger other healthcare issues like cardiovascular diseases (heart attack and stroke), which will lead to premature death or disability and multiply the amount of amount of money needed for the healthcare of a patient. In developed countries, ESRD is a major cost driver for patients, their families, and the taxpayer. Patients with ESRD require dialysis or kidney transplantation, which are highly costly and consume a sizeable portion of the health budget. For instance: According to a recent report published by NHS Kidney Care, in England Kidney Disease costs more than breast, lung, colon and skin cancer combined. In Australia, the cost of treating all current and new cases of ESKD to 2020 is estimated at $12 billion. The annual cost of dialysis per patient per year varies between 50,000 and 80,000 AUD depending on the type of treatment. In the US, treatment of CKD (…) is likely to exceed $48 billion per year, and the ESRD program consumes 6.7% of the total Medicare budget to care for less than 1% of the covered population. In China, the economy will lose US$558 billion over the next decade due to effects on death and disability attributable to the chronic cardiovascular and renal disease. In Uruguay, the annual cost of dialysis is close to $ US 23 million, representing 30% of the budget of the National Resources Fund for specialized therapies. In middle-income countries, access to life-saving therapies has progressively increased over the same period yet renal replacement therapy remains unaffordable for the majority of patients. Developing countries, with a combined population of over 600 million people, cannot afford a renal replacement at all—resulting in the death of over 1 million people annually from untreated kidney failure. Indeed, more than 80% of individuals receiving renal replacement therapy (RRT) live in the developed world because in developing countries it is largely unaffordable. In countries such as India and Pakistan, less than 10% of all patients who need it receive any kind of renal replacement therapy. In many African countries, there is little or no access to RRT, meaning many people simply die. RRT is also used to treat acute kidney injuries where recovery of kidney function usually occurs if the patient can be kept alive by dialysis until that happens. The lack of available RRT results in the preventable deaths of many thousands of children with diarrheal diseases and women with complications of pregnancy in the developing world every year (see below). WKD 2013 was dedicated to spreading the message of the importance of acute kidney injury (AKI). CKD in elderly people About 1 in 10 people have some degree of CKD. It can develop at any age and various conditions can lead to CKD. It, however, becomes more common with increasing age. After the age of 40, kidney filtration begins to fall by approximately 1% per year. On top of the natural aging of the kidneys, many conditions which damage the kidneys are more common in older people including diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. It is estimated that about one in five men and one in four women between the ages of 65 and 74, and half of the people aged 75 or more have CKD. In short, the older you get the more likely you are to have some degree of kidney disease. This is important because CKD increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, and in some cases can progress to kidney failure requiring dialysis or transplantation. Regardless of your age, simple treatments can slow the progression of kidney disease, prevent complications and improve quality of life.

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February 02, 2019
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Body
Do you have leg pain? Check this out!

Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) With this condition, your limbs -- typically your legs -- don’t get enough blood. It usually happens because your arteries have narrowed. Your legs may feel weak or numb or cramp when you walk. They might feel cold and be an odd color. Some people can manage PAD with habit changes, like quitting smoking. If that doesn’t work, your doctor might give you medicine to treat the problem or help with pain. But some people need surgery. Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) This is a blood clot in a vein, usually in your thigh or lower leg. It doesn’t always cause symptoms, but you might have pain, swelling in your leg, and it might be warm and red. Call your doctor right away if you notice any of these. DVT can lead to a serious condition called a pulmonary embolism -- when the clot breaks off and goes to your lungs. Your doctor can give you medicine to keep clots from forming, growing, or breaking off. Peripheral Neuropathy This happens when there’s damage to the nerves in your body that relay messages to and from your brain. The most common cause is diabetes, but other health conditions, medicines, injuries, or infections can cause it. If it affects the nerves in your legs, they might feel prickly or tingly, or they might be numb or weak. Your doctor will treat the condition that’s causing it and give you medicine for pain if you need it. Electrolyte Imbalance Electrolytes are minerals like sodium, potassium, and calcium that help your muscles work the way they should. You lose some through sweat when you exercise, and if you lose too much, your legs can cramp or feel weak or numb. It can happen when you get some medical treatments, like chemotherapy, too. Sports drinks with electrolytes -- or water along with foods that have those minerals -- can help. See your doctor if you cramp up often. Spinal Stenosis This condition happens when the spaces within the bones in your spine get narrow. That puts pressure on the nerves in the area and can cause pain, tingling, numbness, or weakness in your legs. You also might have trouble with balance. See your doctor right away if you have any of these symptoms. Medication can ease the pain, and physical therapy can help, too. If these don’t work, you might need surgery. Sciatica This is leg pain that comes from a pinched nerve in your lower spine. It can range from a bad cramp to a strong shooting pain that makes it hard to stand or even sit. You might feel it because of a slipped or herniated disk, a slipped vertebra, a spasm of your butt muscles, or spinal stenosis. Your doctor might recommend over-the-counter pain meds or physical therapy. If you have a more serious case, you might need surgery. Arthritis This is a common condition that affects your joints and causes pain, swelling, and stiffness. When it happens in your hips, knees, or ankles, it can be hard to walk or do other everyday activities. There’s no cure, but it can help to exercise and stay at a healthy weight. Heating pads or ice packs on the aching joints can ease pain and swelling. So can over-the-counter pain relievers. Pulled Muscle This is when a muscle gets stretched too far. It happens a lot to people who play sports. The pain is intense and starts right away, and the area is tender to the touch. The best treatment is to ice it with cold packs for 20 minutes at a time, several times a day. Outside of that, wrap the area lightly, keep it raised if you can, and rest it. Over-the-counter pain relievers can ease the ache. Sprain This injury happens when the tissue that connects a muscle to a bone, called a ligament, is stretched or torn. Ankle sprains are common. The injured area swells and hurts, and you can’t put weight on it. The best way to treat it is the R.I.C.E. method -- rest, ice (about 20 minutes a few times a day), compression (wrap it in a bandage), and elevation (prop it up). See your doctor so she can take an X-ray and check for broken bones. Muscle Cramp This is when a muscle, usually in your calf, suddenly gets tight. It can bring on a sharp pain, and you may feel a hard lump of muscle under your skin. Cramps tend to happen more as you age, and you’re also likely to have them if you’re out in hot weather and don’t drink enough water. Cramps usually go away on their own and aren’t a sign of any health issue, but talk with your doctor if you have them often. Shin Splints These happen when the muscles and tissues around your shinbone get inflamed, making the inner edge of the bone hurt. They’re common among people who run a lot. Flat feet, rigid arches, or the wrong shoes can lead to them, too. The best treatment is to rest your legs, put cold packs on them for 20 minutes several times a day, and take pain relievers if you need them. But see your doctor so she can make sure it’s nothing more serious. Stress Fracture If the pain that feels like shin splints doesn’t get better, you may have a small crack in your shinbone. It happens when the muscles around the bone are overused and don’t cushion the impact of moving the way they should. Rest is the best treatment for a stress fracture, but it can take about 6 to 8 weeks to heal. Make sure it’s healed completely before you start exercising again so you don't make the bone injury worse. Tendinitis Tendons are the flexible cords that connect muscles to bones. It can hurt a lot if they get inflamed, especially when you move that joint. This is called tendinitis, and it’s a wear-and-tear injury that can affect your hip, knee, or ankle. As with a sprain, the best way to treat it is the R.I.C.E. method. And see your doctor so she can rule out other issues. She also may suggest anti-inflammatory pain meds like ibuprofen or naproxen. Varicose Veins When veins have to work extra hard to get blood back to your heart, they bulge and look twisted, blue, or dark purple. They can make your legs feel heavy, burn, throb, or cramp. You’re more likely to have them as you age, or if you’re overweight, pregnant, or stand or sit for long stretches. Losing weight, exercising, or wearing compression stockings may help. If they don’t, talk to your doctor about other treatment options. Burning Thigh Pain Meralgia paresthetica is a nerve problem that causes painful burning, numbing, or tingling in your upper thigh. Your chances of having it are higher if you’re pregnant, overweight, wear tight clothes, or have surgical scar tissue in your groin area. You can ease the symptoms with over-the-counter medications like acetaminophen or ibuprofen. If the pain lasts more than 2 months, your doctor might recommend stronger prescription medicine.

