Stem cell donation: make a friend, save a life
If a stranger save your life, wouldn't you want to meet them? Many stem cell recipients do – and forge lasting friendships with their donorsSomewhere in London is my perfect match. He is well-built, a year older than me, popular with my friends and family – a real hero. We've never met.He is my stem cell donor, a 10/10 fit for my blood tissue type, according to our human leukocyte antigen (HLA) – the unique "barcode" we each have on our immune system's cells – which allows the body to distinguish itself from foreign bodies so it can fight invading organisms. When I was diagnosed with high-risk leukaemia last Februa...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - February 2, 2014 Category: Science Authors: Hannah Partos Tags: The Guardian Health & wellbeing Society Features Stem cells Life and style Organ donation Source Type: news
Vega One Nutritional Shakes and Vega Sport Performance Protein: Recall - Traces of Antibiotic
Risk of aplastic anemia and allergic reactions. (Source: FDA MedWatch)
Source: FDA MedWatch - November 12, 2013 Category: American Health Source Type: news
Pushing a blood disorder to the sidelines
September marks Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. In honor of all the children living with the disease, the doctors and nurses who devote their lives to treating them and the researchers who are working tirelessly for a cure, former Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center patient Greg Devlin, shares his story about the teamwork that allowed him to overcome cancer.
Greg
Before I was diagnosed with aplastic anemia in August of 2007, I was an all star basketball player. At the age of 11 I led my AAU basketball team to a third place finish in the Massachusetts State Tournament. I hit three buzzer...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - September 10, 2013 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Guest Blogger Tags: All posts Cancer Diseases & conditions Our patients’ stories childhood cancer Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center National Childhood Cancer Awarness Month Source Type: news
Pushing cancer to the sidelines
September marks Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. In honor of all the children living with the disease, the doctors and nurses who devote their lives to treating them and the researchers who are working tirelessly for a cure, former Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center patient Greg Devlin, shares his story about the teamwork that allowed him to overcome cancer.
Greg
Before I was diagnosed with aplastic anemia in August of 2007 I was an all star basketball player. At the age of 11 I led my AAU basketball team to a third place finish in the Massachusetts State Tournament. I hit three buzzer ...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - September 10, 2013 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Guest Blogger Tags: All posts Cancer Diseases & conditions Our patients’ stories childhood cancer Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center National Childhood Cancer Awarness Month Source Type: news
What Causes Lymphocytosis?
Discussion
Lymphocytes are an important part of the cellular and humoral immunity. Absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) is usually used to determine ranges of normal for lymphocytes. The ALC is higher in neonates and young children (up to 8000 cells/microL) but in those > 12 years of age is normally > 4000 cells/microL. Lymphopenia is usually defined as < 1000-1500 cells/microL. Infants again usually have higher counts or < 2500 cells/microL. Remember normal leukocyte count is 4.5-11.0 x 1000/mm2 with about 22-44% overall being lymphocytes.
Reactive lymphocytosis is when a patient without an underlying hematological problem ha...
Source: PediatricEducation.org - June 24, 2013 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Donna M. D'Alessandro, M.D. Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news
Overcoming Drew’s blood disorder, together
When Jen’s son Drew was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a blood disorder, their entire lives changed. In this blog, Jen describes how she and Drew coped with the disease, treatment and recovery, as well as the care they both received at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. (Click the link to see the center’s new website.)
By Jen D’Auteuil
Jen and her son Drew
When my son Drew was diagnosed with aplastic anemia (AA) at 10 years old, our lives turned upside down. His bone marrow had stopped producing the cells that he needed for iron and oxygen transfers, for blood clo...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - May 29, 2013 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Guest Blogger Tags: All posts Cancer Diseases & conditions Our patients’ stories anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) Aplastic anemia blood disorders Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center our patients' stories Source Type: news
Horsemeat investigation: latest update
On February 14 the Food Standards Agency (FSA) released a statement that it had detected the presence of phenylbutazone (bute) in horses slaughtered in the UK.
They tested a total of 206 horse carcasses between January 30 and February 7 2013. Of these, eight tested positive for the drug.
Of these eight:
Six were sent to France and may have entered the food chain.
