About Cord Blood

The Facts About Cord Blood Banking
By Brenna Smithy

Parents are often opting these days to save their newborn's umbilical blood for the possibility the baby or a close family member might need it to treat a disease. Statistics available so far indicate only a one in 2700 chance the baby will need the cord blood and a one in 1400 chance other near family members may need it. However, this blood can be used for non-family members and is being used to treat diseases and save lives. It is less likely the blood will be a match for non-family members but many matches are made successfully.

Cord blood banking is the process of obtaining and storing a newborns umbilical blood. The umbilical cord is the cord that attaches from the babies belly button to the placenta in the mother's womb during pregnancy. The umbilical cord is the channel for provision of nutrients and oxygen to the growing fetus. Until recently the umbilical cord and the placenta were considered medical waste and simply disposed of after birth.

Stem cells, researchers discovered, could cure many diseases such as leukemia and help others such as brain injury and Alzheimer's. Umbilical cord blood is full of these precious stem cells. Cerebral palsy has been successfully treated with stem cells. As research continues it is believed even more uses for stem cells such as spinal cord repair will be discovers. Stem cell research is at the cutting edge of medicine and the possibilities for new healing modalities for diseases using stem cells are enormous.

Harvesting umbilical blood is totally painless to both mother and child. If you wish to donate your child's cord blood or harvest for private or public use you need to let your doctor and the bank of your choice know by the 34th week of pregnancy. The cord bank will send professionals to collect the blood from the umbilical cord after it is cut and the placenta has been delivered.

Approximately 80ml or the equivalent of 3 ounces of blood is collected. The blood needs to be collected within 10 to fifteen minutes of birth which is why arrangements must be made ahead of time. The collection of this blood does not interfere with the birth in any way. Donating to a public bank is free of charge.

After collection the cord blood is tested for any diseases. If any such diseases are discovered the family will be notified. The blood is then processed and slowly frozen to -196 degrees. The blood can be stored indefinitely so long as the temp is maintained. Cord banks have multiple back up sources of power to avoid any loss of this precious resource.

If you can afford to harvest and store your newborns cord blood by all means does so. Banking can give you peace of mind for the future health of your child. If you cannot afford to harvest and store your newborns cord blood considers donating it. It cost you nothing and is painless but may save someone's life. The cord and its blood are simply discarded if it is not harvested and will help no one. Who knows, maybe someone else's donated cord blood will help you or a family member one day.

Cord blood banking can be done privately or publicly. Public banks take donations or blood from any child whose parent decides to give that gift. Some parents cannot afford the price to store their child's cord blood but nonetheless decide to donate it to a bank so that others can be helped.

Private cord banks have an initial set up cost of 1500-2500 dollars and a yearly fee to store the blood of 100-150 dollars. Some public banks will agree to keep a portion of the blood for family use if the rest is made available for general public use. Research which cord blood bank you wish to use carefully and when you have decided give your baby or perhaps someone else the precious gift of life.

For more information on cord banking check out my article at [http://www.chordbloodbanking.net/why-are-stem-cells-important/]

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Brenna_Smithy/924225
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Umbilical Cord Blood Banking

Umbilical Cord Blood Banking - A Responsible Decision
By Mary Gibs

By the end of this article, you should have gained enough new knowledge on this subject to be able to explain its main points to another person.

Are you pregnant with a baby?

You grab every offered book on the question of pregnancy. You donate no gemstone unturned. You want to be well learned. Openly.

Jason and his partner were no different. They stilt they had it all roofed-that is awaiting a few weeks before the pitched court of freedom. That is when a code on television tainted their lives. The code dealt with cord blood caching. Just another device, stilt Jason firstly. However, after intensive inquiries, there was no denying that cord blood caching was a main development, remedially dialogue. In detail, so positive were Jason and his partner that they definite to gather cord blood during the birth of their baby. Little did they grasp what an important decision that was? That blood would avert their baby's life, many being down the line. Flex blood caching can be lifesavers for your family too.

From now until the now until the end of this article, take the time to think about how all of this information can help you.

What is flexing Blood saving?

Flex blood caching is a breakthrough in blood caching. It involves the collection and mass room of blood from the umbilical cord, which connects the baby to the mother in the womb. Discarding cord blood, along with the lasting umbilical cord and the placenta, was stock method. However, the discovery that cord blood is a plentiful trace of stem groups revolutionized remedial perception. Flex blood is now considered to have immense therapeutic amount. The best part is that these stem groups can be conveniently cool from the umbilical cord after birth, lacking hurting moreover the mother or the baby.

Flex Blood is an anodyne and ethical trace of stem groups

What makes cord blood stem groups so unusual? Stem groups have two sole capabilities. They can multiply to deliver more stem groups. A small number of stem groups can be nurtured to produce a substantial number. The stem groups can also transform into any mature adult group, potentially bountiful any flaw organ a moment ability at life. Stem groups are a priceless retrace. The umbilical cord on can be a plentiful trace of stem groups with diverse advantages.

- Stem groups can be certainly obtained from cord blood

- flex blood stem groups are a 100% reach for the patron, 50% reach for biological parents and 25% reach for blood allied siblings and grandparents.

- They are not tumorogenic

- Collecting umbilical cord blood does not hurt the patron in any way

Flex Blood saving is not emergent Stem group inquiries

Unfortunately, controversy surrounding budding stem group inquiries undermines the view of cord blood mass room and adult stem group inquiries. Distinct budding stem group inquiries where developing embryos are the trace for gathering stem groups, cord blood stem group inquiries only uses those stem groups discarded from the umbilical cord after the freedom of the baby. There is no debit of life, as moreover neither the mother nor the baby comes to hurt in any way. Flex blood stem groups are amply correct for therapeutic purposes.

Fairly aware views like cloning force younger stem groups. These stem groups are called budding stem groups and they must be damaged in order to pursue any inquiries. Flex blood stem groups are more mature and are called adult stem groups. They are not handy in controversial fields of stem group inquiries; hence donating cord blood does not violate any ethical standard.

Flex Blood saving: ability at Regeneration

The first umbilical cord blood transplant was done by Professor Blackman in 1989. Flex blood from a sibling was worn to avert a tolerant of François Anemia. Over the last two decades, umbilical cord blood has been worn to remedy more than 75 conditions plus cancers, bone essence collapses, low immune states, genetic disruption in metabolism, concern disease, stroke, many sclerosis and some autoimmune conditions.

The file is rising steadily.

distant from these uses, cord blood stem group inquiries has exposed talented outcome in concern disease, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and even diabetes. Stem groups can reproduce abandoned pancreatic bandanna which can squirt insulin. We may be able to destroy diabetes with just a shot of compatible baby stem groups from cord blood. The possibilities are relating briskly.

Flex blood from a family limb is haughty to stem groups from bone essence transplants because it doubles abilities of triumph. With ones own cord blood, or blood from a family limb, eliminates the abilities of collapse of reedmen. An unfussy decision in pregnancy can present a game trace of stem groups with no doubts about incompatibility. Flex blood caching presents an ability to renew the stem groups of the unnatural organ.

Everyday Misviewions about flex Blood saving:

Still cord blood is a priceless retrace, these repayment are not well known. A fresh inquiry, available by the Canadian wellbeing Association, prominent that more than half the hopeful parents had meager facts or misviewions about cord blood caching. The most customary misviewion was that cord blood donation could hurt the baby. The inquiry also prominent that an unfussy explanation sufficed to sway them about the advantages of cord blood donation. Impressed with the proof offered, thirteen states have accepted laws to help educate pregnant mothers and sponsor shared cord caching. Flex blood donation and preservation can now be conceded out at no ultra rush. Close family limbs of the patron then have access to correct reaches if the require arises.

How do you donate cord blood?

Flex blood caching starts before the actual court of freedom of the baby. Once you catalog with a cord blood cache, they forward you a kit, containing all the crucial gear for collecting cord blood, along with instructions for the presence doctor, imparter or attention employees. After severing and clamping the umbilical cord in the medium, place partum collection and mass room of the lasting blood from the placental end of the cord, follows. An unusual container carries the cord blood to the cord blood cache. Here unusual separators withdraw the stem groups in the blood. Mass room is at very cold temperatures. The baby suffers no debit or hurt through this method, as there is no blood collection from that end.

Pick the Right flex Blood save

The most crucial decision is to take the right reserved cord blood cache. This is a long-phrase investment. Make reliable that the cord blood cache has the finances and a long-phrase commitment to the pitch. Verify the accreditation of the organization and unreliable that they have a hygienic footprint best. Ask whether they mass the blood themselves or rely on a third revel to sponsor them. Make reliable that the blood will be offered speedily, lacking interval, when you require it most. You can also donate cord blood to a shared cache, which then uses the donated blood for tolerant awaiting reedmen. However, still you have no retrieve over the donated blood; you will have access to a bigger assemble of stem groups. In reserved caches, your cord blood is massed exclusively for your use.