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February 02, 2019
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Body
Make sure the vaccines are not been mishandled!

We all know that "Prevention is better than cure " but in the case of vaccinations " it's better to not vaccinate than to administrate a dose of vaccine that has been mishandled". But hnc clinic strictly follows all international protocols for vaccines storage, Handling & Administration They are Cold chain supply Good storage Temperature Monitoring Devices Staff Training & Education from immunization program distributors Examine Vaccination Deliveries Infection Control Provide aftercare instructions Obtain complete immunization history at each health care visit Screening for Contraindications and Precautions Strategies to reduce missed opportunities VFC/AFIX initiatives. hnc clinics provide all kind of vaccines in high quality. To Make your children real Little Heros join to hnc Little Heros Club. Benefits of joining hnc Little Heros Club. You will get instant notifications about immunization schedules. You will get newsletters about immunization updates. You can participate in hnc immunization awareness campaigns for free.

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February 02, 2019
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Women's Health
The science behind Breast Cancer - Now you know!

Before discussing breast cancer, it's important to be familiar with the anatomy of the breast. The normal breast consists of milk-producing glands that are connected to the surface of the skin at the nipple by narrow ducts. The glands and ducts are supported by connective tissue made up of fat and fibrous material. Blood vessels, nerves, and lymphatic channels to the lymph nodes make up most of the rest of the breast tissue. This breast anatomy sits under the skin and on top of the chest muscles. As in all forms of cancer, the abnormal tissue that makes up breast cancer is the patient's own cells that have multiplied uncontrollably. Those cells may also travel to locations in the body where they are not normally found. When that happens, the cancer is called metastatic. Breast Cancer develops in the breast tissue, primarily in the milk ducts (ductal carcinoma) or glands (lobular carcinoma). The cancer is still called and treated as breast cancer even if it is first discovered after the cells have traveled to other areas of the body. In those cases, the cancer is referred to as metastatic or advanced breast cancer. Breast cancer usually begins with the formation of a small, confined tumor (lump), or as calcium deposits (micro calcifications) and then spreads through channels within the breast to the lymph nodes or through the blood stream to other organs. The tumour may grow and invade tissue around the breast, such as the skin or chest wall. Different types of breast cancer grow and spread at different rates -- some take years to spread beyond the breast while others grow and spread quickly. Some lumps are benign (not cancerous), however, some of these can be premalignant. The only safe way to distinguish between a benign lump and cancer is to have the tissue examined by a doctor through a biopsy. Men can get breast cancer, too, but they account for just one percent of all breast cancer cases. Among women, breast cancer is the most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer deaths after lung cancer. If eight women were to live to be at least 85, one of them would be expected to develop the disease at some point during her life. Two-thirds of women with breast cancer are over 50, and most of the rest are between 39 and 49. Fortunately, breast cancer is very treatable if detected early. Localized tumors can usually be treated successfully before the cancer spreads; and in nine out of 10 cases, the woman will live at least another five years. However, late recurrences of breast cancer are common. Once the cancer begins to spread, treatment becomes difficult, although treatment can often control the disease for years. Improved screening procedures and treatment options mean about 8 out of 10 women with breast cancer will survive at least 10 years after initial diagnosis. What Causes Breast Cancer? Although the precise causes of breast cancer are unclear, we know what the main risk factors are. Still, most women considered at high risk for breast cancer do not get it. On the other hand, 75% of women who develop breast cancer have no known risk factors. Among the most significant factors are advancing age and family history. Risk increases slightly for a woman who has certain benign breast lumps and increases significantly for a woman who has previously had breast cancer or endometrial, ovarian, or colon cancer. A woman whose mother, sister, or daughter has had breast cancer is two to three times more likely to develop the disease, particularly if more than one first-degree relative has been affected. This is especially true if the cancer developed in the woman while she was premenopausal, or if the cancer developed in both breasts. Researchers have now identified two genes responsible for some instances of familial breast cancer -- BRCA1 and BRCA2. About one woman in 200 carries one of these genes. Having a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene predisposes a woman to breast cancer, and while it does not ensure that she will get breast cancer, her lifetime risk is 45% – 80%. These genes also predispose to ovarian cancer and are associated with pancreas cancer, melanoma, and male breast cancer (BRCA2). Because of these risks, prevention strategies and screening guidelines for those with the BRCA genes are more aggressive. There are other genes that have been identified as increasing the risk of breast cancer, including the PTEN gene, the ATM gene, the TP53 gene, and the CHEK2 gene. However, these genes carry a lower risk for breast cancer development than the BRCA genes. Generally, women over 50 are more likely to get breast cancer than younger women, and African-American women are more likely than Caucasians to get breast cancer before menopause. A link between breast cancer and hormones is clear. Researchers think that the greater a woman's exposure to the hormone estrogen, the more susceptible she is to breast cancer. Estrogen tells cells to divide; the more the cells divide, the more likely they are to be abnormal in some way, potentially becoming cancerous. A woman's exposure to estrogen and Progesterone rises and falls during her lifetime. This is influenced by the age she starts menstruating (menarche ) and stops menstruating. That's about it! Get Screened for Breast Cancer today! 