The remaining two did not leave the slaughterhouse in the UK and have now been disposed of in accordance with EU rules.
The FSA is gathering information on the six carcasses sent to France and will work with the French authorities to trace them.
The ...
Source: NHS News Feed - February 15, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet QA articles Source Type: news
Mystery meat: it's what's for dinner | GrrlScientist
There's more mystery lurking in a horsemeat burger than meets the eye (and none of it is tasty)When I was an undergraduate in college, my colleagues and I would joke about the meals served in the dorm cafeteria as containing "mystery meat". At the time, I was fresh off the racetrack, and I viewed the identity of minced meat – "hamburger" in the USA – with scepticism. Shortly thereafter, I stopped eating meat altogether.Even though I love horses and now am vegan (except one or two days per week when I give in to my lust for sheep cheese), I don't have a problem with people eating horsemeat – no more than I have a prob...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - February 12, 2013 Category: Science Authors: GrrlScientist Tags: Blogposts guardian.co.uk Science Source Type: news
Eating horsemeat: what are the steaks? | Henry Gee
Harder than nailing jelly to the ceiling, harder even than understanding a sermon by Dr Rowan Williams, is trying to get the general public to appreciate what is meant by 'risk'Many years ago when the world was young (okay, it was 1993) I was enjoying a leisurely lunch at CalTech in Pasadena with seismologist Dr Lucille Jones. She spent much time engaged in outreach, she explained, trying to persuade the public of California to take appropriate precautions in case of earthquakes. The problem was making sure people were well-informed without instilling mass panic. Earthquakes powerful enough to cause serious damage don't oc...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - February 12, 2013 Category: Science Authors: Henry Gee Tags: Blogposts Health guardian.co.uk Mathematics Food & drink Society Horsemeat scandal Life and style Food science Source Type: news
Official advice about horsemeat safety released
Concerns have been raised about the safety of horsemeat in the wake of the contaminated beef scandal. The Daily Mail asks, 'Is horsemeat harmful after all?', while The Guardian states that, 'Contaminated horsemeat could harm health, warns environment secretary.'
Horsemeat has been confirmed to have been present in several products labelled and sold as "beef". Horsemeat in itself is not a health risk, with some commentators arguing it is actually healthier than beef as it contains less fat.
The main worry is that as the horsemeat has been illegally introduced into the food chain, it might not comply with the sta...
Source: NHS News Feed - February 11, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet QA articles Source Type: news
LCNDG Rapid Review: Anti-thymocyte globulin (horse) for the first-line treatment of aplastic anaemia
Source: London Cancer New Drugs Group
Area: Evidence > Drug Specific Reviews
Immunosuppressive therapy with antithymocyte globulin (ATG) (usually with ciclosporin) has been the standard first-line treatment for patients with aplastic anaemia who are not eligible for HSCT for decades.
Horse ATG (Lymphoglobuline®) was used first-line in the UK for many years but this was withdrawn from the market in 2007 - rabbit ATG (Thymoglobuline®) was then used as a substitute. However recently published data has shown that outcomes are inferior for this product compared to horse ATG and this has led to the BCSH ...
Source: NeLM - Drug Specific Reviews - January 22, 2013 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: news
NETAG issues appraisal and recommendation on anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) for aplastic anaemia
Source: NETAG
Area: Evidence > Drug Specific Reviews
The NHS North East Treatment Advisory Group (NETAG) has undertaken an appraisal of anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) for first-line treatment of adult aplastic anaemia. The Group recommends horse ATG as first-line immunosuppressive therapy in preference to rabbit ATG for the treatment of adult aplastic anaemia, acknowledging the substantial difference in efficacy between the two (demonstrated in a single randomised study and supported by the majority of data from non-comparative studies). Recent clinical guidelines support horse ATG in preference to rabbit ATG as first...
Source: NeLM - Drug Specific Reviews - January 21, 2013 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: news
Revised Article-Aplastic Anemia
Aplastic anemia is a blood disorder in which the body's bone marrow doesn't make enough new blood cells. (Source: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Health Topics)
Source: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Health Topics - October 19, 2010 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