Umbilical cord blood caching was relatively nameless two decades ago. Now cord blood caching is on the head of present remedial inquiries and reedmen. Flex blood caching is an anodyne and ethical trace of stem groups. Preserving cord blood is an action towards protecting the wellbeing of your baby, your family and our citizens.

Seeing believes, but sometimes we can't all experience every subject in life. This article hopes to make up for that by providing you with a valuable resource of information on this topic.

Mary Gibs writes for [http://www.cordbloodmen.com] where you can find out more about Cord Blood and other topics [http://www.cordbloodmen.com]

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Mary_Gibs/133810
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How Treatment ????

Cancer Treatment - Organ Specific Cancer Treatments
By Dr Priya Rajendran

Organ specific cancer treatments

Certain advanced cancer hospitals manage cancer in an organ specific way, and accordingly oncologists are reserved for treating cancers affecting specific organs only. Accordingly, oncologists have successfully treated breast cancer, head and neck cancer, gynecological cancer, orthopedic cancer, lung cancer, neuro cancer, and liver cancer.

Understanding each organ specific cancer and the treatment available for it

Breast Cancer

It is the commonest of cancers affecting women, and it is believed to be the cancer that has caused the most mortality among women next to lung cancer. The mortality has been the highest among women whose ages were between 45 and 55. Breast cancer is curable if it is diagnosed at an early stage, and if the necessary treatments are carried out immediately following its detection. Breast cancer is growth of breast cells in an uncontrolled manner.

Breast cancer diagnosis

Abnormal presence of a lump

This diagnosis can be carried out by the patient, and the doctor too looks for the presence of abnormally looking lumps through physical breast examinations. Other than a lump, the changes in the breast that doctors look forward to finding is skin dimpling, unusual changes in the size, and or shape of the breast, pulled in nipples as against it being pointed outward when normal, and discoloration of the breast's skin.

Mammography

Radiologists use mammograms to seek out abnormalities in the breasts. Mammograms are x-ray photographs of the breast that are usually taken by keeping the breasts in a compressed position.

Ultrasound imaging of breasts

Ultrasound imaging is used to examine the breasts, and this technique of using sound waves helps in distinguishing whether a lump that has been noticed in a breast is either a cyst filled with fluid, or a solid one.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or MRI

The MRI of a breast is taken using a strong magnetic field. MRI of the breast becomes necessary in certain situations to properly diagnose breast cancer.

Biopsy

The biopsy of the breast becomes necessary when the oncologist has a strong suspicion of cancer being present. A core needle biopsy is performed on the suspect area of the breast to either confirm the disease, or rule it out.

The benefit of early breast cancer detection

Detection of breast cancer can be made at an early stage through screening. Screening refers to the various tests and examinations that are carried out on the breasts of a person to detect the disease at the earliest, even before the actual symptoms of the disease starts to show. Usually breast cancers that can be felt and detected are cancers that have grown larger in size and that which in usual cases has spread to regions outside the breast. The treatment in such cases is very complex. Breast cancers can be treated successfully if it is detected very early, and before the actual cancer symptoms starts to show.

Breast cancer treatment

Breast cancer is treated either through local treatment or systemic treatment.

Local treatment of breast cancer involves removal, destruction, or controlling the growth of cancerous cells in the breast. Local treatment by surgery is also known by the names mastectomy, and it is also referred to as lumpectomy. This is a breast preserving therapy. The other local treatment is the use of radiation therapy. Radiation therapy involves use of a high energy radiation beam to destroy the cancer cells. Advanced equipment like LINAC helps in focusing the radiation beam on to the cancer cells, and minimizes, or avoids causing damage to the surrounding healthy cells.

Systemic treatment becomes necessary if the breast cancer has spread to other parts of the body. This treatment is therefore used to control and destroy cancer cells across the body. The various therapies that are used in this treatment include chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and biological therapy.

Chemotherapy involves the use of drugs to kill or control cancer cells. Hormone therapy involves use of certain drugs that inhibit production of certain hormones in the body, like estrogen, which can aid in the revival of cancerous breast cells that manage to remain in the body post the surgery of the breast. Biological therapy involves use of the body's immune system in fighting and destroying cancerous cells.

Thus cancer hospitals that offer breast cancer treatments are equipped with a robust team of breast surgeons, plastic surgeons, medical oncologists and other associated staff, they have with them advanced machinery for diagnosis and treatment, and they also have the facilities of advanced ICUs for apt patient management and recovery.

Lung cancer

Lung cancer is associated with uncontrolled growth of cells in either one, or both of the lungs. These cells do not develop into healthy lung tissue, but rather becomes abnormal cells which further continue to divide forming lumps of tissues which are identified as tumors.

Diagnosis

The symptom that is commonly associated with lung cancer is shortness of breath and presence of wheezing. Certain other symptoms like chest pain, fatigue, appetite loss, presence of blood in the sputum while coughing, persistent cough, unanticipated loss of weight, and coughing out blood, are also associated with lung cancer. Presence of these symptoms together with reports from many other procedures will be used by physicians in diagnosing the presence or absence of lung cancer. Imaging techniques like X-Rays of chest, bronchoscopy, MRI, CT, and PET scans, are also used to diagnose lung cancer. Further, the patient is also subject to a physical examination by the physician, and an analysis of the patient's sputum is also made. All these examinations and procedures will reveal the presence of lung cancer, and also the location of the tumor, and also information about the presence or absence of the disease anywhere else in the body.

Lung cancer treatment

There are many factors which influence lung cancer treatment, and the factors on which lung cancer treatment is dependent on includes, the type of the cancer, the stage or how far the cancer has spread, the age of the patient, his or her health status, and many other personal characteristics of the patient. There is no particular treatment for lung cancer, and patients often receive treatment which is a combination of palliative care and multiple therapies. The foremost of lung cancer treatment therapies include surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. The patient will also be exposed to therapies that have been recently developed which include gene therapy, hormone therapy, and also immunotherapy.

The treating team comprises of radiation oncologists, thoracic surgeons, medical oncologists, onco medical social workers, and so forth.

Orthopedic cancer

Orthopedic cancer involves musculoskeletal tumors that affect the pelvis, limbs, and spine. Orthopedic cancerous tumors that are usually seen in children and adolescents are Ewings sarcoma and Osteosarcoma. Cancerous tumors that are more common among adults are chondrosarcoma, metastasis, and multiple myeloma. These tumors are considered to be rare, and the exact cause that leads to their formation has remained a mystery till date.

Patients who are affected with these tumors have persistent pain in their back or limbs, and this pain will not subside with medications or rest. Paralysis and hand or foot weaknesses are symptoms patients with spine tumors usually present with.

Orthopedic cancer diagnosis

Clinical examination by a specialist and further investigations becomes necessary to diagnose orthopedic cancer; mere physical examinations of bone and soft tissue swellings will never reveal the presence of orthopedic cancerous tumor. The investigations that are usually carried out include X-Ray, MRI, PET, CT, and Bone scan. Biopsy is necessary to confirm the diagnosis.

Orthopedic cancer treatment

Tumors like Ewings sarcoma and Osteosarcoma needs a combination of treatment therapies which starts with chemotherapy, which is then followed by surgery, and eventually involves radiotherapy. Surgical treatments become necessary to treat benign tumors, and tumors like chondrosarcoma. The quality of life of patients suffering from bone metastasis can be considerably improved by subjecting them to palliative surgeries. Procedures are customized in accordance with patients when limbs or arms need to be saved from amputation. Cancer hospitals make the necessary provisions for prosthetic substitutions when amputation surgeries become necessary.

There are no known methods to prevent the occurrence of musculoskeletal tumors, and these tumors are considerably rare. Since prevention is ruled out, early detection alone can lead to proper treatment. Further, advancements in technology in the recent times has brought forward the possibility of liberating patients from definite limb or arm amputations when they are affected with bone cancers. But, amputation can be avoided only when the cancer is detected at an early stage. Numerous patients have been treated and were rehabilitated, and they are now in a position to lead a normal life; these patients have benefited from the advancements made in technology, which has made complex surgeries simpler.

Cancer hospitals use advanced technologies for soft tissue sarcoma tumor excisions including Brachytherapy, and also use of LINAC for external radiation therapy.

The orthopedic cancer treatment team of cancer hospitals comprises of medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, physiotherapists, and so forth.

Patients seeking treatment for musculoskeletal tumors can also benefit from numerous services including, limb salvaging surgery while being treated for malignant tumors, benign bone tumor management, pelvic and spine tumor surgery, treatment for skin malignancy, soft tissue sarcoma treatment, and so forth.

