16 Aplastic Anemia Patients Free Of Disease After Bone Marrow Transplant and Chemo

Johns Hopkins: Physicians at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center report they have successfully treated 16 patients with a rare and lethal form of bone marrow failure called severe aplastic anemia using partially matched bone marrow transplants followed by two high doses of a common chemotherapy drug. In a report on the new transplant-chemo regimen, published online Dec. 22, 2016, in Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, the Johns Hopkins team says that more than a year after their transplants, all of the patients have stopped taking immunosuppressive drugs commonly used to treat the disorder and have no evidence of the disease.

Human trials of manufactured blood within two years

Bristol: The first human trials of lab-produced blood to help create better-matched blood for patients with complex blood conditions has been announced by NHS Blood and Transplant. Research led by scientists at the University of Bristol and NHS Blood and Transplant, used stem cells from adult and umbilical cord blood to create a small volume of manufactured red blood cells. It is hoped that when the production of this lab-produced blood is successfully scaled up, it will offer an alternative to specialist patients with blood disorders such as sickle cell anaemia and thalassemia who require treatment with regular transfusions and for whom it is difficult to find compatible donors.

Why single blood markers for disease will become a thing of the past

TheConversation: A number of recent studies have reported on the use of biomarkers, particularly blood-based ones, that offer the potential for screening diseases such as cancer and HIV. A biomarker can be a gene, a gene mutation, protein, other molecule or clinical measurement that indicates a given disease state. Biomarkers can be diagnostics (telling us of the presence of a given disease), prognostic (telling us of the outcome for a patient with a particular disease) and predictive (telling us of the response of an individual to a given therapy). The latter has led to the rise of so-called personalised or precision medicine.

Alcohol, with or without antiseptic, for preparing the skin before blood collection?

Cochrane: When blood is collected from blood donors for transfusion it may become contaminated during collection, storage or transfusion. Blood contamination can cause bacteraemia (the presence of bacteria in the blood), severe illness or even death in the blood recipient.

New test helps guide treatment for bone marrow transplant patients with graft vs. host disease

University of Michigan. US: Innovative scoring system uses “Ann Arbor GVHD score” to better predict how patients will respond, minimize side effects. A new test can guide treatment for patients with graft versus host disease (GVHD), an often life-threatening complication of bone marrow and stem cell transplants, according to research from the University of Michigan published in Lancet Haematology this month.

Platelet Transfusions Increase Death Rate in Some Blood Cell Disorders

Johns Hopkins. US: In the first nationwide study of certain rare blood cell disorders, about one in every 13 hospitalized patients with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia and one in every 10 hospitalized patients with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura received a platelet transfusion.

Anemia

Anemia is a condition in which the hemoglobin content of the blood is lower than normal as a result of deficiency of nutrients (iron, vitamin...), acute or chronic blood loss (bleeding, cancer, ulcers, hemorrhoids, gastritis,  nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin or ibuprofen, excessive menstruation, multiple pregnancies, parasitic infections, acute and chronic infections, chronic renal failure, congenital hemolytic diseases (sickle cell anemia...),leukemia...
More about anemia

Anemia

• Anemia is a condition in which the hemoglobin content of the blood is lower than normal as a result of
• deficiency of one or more essential nutrients (iron, vitamin...), 
• heavy blood loss (bleeding, hemorrhage), 
• chronic blood loss : ulcers, hemorrhoids, gastritis, cancer,  nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin or ibuprofen, which can cause ulcers and gastritis,  excessive menstruation, childbirth especially if there are multiple pregnancies
• parasitic infections such as hookworm infestations,
• acute and chronic infections
• chronic renal failure
• congenital hemolytic diseases (eg sickle cell anemia). 
• Bone marrow and stem cell problems such as leukemia 
• Globally, anemia is a public health problem affecting people in both developed and developing countries with bad consequences of human health as well as social and economic development.
• Anemia is a critical health concern because it affects growth and energy levels adversely . 
• At least half of anemia worldwide is due to iron deficiency. Iron deficiency is due primarily to a lack of bio-available dietary iron or increased requirements such as during childhood and pregnancy .
• Anemia increases risk for maternal and child mortality and has negative consequences on the cognitive and physical development of children, and on work productivity in adults . 
• Clinical signs of anemia include breathlessness, dizziness, and perceived paleness or change of skin color 
• It damages immune mechanisms and is also associated with increased morbidity. 
• It occurs at all age groups, but is more prevalent in pregnant women and children. 
• Especially, young children from low income families have a higher risk for developing anemia due to iron deficiency that occurs as a result of high demand for iron during the period of rapid growth.
• Anemia is known to be a significant global problem affecting 305 million (25.4%) school age children. Globally, anemia affects 1.62 billion (24.8%) of the population , and an estimated 36% of developing world’s population suffers from this disease.
• Sources: Jemal A Haidar and Rebecca S Pobocik. BMC Hematology  / Selomon Assefa, Andualem Mossie. BMC Hematology