Documentary Examining Deadly Blood Disorders and Lifesaving Research to Premiere on Discov...( BLOOD DETECTIVES - a documentary ...),Health

BLOOD DETECTIVES - a documentary from Peabody-Award-winning filmmaker Joseph Lovett - premieres December 19 at 7:00 PM ET/PT on Discovery Health

Trailer available at http://www.blooddetectives.org.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Peabody-Award-winning filmmaker, Joseph Lovett, in conjunction with the American Society of Hematology (ASH) presents BLOOD DETECTIVES, an hour-long documentary airing on Discovery Health on December 19, 2008, at 7:00 PM ET/PT and again at 12:00 AM ET/PT. BLOOD DETECTIVES focuses on the medical mysteries and lifesaving work of highly specialized doctors, hematologists, as they race against time to unravel medical mysteries and save lives, from leukemia to blood clots and more.

BLOOD DETECTIVES is the centerpiece of a new public education campaign from ASH that aims to educate audiences on how their blood affects their total health. The campaign also hopes to underscore the importance of recognizing the warning signs of some of the more common -- and sometimes deadly -- blood diseases.

It is estimated that more Americans die each year of a pulmonary embolism (a blood clot that becomes lodged in the lungs, preventing adequate blood flow) than from breast cancer, HIV disease, and motor-vehicle crashes combined -- however, most people are unaware of the warning signs. In addition, a blood-clotting disorder known as antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APS) causes one in four early miscarriages, yet most women are completely unfamiliar with the disorder.

BLOOD DETECTIVES profiles a diverse group of patients, including:

-- Alexandria, a 17-year-old girl with sickle cell anemia who suffered a

"silent stroke"

-- Ezra, age 6, who almost died in infancy due to severe, life-threatening

anemia

-- Rebecca, a healthy woman in her mid-30s whose blood-clotting disorder

places both her
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