Head and Neck Cancer

Head and Neck Cancer are cancers affecting the Upper Aero Digestive Tract, or UADT, cancers that affect the region between the collar-bone and the brain, and cancers that originate at glands like thyroid and parotid.

Diagnosis

A good physical examination under the hands of a competent oncologist will reveal the presence of head and neck cancer. Biopsy of the affected region will give an accurate confirmation. Lumps are explored by means of a Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology, or FNAC.

Head and Neck cancer treatment

The head and neck area is associated with the personality of a person. Further, the various important functional areas, which also involve a person's senses like sight, smell, auditory, taste, speech, and swallowing, are present in this region. Hence, the treatment of cancers affecting the head and neck area needs to be a balanced one, the treatment should not compromise the aesthetics, or the functions of the sensory organs, but concurrently the treatment should be effective in containing the cancer. Thus, the most advanced of head and neck cancer treatments that are carried out is aimed at preserving the functions of the sensory organs and simultaneously controlling cancer in an effective way. Either surgery or radiation therapy is sufficient during the early stages of the onset of head and neck cancer. But, surgery combined with radiation therapy becomes necessary during the advanced stages of head and neck cancer. Chemotherapy too is used along with radiotherapy to enhance the potentiality of radiotherapy.

Further, head and neck cancer treatments also benefits from the advancements made in the domain of reconstructive surgery. These advancements has made it possible to preserve the functionality of vital sensory organs, and thereby improving the quality of life of the affected individual. Some of the surgery advancements that have aided head and neck cancer treatments include micro vascular tissue transfer, functional neck surgery, jaw preserving surgery, and so forth. Further, advanced machinery for external radiotherapy like LINACs has made it possible to deliver high intensity radiations in a precise way to tumors that are deep-seated, and also sparing vital anatomy in the vicinity of the tumor. LINACs have greatly reduced the treatment duration too.

The additional conservative services that a patient can also benefit from while being treated for head and neck cancer includes head and neck surgery, cosmetic and reconstructive surgery, preservation of voice, restoration of speech, micro-vascular regeneration, speech rehabilitation, faciomaxillary surgery, prosthodontic treatments, and so forth.

Liver Cancer

All cancers and tumors affecting the liver have come to be known as liver cancer, and this includes primary liver tumors, and secondary liver tumors also. Primary liver tumors are liver tumors that emanate within the liver, and secondary liver tumors are tumors that have spread to the liver from other cancer affected sites of the body.

Liver cancer diagnosis

Imaging techniques including ultrasound, PET, and, or CT scan is required. Biopsy will or will not be required to establish liver cancer.

Liver cancer treatment

When liver cancer is detected in the early stage, it is usually treated by surgically removing the tumor, or destroying the tumor cells using targeted chemotherapy, which is also known as TACE, or by liver transplantation. There are numerous other factors which also determines the treatment that needs to be undertaken including the condition of the liver, the size of the liver, location, tumor count, the age of the affected person, and the person's overall health. Further, the risks and the benefits associated with a particular mode of treatment is also dependent on the extension the tumor has achieved, the condition of the liver, and also the health condition of the affected person. In the usual cases, a treatment plan is tailor-made in accordance with the condition of the person being treated.

Patients undergoing liver cancer treatment at advanced cancer hospitals have the benefit of receiving chemotherapy, surgery, and radiotherapy under one roof. Further, these cancer hospitals have liver transplantation programs, and in accordance with these programs certain patients affected with liver cancer have the benefit of undergoing a liver transplant at the hospital they are being treated.

The cancer hospitals treating liver cancer have doctors in their team from various disciplines including hepatobiliary surgery, radiology, oncology, hepatology, pathology, and so forth. The entire team is well-trained and experienced in liver cancer management, and they work in unison at solving complex liver cancer problems.

Gynecological Cancer

Cancers affecting the female reproductive organs have been grouped under gynecological cancer. The cancers included under gynecological cancer include cervical cancer, vaginal cancer, ovarian cancer, vulvar cancer, and uterian cancer.

Gynecological cancer diagnosis

The symptoms that are usually associated with gynecological cancer includes vaginal bleeding that is not normal, swelling or bloating that is persistent in the abdominal region, gain in weight or loss that is questionable, persistent diarrhea, or constipation. Gynecological cancer is diagnosed only after thorough gynecological and clinical examinations. Imaging techniques like ultrasound, CT, and PET/CT scans are also used for accurate diagnosis. Biopsy may or may not be used in the diagnosis procedure.

Gynecological cancer treatment

The treatment is based on the extent of the spread of the cancer, and also on the type of cancer present. The treatment is usually a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and may or may not use radiotherapy. Surgery involves excision of cancerous cells from the affected area. Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to stop, or control the growth of cancer cells in the affected area. The drugs are administered into the body either in the form of pills, or through Intra Venous, or IV injections. Radiotherapy involves the use of high energy radiation beams to kill the cancer cells, or preventing them from spreading further.

Gynecological cancer treatment which spares fertility have been successfully carried out. Ovarian choriocarcinoma which was in stage IV has been successfully treated by sparing fertility using a combination of surgery and chemotherapy.

The services and treatments patients can expect for Gynecological cancer from cancer hospitals includes

� Diagnostic services like hysteroscopy, biopsy, laproscopy, colposcopy, and so forth,

� Ultra-radical and radical surgeries like Wertheim's hysterectomy, radical vagino-abdominal surgery, and Japanese radical surgery for cancer at stage II B, are carried out to treat uterine cervix cancer. Para-aortic and pelvic lymphadenectomy are also carried out as part of the procedure.

� Intraperitoneal chemotherapy,

� Cytoreductive surgery for ovarian tumor management is done, and this also involves hysterectomy, omentectomy, lymphadenectomy, and diaphragmatic stripping. Intraperitoneal chemotherapy is offered to patients requiring chemotherapy, and this has a good survival rate.

� Typel hysterecotmy is used in treating endometrial cancer. Pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy is also used. Progesterone therapy in high doses in undertaken to treat certain cases when fertility sparing becomes necessary.

� Radical vulvectomy, partial vaginectomy, and also partial urethrectomy with dissection of groin node is carried out in the treatment of vulval cancer.

� Surgical treatments are done to treat vaginal cancer and also fallopian tube cancers.

� Chemotherapy and hysterectomy is used in treatment of choriocarcinoma. Fertility sparing tumor excisions are also carried out in certain cases.

� Neo-vagina creation, urethral stricture treatment, vaginal dryness treatment, and so forth

� Adjuvant radiotherapy, and chemotherapy too is provided on a patient basis, as need be.

Neuro Cancer

Tumors affecting the brain, spinal cord, and the peripheral nerves are treated as Neuro cancers. Abnormal growth of cells in the brain leads to brain tumor. Likewise, abnormal cell growth in the spinal cord, and peripheral nerves leads to spinal cord tumors and peripheral nerve tumors, respectively.

Symptoms

Blurred vision, neurological defects, vomiting, persistent headaches, seizures, and so forth, are symptoms associated with brain tumors.

Back pain, disturbances in the bowels and bladder, pain in the limbs and arms, weakness associated with limbs and arms, and so forth are some of the symptoms associated with spinal cord cancer.

Swelling, feeling of weakness, pain, and so forth are symptoms associated with peripheral nerve tumors.

Neuro cancer diagnosis and treatment

Imaging techniques including CT, MRI, PET/CT scans are used for diagnosis.

The foremost technique of tackling neuro cancers is surgery. Tumors of the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves are surgically removed. A thorough histological diagnosis can be achieved of the tumor, as a result of this surgical intervention. Further, physical removal of the tumor also relieves the affected person of the cancer symptoms. The surgery also paves the way for a brisk recovery. The surgery can be followed by other treatment methods such as chemotherapy, and radiotherapy.

Any person affected with neuro cancer becomes eligible for neuro cancer treatment. But, early detection of neuro cancer helps annihilate the disease entirely. Tumors of the brain, spinal cord, or the peripheral nerves need immediate treatment, and if they are left untreated they can become life threatening at a later date. With advancements in technology, neuro cancer treatment has become significantly safe and manageable. Further, the treatment time, and thereby the required days of stay in the hospital has been considerably reduced.

Advanced cancer hospitals use numerous top-notch techniques in the treatment of neuro cancers including stem cell therapy, cerebral micro dialysis, and so forth. Advanced cancer hospitals have the required technology to conduct microneurosurgery, neuro surgery using navigation, neuro surgery that is guided by endoscopy, neuro surgery that is guided by imagery, and so forth.

Further, advanced cancer hospitals are also equipped with advanced top-notch operation theaters that are designed to handle neuro cancer cases, they also have advanced neuro ICUs and other associated infrastructure that helps a neuro cancer patient recover in a safe and monitored environment.

