|
Aplastic Anemia News - Return to News Menu
Lawmaker brings home the stem-cell discussion
Steve Terrell | The New Mexican
February 3, 2005 - While embryonic stem-cell research became an emotional issue during last year's presidential race, a less controversial type of stem-cell science -- one that doesn't involve human embryos -- is being used to treat more than 40 life-threatening diseases.
And a Santa Fe state senator wants the state to promote this treatment by having more New Mexico mothers donate the blood from their baby's umbilical cords.
Experts say umbilical cords are a rich source of stem cells. Blood from this tissue can be used to treat many cancers, blood disorders and other medical conditions.
Senate Bill 605, known as the Umbilical Cord Blood Banking Act, introduced Wednesday by Sen. Nancy Rodriguez, D-Santa Fe, would require doctors to inform pregnant women about umbilical-cord donation and require hospitals to permit pregnant patients to arrange for such donations.
"Only about 400 cord-blood transplants a year take place," Rodriguez said Wednesday. "A lot more lives could be saved."
One life that could possibly have been saved was that of Rodriquez's daughter, Lori Rodriguez, 33, who died in November 2002 following pancreas surgery.
"It's very possible this would have helped," Nancy Rodriguez said. "We didn't have that option then."
The senator said the much-publicized case of an Albuquerque child also sparked her interest in sponsoring the bill.
Eight-year-old Kailee Wells suffers from severe aplastic anemia, a rare condition in which bone marrow cannot produce blood cells. Wells' family had hoped to find a stem-cell match for the bone-marrow transplant. She is presently recovering out of state from a bone-marrow transplant in Wisconsin.
Among the medical conditions that can be treated with cord blood are certain types of leukemia, disorders such as Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, multiple myeloma, breast cancer and sickle-cell anemia.
Four states -- Florida, Illinois, Texas and Maryland -- have laws promoting cord-blood donations, according to a memo from the Legislative Council Service to Rodriguez. Another four states are considering similar legislation.
The bill would provide $25,000 for the Department of Health to publish and distribute pamphlets to provide information on the umbilical-cord-blood donation.
Before introducing the bill, Rodriguez expressed concern that right-to-life opponents of embryonic stem-cell research might be confused by her bill. "This does not involve fetuses," she said. "There is so much discussion on controversial ways to secure stem cells, this provides a way to gather important data that will save lives."
However, her fears might be for naught. After introducing the bill, Rodriguez learned that right-to-life groups have backed such legislation in other states.
Several anti-abortion Republicans have signed onto SB 605 as co-sponsors.
The bill will be heard in the Senate Public Affairs Committee and the Senate Finance Committee.
Marine in California whose liver failed may need bone marrow
Associated Press
LOMA LINDA, Calif. - Feb. 23, 2005 - A Marine who received a liver transplant because of a near-fatal infection that developed after his return from Iraq may now need a bone marrow transplant.
Lance Cpl. Christopher LeBleu, 22, has a "high probability" of needing the transplant because he has developed aplastic anemia, which has caused his bone marrow to stop producing enough red blood cells to keep him alive, Loma Linda University Medical Center officials said Wednesday.
The hospital appealed for blood donors with Type O blood to join a registry of potential bone marrow donors so doctors can find a potential match for the Marine.
They also appealed for people to give blood that can be used for additional transfusions for LeBleu, who was stationed at Twentynine Palms before he was hospitalized in January.
LeBleu, of Lake Charles, La., returned from Iraq in September and married his wife, Melany, a month later. She has said that he began feeling increasingly ill in December. By the end of January, his doctors said he was near death from total liver failure. The cause has not been determined.
An unidentified liver donor from New Mexico was found and LeBleu underwent emergency transplant surgery. At the time, his doctors said the Marine was recovering well and had about an 80 percent chance of survival - aided by his youth and good health before his illness.
LeBleu was a rifleman in Iraq for seven months. He was part of a 2,200-man task force that lost 21 people and had nearly 200 wounded in action.
Kept alive by the kindness of strangers
CHUNG CHOW THE LEADER
Laura Poelstra, here with her mom Francine, was diagnosed with a rare blood disease earlier this year. The Cloverdale girl is doing well, thanks to donations of blood and bone marrow.
By Kelly McManus
Aug 22 2007 - What she misses most when she’s at B.C. Children’s Hospital is her cat. “And Chinese food,” Laura Poelstra adds. “Chicken chow mein. Hospital food is not good.”
If the food is bad, 12-year-old Laura should know. She’s spent a lot of time in hospital over the last six months.
In February, doctors told her she had aplastic anemia, a rare and serious disorder where the body stops producing new blood cells. Doctors believe the potentially fatal condition results when the immune system attacks the bone marrow. The patient becomes gravely ill.
This week however, sitting around the kitchen table in their Cloverdale home, Laura and her parents Syd and Francine Poelstra are optimistic.
On day leave from the hospital, Laura is a bit shy, but excited by the prospect of getting better.
She’s had a tough summer. Following months of unsuccessful treatments to stimulate the production of healthy blood cells, and after more than 60 blood transfusions, Laura needed a bone marrow transplant.
In June, after chemotherapy and radiation treatments, Laura received new bone marrow from an unrelated donor – an anonymous man in his 20s.
“All the blood she produces now is from the donor’s marrow,” Francine says. Hence, Laura’s blood type changed from B-positive to A-positive after the transplant.
Now the task is to prevent rejection. Until the end of September, Laura will stay on immunosuppressant drugs to help her new bone marrow adjust to her body. She hopes to return to Cloverdale Catholic School starting in October.
“But we have to go slow, take things a step at a time,” says Francine.
The Poelstras are grateful for the many blood donors responsible for keeping their daughter alive. They’re encouraging others who would like to help people like their daughter to come out to a special blood donation clinic today in Cloverdale.
“People in the area want to help,” says Gary Dhillon, community development coordinator for the Canadian Blood Services’ Surrey clinic. Cloverdale residents have been asking for years to expand beyond the Surrey or the Langley clinics, he said.
A blood donor clinic runs today (Wednesday) from 1-8 p.m. at Shannon Hall, 6050A 176 St. There are 180 spots available, but only 60 have been booked so far. For more information or to book an appointment, call 1-888-2-DONATE (1-888-236-6283). kmcmanus@surreyleader.com
|
