Health News

Fewer Blood Transfusions Needed After Surgery
Blood transfusions during surgery are common, especially for elderly patients. Doctors say the problem is they may be too common.
Novartis Drug Shows Reduction of Iron Overload
Results from THALASSA , the first pivotal placebo-controlled study examining the benefit of iron chelation with Exjade ( deferasirox ) in patients with non-transfusion-dependent thalassemia ( NTDT ), show that Exjade can significantly reduce iron overload. These data were presented at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Diego.
Drug Cuts Pain in Sickle Cell Infants
A sickle cell anemia treatment may benefit infants as young as nine months old by reducing their level of pain from the disease. It also could reduce the need for blood transfusions and cut the rate of hospital admission.
Silent Stroke Causes Found Among Sickle Cell Kids
Silent stroke may be the most common form of brain injury in children with sickle cell anemia, a rare, painful blood disorder. Recently, researchers have been able to pinpoint the risk factors for such strokes in children.
Discovering Sickle Cell Therapies
For sickle cell disease patients, even everyday events can be difficult because of debilitating pain episodes and chronic organ damage.  A trigger for producing normal red blood cells could lead to a treatment.
Delayed Blood Transfusions Don't Mix
The standard for treating patients with anemia has long been red blood cell transfusions. That may not be the best treatment for patients hospitalized with the condition.
Sickle Cell Success Found
They key to correcting sickle cell disease may lie in a patient's own stem cells. Researchers have found a way to use the cells in a test tube to create a normal version of the gene.
Too Many Hospital Blood Tests
Taking a diagnostic blood test while hospitalized is a fairly routine process. Most don't think twice about them. But for heart attack patients, such tests could lead to hospital-acquired anemia.
Approved Anemia Treatment Betters Potent Drug
In the United States, there is only one approved aplastic anemia drug today. Doctors pondered whether a potent medication approved in Europe may better treat anemia.
Genetic Maps of African Americans
Certain congenital diseases such as sickle cell anemia predominantly affect blacks. The University of Oxford constructed the first detailed genetic map from African American genetic information that may allow for better treatment of such diseases.