Dr. Priya Rajendran,

Manager - Queries,

International Patient Care Services,

Global Hospitals,

Bangalore, Karnataka,

INDIA.

Mobile: +919902866331,

email id: drpriya.raj@globalhospitalsindia.com

If you are on the lookout for a cost-effective and reliable cancer treatment option, then cancer treatment at Global Cancer Institute, India would be a perfect choice. Global Cancer Institute treats cancer in an organ specific way; they thus have dedicated teams who are dedicated to handle cancers affecting particular organs only. Global Cancer Institute is equipped with the TrueBeam Stx Linear Accelerator; this machine has made it possible to attack cancer cells with highly focused strong doses of radiation while ensuring that the healthy cells in the vicinity remain unaffected by the radiation. Attacking cancer cells present on organs that move during respiration is the specialty of this advanced machine. This machine has reduced cancer treatment to a daycare affair. To know more about the costs and the types of treatment available, you could write to Dr. Priya Rajendran at drpriya.raj@globalhospitalsindia.com.

Treatment costs at Global Cancer Institute costs a tenth of what it would cost to undergo the same treatment in US.

To understand more about the breakthrough researches and treatments the Global Group of Hospitals are carrying out on a daily basis you could visit [http://www.globalhospitalsindia.com/]

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Can You Claim ???

Can You Claim for the Cost of Future Treatment?
By Katie Marie Elizabeth Robinson

In this article, we will be looking at claiming for future losses when you bring a claim for clinical negligence of personal injury. In particular the cost of future treatment and how you would go about claiming for such a loss, considering that it may not have happened yet.

If you have been injured through clinical negligence, such as a broken limb not being treated properly, or through an accident that was caused by someone else's negligence, such as a car accident, then there is a high probability that you will require further medical treatment in order to get yourself back to full health, or as close to full health as possible depending on the severity of your injury.

That medical treatment can take months or even years to be complete, and there is always a chance that there will be long-term medical care for the foreseeable future, such as check-up every six months with a specialist for the rest of your life.

Claims for future treatment do not always have to be life-long treatment. It can be a one-off future operation or a one-off batch of physiotherapy, etc. This kind of claim is more common in claims where the injured person is under the age of 18 and has to wait until they are physically mature before the full extent of the negative effects of their injury is known. Or they have to wait until they are physically mature to get the most benefit from any treatment.

However these claims are not limited to children, they can happen in a variety of situations, such as when you have to wait for your injury to fully heal before you know the extent of any future treatment needed.

Fortunately, if you can prove that this future treatment is something that you now require solely because of the accident or negligence that you have suffered, then you will be able to make a claim for the cost of future treatment part of your claim for financial compensation.

What Makes Up A Claim For Future Treatment?

A claim for future treatment will be made up of multiple elements. There will be the claim for the treatment itself, usually claimed at the private rate. So the cost of the treatment if you purchased it from a private treating doctor or surgeon.

There will also be a claim for the voluntary care that you will need from friends and family after you have the treatment. For example, if your future treatment is an operation of some kind that will have you off of your feet for some weeks and your friends or family members will be providing you with care and assistance during your recovery period, then their time can be claimed.

There can also be a future travel expense claim; then you can claim the mileage you will travel or the rail fares etc.

There can also be a future loss of earnings claim if you stand to lose out on your wages due to you needing to take time off to undergo the future treatment. Although if you would receive sick pay for the time off, then you will not have suffered a loss and cannot claim for loss of earnings.

How Do You Make A Claim For Future Treatment?

You will find out if you need future medical treatment either from your treating doctors of the medical expert you use to value your injury. If your treating doctors have informed you that you will most likely need future treatment, you should make sure to bring this up with your independent medical expert when they see you before producing their report. Then they can give their opinion on any future treatment you may need. This will also act as evidence of you needing the treatment.

Your medical expert will also be able to provide estimates as to how much such treatment will cost at the private rate, which will help your solicitor value your claim. If your medical expert is unable to do this, then either you or your solicitor can make enquiries and get quotes from local services.

What If You Need The Treatment Now?

If your future medical treatment can go ahead now, and you have the medical expert on the side stating you need this future treatment, and you have quotes for how much this will cost then you can approach the Defendants now to see if they will provide the funds for this treatment.

Although, it is very unlikely that the Defendant will provide funding for this treatment if they deny liability for your injury. This is because they are stating that, in clinical negligence claims, the treatment you received from their doctor was in no way negligent; or in personal injury claims, the accident was not caused by their negligence, so why would they pay for your treatment. If this is the situation, then you can either request the cost of future treatment be considered in any potential settlement, or you can raise it as part of your special damages (financial losses) claim when you take your claim to court.

Conclusion

You should now have a basic understanding of how to bringing a claim for future treatment, why you would bring such a claim, what these claims are made up of and how you go about proving you require future treatment.

Considering bringing a claim yourself? Check out the link below and pick up a step-by-step guide!

http://www.lawcat.uk

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Katie_Marie_Elizabeth_Robinson/2312837
http://EzineArticles.com/?Can-You-Claim-for-the-Cost-of-Future-Treatment?&id=9894883

How to Choose

How to Choose the Best Drug and Alcohol Rehab Center
By Pam Kazmierczak

Alcohol or drugs are dangerous material or matter of abuses because of their devastating effects on the human body, especially the liver gets damaged by alcohol and drug affects all parts of the body. Alcoholics cannot get rid from the vicious repetition process of alcoholism independently. It causes strong attraction to a human that he cannot think without this substance which is the result of addiction.

Alcoholism or drug addiction causes both psychological and physical harm. Alcohol drug rehab center is the place where addicted get trained such a way that they can focus their minds and bodies away from addiction and through program that an individual joins because of getting treatment and leave black side of his life and other abuse problems.

These centers gather educated and efficient addiction counselors or therapists and medical professionals. Rehab center mainly deals with some programs that offer mental health, eating disorder, and sex addiction treatment along with drug. It helps victim recovering from the devastating effects of addiction, alcoholism, eating disorders and co-occurring disorders.

Alcohol drug rehabs are a massive step to treatment and recovery from alcoholic dependency and drug addiction. To get effective alcohol drug rehabilitation one must enter the rehab and obey the plan there with honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness.

Alcohol drug rehab is available in many types and criteria; some detoxification programs are long term along with residential rehab center facility. The main goal of it is to help an addict finding out a free life which has no effect of addiction. Addicts learn that how he could be sober and why. Rehab center have existed from last few centuries, however at that time they were not called drug rehab center or alcohol drug rehab center or alcohol treatment programs, they were called "asylums" and the diseases of alcoholism was not seen as being a disease or an illness at all.

The concept of alcohol caused diseases has only existed from the middle of nineteenth century and gradually it tends to become widely accepted. Nowadays among the sectors of addiction treatment - alcohol and drug addiction has only existed since the 1950's, and till then it took some time to become widely accepted. Some drug rehab program run in residential environment, some are out door. Very few consists religious environment and rest of them are secular.

Supportive program for men and women seeking help for drug addiction and alcoholism are available at inpatient drug rehab centers throughout the world. Short term drug residential rehabilitation programs are usually one or two months long, and importantly focus on the most basic aspect of alcoholic and other drug rehab prevention program, such as detox, abstinence from drug abuse, life skills building, and recovery tools. Rehab program that lasts for long-term focuses on the same issues, but is more comprehensive and rigorous in recovery. Medical officials and counselors or therapist mainly acts on the alcoholic to regain their past life.

So to choose the best alcohol drug rehab you need to think about your requirement and then find option for proper treatment. To choose the best drug and alcohol rehab center you need to know about present condition and your needs. If you are a Christian then it is better to go for Christian alcohol rehab center. If your disease as well addiction gets severe state then inpatient treatment program is suitable for you. To save money or less cost sometimes outpatient rehab centers are recommended. Thousands of different drug rehab programs and alcoholism treatment centers located throughout the world.

Pamela Kazmierczak is the author of Rehab For Alcohol [http://www.rehab-for-alcohol.com/]. Go To her site now and read more about Alcohol Rehab [http://www.rehab-for-alcohol.com/] Today - find out everything you need to know and decide what to do next.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Pam_Kazmierczak/313448
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Choose-the-Best-Drug-and-Alcohol-Rehab-Center&id=5640972

Covid19 time ? Online CNA Classes

Online CNA Classes - Advantages and Disadvantages
By Subodh Maheshwari

A certified nursing aide is a direct patient care worker, who provides daily routine cares to long-term care patients with chronic illness, injuries and disabilities, and assist them with activities of daily livings (ADL) such as bathing, feeding, grooming, toileting, dressing, walking and more. CNAs gain necessary acumen and skills to serve the residents through the state-approved Nurse Aide Training Program. The training program is specifically developed by the different state's health departments in order to train nurse aides in direct patient care. The OBRA-87 legislation also mandates nurse aides to complete a CNA training program, and pass the competency examination to be eligible to work in approved, and licensed facilities.