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February 02, 2019
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Body
Chickenpox Vaccine :Best ways to prevent Chickenpox

Chickenpox is a common illness caused by the Varicella- Zoster Virus. Symptoms of chickenpox include fever and itchy spots or blisters all over the body. Chickenpox is usually mild and runs its course in five to 10 days, but it can cause more serious problems when teens and adults get it. People with weakened immune systems are especially susceptible to developing serious complications from chickenpox. Some complications that can arise from chickenpox include: Skin infections Pneumonia Encephalitis (swelling in the brain) Shingles (later in life) Joint inflammation Vaccination is the best way to prevent chickenpox. A Chickenpox Vaccine is available with hnc clinics and is easy to get from a doctor at any hnc clinics. The chickenpox vaccine is very effective at preventing the disease -- between 70% and 90% of people who get vaccinated will be completely immune to chickenpox. If a vaccinated person does get chickenpox, the symptoms will be very mild and only last for a few days. When should adults be vaccinated against chickenpox? All adults who have never had chickenpox or received the vaccination should be vaccinated against it. Two doses of the Vaccine should be given at least four weeks apart. If you've never had chickenpox or been vaccinated and you are exposed to chickenpox, being vaccinated right away will greatly reduce your risk of getting sick. Studies have shown that vaccination within three days of exposure is 90% effective at preventing illness; vaccination within five days of exposure is 70% effective. If you do get sick, the symptoms will be milder and shorter in duration. Who shouldn’t get the chickenpox vaccine? You should not be vaccinated against chickenpox if you: Are moderate to severely ill at the time of vaccination Are Pregnant (women should not become pregnant for one month after receiving the chickenpox vaccine) Have ever had an Allergic reaction to gelatin, the antibiotic neomycin, or a previous dose of chickenpox vaccine These people should check with their doctor about getting the chickenpox Vaccine: Patients undergoing Chemotherapy or radiation for cancer People taking steroid drugs People with HIV or another disease that compromises the immune system Patients who recently had a blood transfusion or received other blood products What's in the chickenpox vaccine? The chickenpox vaccine is made from a live, weakened form of the varicella virus. That means the virus is able to produce immunity in the body without causing illness. Are there any risks associated with the chickenpox vaccine? The most common side effect from the chickenpox vaccine is swelling, soreness, or redness at the site of the injection. A small number of people may also develop a mild rash or a low-grade fever after vaccination. Serious reactions to the chickenpox vaccine are extremely rare, but they may include: Seizures Brain infection Pneumonia Loss of balance Severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) If you think you may be having a serious reaction to the chickenpox vaccine, call your health care provider right away. Women who receive the chickenpox vaccine during pregnancy should contact their health care provider right away. Chickenpox during pregnancy can cause, birth defects so there may be a risk that the chickenpox vaccine could cause the same birth defects. As with other vaccines, the risks associated with the chickenpox vaccine are much lower than the risks associated with the disease itself.

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February 02, 2019
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