Studies Probe Weaknesses in Don... ( It's never as good as the body's own ...)

Studies Probe Weaknesses in Donated Blood

Date:10/8/2007

It's never as good as the body's own at delivering oxygen to tissue, researchers say

MONDAY, Oct. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have spotted a chemical deficiency that renders donated blood stored in blood banks less effective at delivering oxygen to tissues, compared to fresh blood.

But in a second study, the same group of scientists may have also found a way to remedy the problem.

Though unlikely to change current clinical practice in the short term, the findings help explain why, in many cases, blood transfusions do more harm than good by boosting risks for heart attack, organ failure and even death, experts say.

The studies "reinforce that conservatism [in giving transfusions] is important," said Dr. Louis Katz, executive vice president for medical affairs at the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center in Davenport, Iowa, and past president of America's Blood Centers, a network of community blood banks. "First, do no harm -- don't transfuse unless you must," he said. Katz was not involved in either study.

Both reports were published this week in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In one study, Drs. Jonathan Stamler and Timothy McMahon, of Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., led research teams that independently examined the ability of fresh and banked human blood to serve its medical purpose -- to increase oxygen availability to tissues that need it.

This activity is based on two parameters -- how much oxygen, and how much nitric oxide the red blood cells hold. Nitric oxide (NO) is a vasodilator -- a compound that opens (dilates) blood vessels. It is carried in red blood cells by hemoglobin, the oxygen-delivering protein that gives red blood cells their color. When hemoglobin encounters a tissue with relatively little oxygen, it releases NO, thereby causing blood vessels to open and ease the red cells' entry
'/>"/>

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2 3 4
Related medicine news :

1. Studies On Hearing Loss Discovers New Causes
2. Broccoli Found to Block Cancer Progression In Both Animal and Human Studies
3. Studies Advocate Natural Form Of Vitamin E
4. Cure For Autism Could Be Established Through Hamster Studies
5. Despite More Studies Researchers Are Still Confound With ADHD
6. Studies Show Brain becomes Less Specialized With Age
7. ISB To Establish Research Chair On Real Estate And Urban Studies
8. Studies Show Combination Drugs As A Poor Substitute For Anti-Coagulants In Stroke
9. Further Studies Needed To Completely Understand About Ventricular Fibrillation
10. Studies Report Mammograms Unsafe
11. Six Indians Win Australian Studies Fellowships

Post Your Comments:

Studies Probe Weaknesses in Don...( It's never as good as the body's own ...),Health