The nursing students can complete their CNA training programs in different ways. They can enroll in a technical institute, vocational school, community college, trade school, long-term care facility, American Red Cross Class, or Online CNA Classes for their nursing assistant education. Although, both online and regular CNA classes are appropriate for nursing education, there are still certain differences between the traditional and online classes.

Regular classes Vs Online Classes

1. Regular CNA programs are campus based schools and colleges. The theoretical instructions and clinical hands-on experience are provided through the classrooms and long-term care facilities respectively. The classes are run at a fixed- time schedule, day, evening or night, and at a permanent location. The ratio of students and teachers are fixed for both the classroom education and clinical training. The physical presence of the instructors and students throughout the training period allow face-to-face discourse and interaction with each other.


2. Online CNA Classes are internet based training programs and conducted online through a computer with a Broad Band connection. There is no fixed-time schedule for attending the classes. The classes are open 24 x 7 days. The students from any part of the world can attend the training programs at their free leisurely hours, any time, day or night. The students and teachers ratio are also not fixed, and there is also no location problem because any number of students from any corner of the world can attend online classes through a computer.

Although, both Regular and online classes are popular among the nursing students, the attraction toward online classes is increasing day-by-day. The basic reasons for the wider acceptance of online nursing assistant classes among the student population can be summed up as follows:

1. The flexible time schedules of online classes are most ideal for working professionals, people with a tight work schedule or family commitments because they can attend online classes at their free hours, without disturbing their busy schedules.
2. The students staying in faraway and distant places, and not able to attend campus based programs due to distance and location problems can easily attend internet CNA education through a computer.
3. The course curriculum of both regular and online nurse aide classes is same.
4. Internet classes are open 24 x 7 x 365 days. Nursing students just have to browse the training provider's online site anytime, day or night to attend the classes.
5. Online instructions are provided through notes, videos, images and assignments.

Online CNA Classes Disadvantages

Online CNA Classes are also, not without any cons. There are also certain disadvantages of Internet classes including the students lack physical interactions with their teachers, and they are not aware of online lectures and instructions quality. Majority internet classes do not provide clinical training arrangements. The students will have to arrange clinical hands-on experience on their own in a local hospital, or long-term care facility. Many states do not approve and recognize online nursing classes, and only certify these graduating students with a certification who successfully complete their trainings through approved schools and colleges. Many online training providers are fake and enrolling and attending these phony classes may waste your training costs and valuable time.

The only solution for overcoming these shortcomings is to verify online classes, find out their accreditation and credential, lectures quality, and clinical training arrangements. Applicants can read different online CNA classes reviews on Internet fir its authentication and discuss the quality of the classes on online forums. They can also find out about these classes through the past nursing assistant students who may have completed online CNA classes.

You can also visit nurse aide online classes [http://www.topcnaclasses.com/cna-guide/online-cna-classes/] for information such as online nurse aide classes course, admission requirements, and ways to find the best online.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Subodh_Maheshwari/660046
http://EzineArticles.com/?Online-CNA-Classes---Advantages-and-Disadvantages&id=7863014

Saving Money On Gas ???????

The Ultimate Guide To Saving Money On Gas
By Matt Mason

No matter how good your cash flow plan is, "uncontrollable" gas prices can hit you when you least expect it. Today we will go through some ways to get back at "The Mann" and maybe even by the end of this article, you will be gung ho about getting gas!

When I was young, I used to always be so fascinated by gas prices and how they would jump up and down. I always wondered... why is that? I realize that crude oil prices fluctuate and since gas is made from crude oil, then the price of gas must fluctuate also. But what is interesting, is that there are a lot of different things besides gas that are made from or with crude oil. Some of those things are plastics (which leech into our foods and the filtered water in bottled water), mineral oils (found in most lotions), petroleum (Chapstick, Carmex etc etc), gasoline... oops, I mean Vaseline, table salt (that's why it ain't "Sea Salt" and causes high blood pressure) and more. So I wonder why the price of these things don't fluctuate hardly at all (especially when the price of crude oil soars).

Anyway, whatever the reason, it really doesn't matter. Gas prices are something that we can't control, but we can definitely control ourselves. So without further adieu, let's get into some of the ways that you can save money on gas. I will this newsletter down into 3 categories (Pumping Gas, On Road and Off Road).

Pumping Gas

Fill It Up - If possible, fill your tank up all the way. Try to avoid $10 here and $10 there because with each trip you make to the gas station you are wasting gas, even if you are doing it on the way to somewhere else!

Find The Right Place - If you are traveling, try not to fill up at service stations that are visible from the main highways. Their prices tend to be higher. They know that most people who stop in won't be in a position to compare prices and in some cases are desperate. A better thing to do would be to take a city exit and look somewhere within the city. There is normally a lot more competition there and you will, in most cases, get lower prices.

Find The Right Time - The time of day that you fill up your gas tank does make a difference. It is best to fill up your tank early in the morning or late at night (preferably in the morning). This is because the ground is cooler. Gas station's storage tanks are below ground. Cooler ground = dense gas. Hotter ground = expanded (more vaporized) gas. You get more gas for your gas in the morning.

Also, if you see a gas truck pumping gas into the storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, don't buy any gas. The gas is probably being stirred up as it is being pumped in and you may pick up some dirt that will eventually settle to the bottom.

Be Patient - Speaking of vapors, when you pump your gas, always make sure you use the lowest setting. The faster you pump, the more of the gas becomes vapor and goes right back into the hose. For this same reason, you will always want to fill up your tank when it is no lower than half full. The more air that is occupying the gas tank, the more room for the gas to evaporate.

On Road

Warm Up Quickly - Stay away from long warm ups. Your car, even in cold weather, doesn't need to warm up 5-10 minutes. A couple of minutes is plenty time to get the circulation going in your car. After that you are wasting gas.

Turn Off Your Car - Keep your car off as much as possible. When you idle you get zero miles per gallon. Yes, it takes gas to turn on a car but only about 20-30 seconds worth of idling. If you are at a railroad track or waiting in line at the emissions, then you can turn your car off and save money. Another way that you can save money is to go inside restaurants rather than going through the drive throughs (where you have to idle a lot). The more you idle, especially with the A/C on, the more gas you waste.

Drive Steady - Try not to slow down and speed up. Driving at a consistent speed saves you money. If you can, use cruise control. Every time you accelerate, you use gas. Stay a safe distance behind the car in front of you while driving so that you won't have to slow down and speed up as much. If you do have to stop (such as for a light), take off slowly. That fast acceleration will burn more gas.

Never rest your left foot on the brake. That extra pressure can cause drag that will waste gas and will wear down your brakes faster.

Stay Away From Heavy Traffic - Because of the things I just mentioned, a traffic jam is the enemy. If you are normally stuck in a traffic jam after work, then maybe you can find something to do in the area until the traffic dies down, if feasible. You won't lose as much time as you may think (even though you may leave 30 minutes later), and you may cut 15-20 minutes off your travel time.

Use A/C Efficiently - Use your A/C when you are driving at higher speeds. Open your windows when driving at lower speeds. When you open your windows, it increases drag and lowers your fuel efficiency, but not that much at lower speeds (35-40 mph). At lower speeds your A/C will burn more fuel, but at higher speeds the drag will burn more.

Off Road

Stay Cool - Always try to park in the shade. If you can't, then park your car so the gas tank is pointing away from direct sunlight. When your car heats up, so does your gas tank. Gasoline will evaporate right out of your tank regardless of the weather. You will also need less A/C to cool off once you get back in the car, if you do this.

Keep Your Cap Tight - Keep that gas cap tight. Make sure that it has a seal in it and that it is keeping those gas vapors in while keeping the air out. Get another gas cap if the one you have doesn't fit tightly.

Pack Light - If you have ever had a car packed full of people and luggage, then you know that it makes a big difference when trying to accelerate! The less weight you have in your car the less fuel you use. You want your car to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. Get as much junk out of your trunk (and back seat) as possible. Only carry what you need. But... Don't throw your kids out!

Pump It Up - Keep your tires inflated! Inflate them to the specified level. This will reduce the contact area of your tire on the road and keep friction down. You can lose up to 6% in gas mileage for every pound of under inflation, so check your tires regularly.

Use The Right Tires - If you use snow tires, take them off in the summer. Deeper treads cause more friction and cuts down on fuel efficiency.

Keep Your Car Tuned Up - A sluggish engine wastes gas. Replace your air filter when needed. You can look in your owners manual to find out how often you should do this. It's not expensive at all and in most cases is very easy to do yourself. This saves more gas than you know.

Sick and tired of making monthly debt payments?

Check out this great information getting out of debt. Learn these tips on the best way to get out of debt [http://freeyourmindonline.net/best-way-to-get-out-of-debt.html].

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Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Matt_Mason/140330
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International Money Transfers ???????

Learn More About International Money Transfers
By Aman Tumukur Khanna

There are so many tasks that have been made simpler and more effective with the advent of technology and the World Wide Web, shrinking the world and making it a more connected one. Remote connectivity is a term now more often used within closed spaces rather than referring to a place far, far away.

One of them involving people and finances is International Money Transfer. Also known as Wire Transfer, Telegraphic Transfer or Online Transfer, it is the most convenient, quick and secure method of money or funds transfer from one account to another account overseas. This is used for several purposes, domestic as well as commercial. In a domestic form, it can be used to send money to a family member or a friend in another country; in a commercial sense, it can be used to purchase goods, make payments for bills or pay advances for a holiday or vacation or any other purpose. However there are specific amount limits and rules governing such money transactions; if these laws are not adhered to, the transaction may not take place. Such laws have been put in place to prevent money laundering and other illegal activities concerning movement of funds for illegal and unlawful purposes.

In simple terms, money transfer allows money to travel from state to state or from one country to another country through banking and financial companies.

Basic requirements to arrange money transfers

There are some necessary requirements for international money transfers; these procedures may vary in stages from country to country but by and large, they are standard norms.

1. Proof of identification - The person arranging the money transfer through a bank or company has to produce identification proof. International money transfers require a photo id; usually a facsimile of a certified copy of the photo id is sent to the bank. If the id is not current or invalid for some reason, the money will not be transferred.

2. Amount limits - Location transfers allow some relaxation if money is sent or received in person but for online transfers there are regulations for the amount of money transferred in a single transaction or on any given day. Multiple transactions are possible if they are needed; these also control money laundering to some extent.

3. Transfer fees - By law the bank or company transferring the money is given the right to charge a service fee for the transaction; this fee varies from bank to bank and also on the type of service provided.

Online money transfers

This option helps the sender transfer the money using the Internet. The sender is required to create an account after which the money can be transferred. However, the receiver of the money transfer is required to collect the money in person after establishing his or her identity through documentation proof because this is a requirement for verification. The details and records of senders and receivers of such transactions are kept on record by the company and each transfer is controlled through a 'money transfer control number'.

Credit or Wire Transfer

This is another method of 'electronic funds transfer' from one person to another person using bank accounts of the sender and receiver. Different operators of wire transfer systems provide various options; these are relative to the volume of the transfer as well as the purpose it is intended for. RTGS or 'real time gross settlement' is known to be the quickest way of funds transfer because it is 'real time' or immediate and irrevocable transfer of funds. The faster transfer method allows less time for fluctuations in currency while in transit enabling sender and receiver to gain the benefit of value and volume of funds.

To know more about top 10 money transfer or evermoney, please check our website.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Aman_Tumukur_Khanna/1972047
http://EzineArticles.com/?Learn-More-About-International-Money-Transfers&id=8934038

Photo Recovery Software ???????

Top 6 Free Photo Recovery Software to Get Your Lost Photos Back
By Coco Qiu

Digital camera is quite popular now. In digital camera, all photos are stored in a small clip of memory card. This small clip is easily to be damaged logically or physically. Once damage happens, it will lose some or all the photos in it. About going CRAZY? Fortunately, most of the time we can restore these lost photos. And below I will introduce you some FREE photo recovery software which would help a lot for getting back lost photos. Notice that recovery software can only be helpful when the lost is not caused by physical damage.

1. Geeksnerds Digital Photo Recovery Software

Free recovery tool can recovers digital image files from hard disk drives, flash drives and other storage devices supporting FAT file system. It supports BMP, PNG, JPG, JPEG, GIF and Tif images and provides options for searching in Sub-folders. The best thing of it is that user can stop the process at any time of scanning process and recover the desired files, which saves lots of time.

However, this software can only recover digital image files lost due to accidental deletion.

2. AnyFound Photo Recovery

AnyFound Free Recovery Software supports recovery of photos, images, pictures and snap shots photographs by accidentally deleted, lost or missed from Windows hard disk partitions and removable storage devices.

Basically, Anyfound Photo Recovery is a good free photo recovery software. One of the weak points is that it can only recover image files. If you have some video in your camera, you can do nothing about it.

3. ArtPlus Digital Photo Recovery

Free Art Plus Digital Recovery tool can help you recover lost images from corrupted or accidentally formatted digital camera memory cards. And this program can read all memory cards currently available on the market.

4. Smart Image Recovery

Free Smart Image Recovery tool is an image recovery tool for deleted images restoration (jpg, gif, png) from any devices. The software is able to recover graphics even a drive was formatted or you re-write some files.

It supports OS Windows NT/XP/Vista/Windows® 7 as well.

5. PicaJet Photo Recovery

Free PicaJet Recovery helps you to recover deleted or formatted images from almost any type of media cards (just like MemoryStick, CompactFlash, SecureDigital, MicroDrive, MemoryStick, etc.) used by digital cameras.

6. MjM Free photo data recovery software

This free recovery software will only recover jpg photographs from formatted memory cards, deleted photos or corrupt memory cards. It is unable to recover photos from memory cards that are not recognized by windows as a device.

I believe that these free recovery software can be helpful. And when these software can't help you get a desirable recovery result, you need to use a cost software. The price of most cost photo recovery software is at a range from $39 to $129. I personally recommend Wondershare Photo Recovery which has a lowest price $29 and is now on discount of only $19.

A cost recovery tool like Wondershare Photo Recovery is simple to use. It can support recovery for comprehensive picture formats from any device. And it can not only recover lost photos but also lost videos in your camera. When users are using a free demo, they can scan to preview the recoverable images and only perform purchase when they think the recovery result is satisfying.

I know photos are really important to many persons and I understand how frustrating when you accidentally lost them. Hope that with all these excellent free recovery software, everyone can find the precious memory back!

This author is a student in Winston Collage who has great interests in System Security and regularly writes for Wondershare Data Recovery and Wondershare Photo Recovery [http://www.data-recovery-utilities.com/photo-recovery/#172].

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Coco_Qiu/452584
http://EzineArticles.com/?Top-6-Free-Photo-Recovery-Software-to-Get-Your-Lost-Photos-Back&id=3353482

Challenges in the Software ?????

Current Management Opportunities and Challenges in the Software Industry
By Savas Papadopoulos

During the past 30 years the world went through a very dynamic technological transformation. In retrospective, it can be stated without exaggeration that the emergence of electronic devices and the Internet have greatly impacted daily life as well as managerial practice to an unforeseen extent. The computerization of multiple business processes and the creation of large scale databases, among many other radical technological advances, have lead to enormous cost savings and quality improvements over the years. The interconnection of financial markets through electronic means and the worldwide adoption of the Internet have greatly reduced transaction and communication costs and brought nations and cultures closer to one another than ever imaginable. Computers are now fundamental tools in almost all businesses around the world and their application and adaptation to specific business problems in the form of software development is a practice that many companies perform on their own. In the past, such computerization and automation efforts were very costly and therefore only practiced by large corporations. Over the years, however, the software industry emerged to offer off-the-shelf solutions and services to smaller companies. Today, having survived the massive dotcom crash of the year 2000, software development businesses established themselves as strong players in the technology industry.

The emergence of numerous computer standards and technologies has created many challenges and opportunities. One of the main opportunities provided by the software sector is relatively low entry barrier. Since the software business is not capital intensive, successful market entry largely depends on know-how and specific industry domain knowledge. Entrepreneurs with the right skills can relatively easily compete with large corporations and thereby pose a considerable threat to other, much larger organizations. Companies, on the other hand, need to find ways to reduce turnover and protect their intellectual property; hence, the strong knowledge dependence combined with the relatively short lifespan of computer technologies makes knowledge workers very important to the organization. Knowledge workers in this industry therefore enjoy stronger bargaining power and require a different management style and work environment than in other sectors, especially those industries that have higher market entry capital requirements. This relatively strong position of software personnel challenges human resource strategies in organizations and it also raises concerns about the protection of intellectual property.

The relatively young industry is blessed with sheer endless new opportunities, such as the ability of companies to cooperate with other organizations around the globe without interruption and incur practically no communication costs. In addition, no import tariffs exist making the transfer of software across borders very efficient; however, the industry with its craft-like professions suffers from lack of standards and quality problems. The successful management of such dynamic organizations challenges today's managers as well as contemporary management science because traditional management styles, such as Weberian bureaucracies, seem to be unable to cope with unstable environments.

Challenges in the Software Industry

Many studies indicate that present-day software development practices are highly inefficient and wasteful (Flitman, 2003). On average, projects are only 62% efficient, which translates to a waste of 37 %. The typical software development project has the following distribution of work effort: 12% planning, 10% specification, 42% quality control, 17% implementation, and 19% software building (2003). There are many possible interpretations of the nature of this distribution of resources. First, the extraordinarily high share of 42% for quality control purposes can indicate a lack of standards and standardized work practices. This large waste of effort may also be the result of inefficient planning and specification processes. Because the share of 19% for software building is a function of software complexity, hardware, and tools used, there is a chance to reduce it by carefully managing and standardizing internal work processes. The disappointing share of only 17% for implementation, however, should be alarming to business owners, since implementation activities are the main activity that results in revenue. The relatively low productivity level reported by Flitman (2003) seems to be also reflected in the fact that the average U.S. programmer produces approximately 7,700 lines of code per year, which translates to just 33 per workday (Slavova, 2000). Considering that a large software project, such as Microsoft Word, is reported by Microsoft to require 2 to 3 million lines of code, it becomes obvious how costly such projects can become and that productivity and quality management are major concerns to today's software businesses. The challenge for contemporary software managers is to find the root of the productivity problem and a remedy in the form of a management practice.

A plethora of recent studies addresses software development productivity and quality concerns. Elliott, Dawson, and Edwards (2007) conclude that there is a lack of quality skills in current organizations. Furthermore, the researchers put partial blame on prevailing organizational cultures, which can lead to counterproductive work habits. Of the main problems identified, project documentation was found to be lacking because documents are deficient in detail and not updated frequent enough. Quality control in the form of software testing is not practiced as often and there seems to be a lack of quality assurance processes to ensure that software is built with quality in mind from the beginning. Organizational culture was found to be deficient in companies were workers tend to avoid confrontation and therefore avoid product tests altogether (2007).

Since knowledge workers are the main drive in software organizations, creating a fruitful and efficient organizational culture constitutes a main challenge to today's managers. The relationship between organizational culture and quality and productivity in software businesses was recently investigated by Mathew (2007). Software organizations tend to be people-centered and their dependency on knowledge workers is also reflected by the enormous spending remuneration and benefits of more than 50% of revenue. As the industry matures and grows further, the challenge to organizations is that larger number of employees need to be managed which brings culture to the focus of management. Mathew (2007) found that the most important influence on productivity was achieved by creating an environment of mutual trust. Higher levels of trust lead to greater employee autonomy and empowerment, which strengthened the existing management view that trust and organizational effectiveness are highly related. Those companies with higher trust and empowerment levels benefitted from more intensive employee involvement and thereby achieved better quality products (2007).

Product quality, however, depends on other factors as well that reach beyond the discussion of work processes. Relatively high employee turnover was found to have a detrimental effect on product quality and organizational culture (Hamid & Tarek, 1992). Constant turnover and succession increase project completion costs, cause considerable delays, and expose organization to higher risks because their development processes can be severely disrupted. While human resources strategies should help find ways to retain key personnel in the company, organizations need to nevertheless be prepared for turnovers and minimize their risks. One of the greatest risks for people-centered, knowledge worker organizations is the loss of knowledge when employees leave.

Knowledge management has evolved into a relatively new discipline in the last two decades but is mostly practiced by large, global organizations only (Mehta, 2008). As corporations realized the importance of knowledge management activities to mitigate the risk of know-how loss within their organizations, they started employing chief knowledge officers and crews with the goal of collecting and organizing information. By building custom knowledge management platforms, companies can benefit from increased transfer, storage, and availability of critical business information. Such activities can help companies innovate and build knowledge capital over time (2008). The challenge remains, however, to set up such systems and to elicit employee support for knowledge management systems. In addition, these systems leave another critical question open. What happens when top performers take all the knowledge with them when they leave?

Another crucial variable affecting software product and service quality is top management involvement. Projects in the software industry commonly fail due to one or a combination of the following three major causes: poor project planning, a weak business case, and lack of top management support and involvement (Zwikael, 2008). Software projects are similar to projects in other industries by focusing on timely project completion, budget, and compliance to specifications, the industry requires specific support processes from top management to facilitate projects. These processes are summarized in Table 1. Key support processes, such as the appropriate assignment of project managers and the existence of project success measurement, indicate that successful companies demonstrate a higher level of project progress control than others; however, Zwikael acknowledges that top managers rarely focus on these key processes and instead prefer to deal with those processes that are easier for them to work on personally.

Table 1

The ten most critical top management support processes in the software sector (Zwikael, 2008). Those processes marked with an asterisk (*) were found to be the most important.

Support Process

Appropriate project manager assignment *

Refreshing project procedures

Involvement of the project manager during initiation stage

Communication between the project manager and the organization *

Existence of project success measurement *

Supportive project organizational structure

Existence of interactive interdepartmental project groups *

Organizational projects resource planning

Project management office involvement

Use of standard project management software *

Opportunities in the Software Industry

The advent of low cost communication via the Internet and the diversification of the software industry into many different branches brought a multitude of new market opportunities. Some of the main opportunities are rooted in the low costs of communication, while others originated from the possibility of geographic diversification and international collaboration.

One major opportunity which especially larger organizations seek to seize is geographic diversification in the form of globally distributed software development. Kotlarsky, Oshri, van Hillegersberg, and Kumar (2007) have researched this source of opportunities that is mainly practiced by multinational companies; however, an increasing number of small companies is also reported to be benefitting from dispersed software development across national boundaries. The study revealed that software companies can achieve significantly higher levels of productivity by creating reusable software components and reducing task interdependencies. By reducing interdependence, the produced modules are more likely to become useful in future projects on their own; furthermore, this reduction of intertwined computer code also has a positive effect on project teams. Teams in companies that globally distribute their developments benefit from increased autonomy and reduced communication requirements. The authors point out, however, that the prerequisites to distributing software development are not only good project planning but also the standardization of tools and development procedures. Without such prearrangements it may become almost impossible to manage and consolidate the various distributed team activities (2007). Especially for teams working across countries away from one another, it may pay off to deploy video or other Internet-based conferencing technologies and exploit huge savings potentials. But are these means of communication effective?

In the last decade a new form of organization has emerged that has taken the most advantage of the Internet. Virtual organizations exist entirely in cyberspace and their team members communicate mostly, if not exclusively, via the Internet using webcams and messaging software. The challenge for managers in virtual organizations is to exploit the new technology but also to find ways to motivate and direct the workforce and work processes. A study by Andres (2002) compared virtual software development teams with face-to-face teams and identified several challenges and opportunities for virtual managers. Managing work from a different time zone can be problematic due to the lack of physical presence. Communication will need to be asynchronous or can only occur at work hours that overlap in both time zones. Virtual teams facilitate this process by using email and voice/text messaging but more importantly by reducing the interdependency of tasks. Andres (2002) suggested that these types of communication have lower "social presence" meaning that humans have a need and ability to feel the presence of others in the group. The problem with many computerized communication channels is that visual clues, utterances, body language clues and clues from the person's voice are missing. When placed on a social presence continuum, the various communication types rank as follows from the lowest to the highest: email, phone, video conferencing, and face-to-face meetings. Andres' comparison between development teams using video-conferencing versus face-to-face meetings revealed that the latter group was far more efficient and productive, even though the video-conferencing team benefitted from reduced travel costs and time.

The study conducted in 2002, however, has several shortcomings. First, it is already seven years old and Internet costs have dropped and speeds have improved significantly since then. Considering the improvements in video quality and availability and computer speeds, this form of communication became more feasible recently. In addition, today's managers are just now starting to learn how to use these means of communication efficiently. For example, even though email technology has been around for two decades now, many managers still find that emails can create a lot of ambiguity. The challenge to future generations of managers will be to change their writing style to match the limitations of email and other text messaging technologies. Another important factor to consider is that written communication may be stored indefinitely and have legal consequences; hence, more often than not, managers may intentionally prefer to avoid such communication channels for political or legal reasons. The study by Andres (2002), however, resulted in a negative view of video conferencing probably because the technology was not yet matured and the team members were not yet comfortable with it.

For video conferencing to work well, all participants need to be knowledgeable of the peculiar characteristics of that technology and adjust their communication style and speech accordingly. Regardless of meeting type, another important factor is preparation. What could be researched in conjunction with Andres' study in the future is the degree of preparation of the group. Do team members invest enough time in preparing questions and answers for their teammates before coming to the meeting? Video conferences may require more preparation than face-to-face meetings in some circumstances.

Another opportunity for software businesses and challenge for managers worldwide is outsourcing. In the year 2007, $70 billion were spent globally for outsourced software development (Scott, 2007). Given the extreme shortage of IT skills in the U.S. and Europe, many companies take advantage of globalization by choosing international suppliers for their software development tasks. Outsourcing, however, requires elaborate coordination between the organization and its many supplier groups. The idea is that in total, coordination costs and problems are less costly than in-house development; however, this goal is not always achieved. While outsourcing, when it is deployed and coordinated correctly, can result in 24 hour development worldwide and thereby provide continuous services to the organization around the clock, it may result in the loss of intellectual property. While mechanic parts are patentable in most countries that support intellectual property rights, software is not patentable in most countries outside North America.

In addition to the challenge of managing outsourcing, software organizations exploit technologies in various ways to save costs, for example by offering remote access, telecommuting, and service-oriented architectures (SOA) (Scott, 2007). Remote access and telecommuting has increased six-fold between 1997 and 2005 and resulted in $300 million annual savings due to a reduction of office space (2007). SOA is a similar concept and involves a software rental for customers. Instead of buying, installing, and maintaining software and servers, customers can rent a service online and reduce the total cost of ownership because these activities are no longer required on the customer side. Gradually the virtualization of the software business opens new horizons and provides further opportunities but it also presents managers with endless challenges.

Some of the strengths and weaknesses of offshore and virtual team development were studied by Slavova (2000). In the year 2000, India and Ireland were the largest offshore software development locations. Offshore companies can offer up to 60% cost reduction, a faster completion of development tasks by distributing them around the globe, and specific domain knowledge which they acquired over the years providing similar services to other customers. The integration of work from external sources, however, constitutes a major hurdle. Furthermore, language and cultural issues can cause serious communication problems that put the project at risk, especially when misunderstandings cause misinterpretations of project specification documents. Slavova (2000) found that the most common remedy and strategy avoiding problems with offshore suppliers is to visit them frequently face-to-face; however, this tactic results in higher travel costs and disruptions of the managers' workflows and hence may offset the benefits gained for outsourcing altogether. Managers in the software business need therefore to balance the risks and opportunity potentials before engaging in outsourcing because for many companies this strategy failed to pay off in the end.

A huge opportunity that emerged in the last decade is online innovation. The collective innovation effort of many individuals and companies is generally known as open-source on the Internet and it has lead to many advances in the computer technology, such as the free Linux operating system. At first businesses felt threatened by this wave of developments on the market because the businesses perceived that open-source solutions were in competition with their products. In many cases this was and still is in fact true; however, a couple of companies, including IBM, are exploiting this new way of innovation for their own and for a common benefit (Vujovic & Ulhøi, 2008). Because software companies operate in an increasingly instable environment, they struggle to create continuously new and better products. By exposing the computer code to the public on the Internet, companies can benefit from ideas submitted by the public, especially other companies. Furthermore, companies benefit from free bug finding and testing by external users but one of the primary reasons for "going open-source" is the quick adoption and spread of the company's technology at a relatively little or no cost. The spread of IBM's open-source technology, for example, is also free marketing for the company. But how can companies make money by offering something for free?

The closed innovation model (the traditional model of providing software without revealing the software code) can be combined with open-source, so the company can charge for the product. In other cases, the company can reveal the technological platform on the Internet for free and then sell specialized tools which utilize the new platform. The big money savers are obviously the shared development, testing, and maintenance costs since many interested parties work on the same project.

The knowledge-sharing model of open-source is nothing new, however. The philosophy and the benefits of open innovation models have been already realized in the third quarter of the nineteenth century. Back then, open innovation was practiced in the UK iron and

US steel industry. The cooperation of many industry players ended the domination of proprietary technologies for which costly royalties were due (Vujovic & Ulhøi, 2008). Given the dynamic environment of the IT industry and the short lifespan of computer technologies, the adoption of open innovation models gained much more popularity. By analyzing the largest open-source players in the market, Vujovic and Ulhøi put together a list of supportive strategies, which is shown in Table 2. Several of these strategies are quite relevant from a top management perspective as well, such as deploying open-source to block a competitor and using the open model as a gateway for greater market share.

Table 2

Strategies for adopting the open-source approach (Vujovic & Ulhøi, 2008).

Business Strategy

Obtaining higher market share

Obtaining market power

Better adoption of a product and thereby establishing standards

Shifting competitive advantage to another architectural layer

Making the product more ubiquitous

Delivering faster time-to-market

Spurring innovation

Complementing a revenue core stream

Blocking a competitor

Conclusion

Reviewing the rather recent emergence of the IT industry and the software industry in particular, several parallels can be drawn to management history. While Taylor's scientific management was a highlight in the evolution of management science (Wren, 2005), the software industry seems to be lagging behind such great advancement. Due to its high level of complexity, the software development discipline is still plagued with quality problems stemming from a lack of standardization. Similar to Taylor's efforts, managers need to analyze software development processes and develop industry-wide standards and measures. Once such measures and procedures exist, this will help make software projects much more predictable.

Much of today's software industry practices would have been a déjà vu for Taylor, if he was still alive. In addition, the anomie and social disorganization concerns during the social person era apply today more dramatically than in the past. Mayo described in the 1940s how managers overemphasized on technical problems in the hope of raising efficiency ignoring the human social element (p. 296). The same situation is now evident to a larger degree in the computer industry. The rapid technological advances have created many opportunities and changed the work environment drastically. At the same time, however, management was unable to prepare for these dramatic shifts technology would bring to the workplace. At best, managers are simply reacting to technological advances because the consequences are mostly unpredictable given the complexity of human nature. For example, email brought several benefits such as low cost and simple asynchronous communication; however, many email messages are misunderstood because they are not written appropriately. Moreover, IT knowledge workers are struggling to keep up with the vast number of messages received per day as they constitute a severe disruption of the daily workflow.

As knowledge workers are becoming more and more essential to an organization's survival and as organizations in this industry mature and require greater headcounts, the span of control is becoming an issue for managers to handle correctly. As discussed in Wren (2005), as the team size increases, the number of interrelations to be managed rises astronomically (p. 353). Managing larger teams poses a great problem because the sheer number of interrelations makes it also more difficult to develop trust within the team. Motivating large groups of knowledge workers can hence be tricky, especially because creative tasks can require a large degree of collaboration. Work design is hence a major hurdle for future managers to overcome. Much emphasis has been on hygiene factors and not on motivators of the workforce. Flexible hours, telecommuting, empowerment, and increased responsibility may help in the short-term but for the long-term management will need to find new strategies for retaining knowledge workers.

Product quality remains a big issue. Deming's ideas are good but quality assurance in the software world is difficult to implement due to the lack of standards and measures. The open-source innovation model may provide some relief in this respect because the greater involvement of external developers can help improve overall quality. On the other hand, however, open-source projects are hard to manage for the same reason. Since open-source projects are self-directed and not owned by anyone in particular, those projects sometimes suffer from uncontrolled, tumorlike growth.

Several of Deming's deadly sins (Wren, 2005, p. 463) apply directly to the software industry. Most products are made from scratch rather than from components and there is little standardization in software organizations. Since software developers have a tendency to see their job as a craft they defy standards and procedures. In addition, the rather complex environment with its dynamic requirements and the push for meeting deadlines make it easy for practitioners to lose sight of quality improvements through the preparation of organizational standards. High turnover and individual performance measures continue to be industry practice, even though many scientists, such as Deming, have argued for long that such measures are counterproductive.

Future managers need to find ways to compensate for the high turnover, if they cannot find a way to avoid it. The division of labor might work well for the company but it is not well perceived by the workforce which tends to require constant challenge. Top performers disfavor mundane tasks and prefer to walk away with all their knowledge. IBM has successfully deployed job enlargement for some time to combat this phenomenon (Wren, 2005, p.332). Unfortunately, this strategy might not work for every company and it can only be used within certain boundaries of the organization. Given the developments of the last two decades, managers will need to confront the discipline of knowledge worker management and find a workable solution for their organization.

The integration of management science with the advances in psychology and sociology may provide a route towards the solution of the knowledge worker management problem. It is crucial for managers to have an accurate understanding of the motivational drives for this particular group of the workforce. These employees enjoy higher income, greater flexibility and freedom, and greater bargain power. This puts them in a gray zone between the traditional, lower skilled employee and an owner in the company because knowledge workers create intellectual capital in the company. Because most of this capital is lost and remains with the employees when they decide to leave the organization, turnover can be much more damaging than with traditional workers. Managers can therefore not simply apply conventional strategies to this dissimilar group of employees; rather, they need to seek for more creative incentives for motivating and retaining knowledge workers.

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Copyright 2009 by Savas Papadopoulos, FastNeuron Inc Savas Papadopoulos is a software business consultant with FastNeuron Inc http://www.fastneuron.com He can be reached at 410 571 5950 or via email: savas@fastneuron.com. Related articles can be accessed here: http://fastneuron.com/Misc/tabid/58/Default.aspx

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