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Feb 8, 2010- Englewood, NJ
- Rep. Steve Rothman came back to his birthplace Jan. 29 at Englewood Hospital Medical Center (EHMC) to announce the final $1.49 million in federal funds for the hospital’s Institute for Patient Blood Management and Bloodless Medicine and Surgery.
The Institute for Patient Blood Management and Bloodless Medicine and Surgery was created in 1994 to provide surgeries for patients who cannot receive blood like Jehovah’s Witnesses or anemic newborns. The surgeries can also help at times of extreme circumstances during a military operation or civilian injuries or when available blood is unsafe such as in Sub-Saharan Africa where Malaria is rampant. See link for complete article.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jehovah's Witnesses and Health - Official Site
Dyslexia - Official Site of Jehovah's Witnesses Children with Special Needs - Official Site
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Bloodless Surgery can reduce risk of death, increase operation success, result in shorter ICU stay, result in less spread of blood-born disease such as hepatitis and AIDS. photo: National Cancer lnstitute
No Blood Org - We are a community of medical professionals and members of the public who are responding to the worldwide concern about the efficacy, cost and availability of donor blood. - Not Jehovah's Witness Site.
No Blood - Medicine Meets the Challenge - Video - Official Site
Bloodless Surgery Helps Save Lives - November 13, 2002 - Imperial College London Reported
Bloodless Choices - Newsletter - Spring/Summer 2009 - Englewood Hospital and Medical Center
Bloodless Choices - Newsletter - Fall/Winter 2008 - Englewood Hospital and Medical Center
University Hospital Bloodless Center, Newark, NJ
Directory of Bloodless Centers - 116 bloodless medical centers in the United States - NoBlood.org
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Heart bypass patients who receive blood transfusions are twice as likely to develop an infection after their operation, a new study shows.
By Kate Devlin, Medical Correspondent
Jul 31, 2009
They were also five times more likely to die in hospital and three times more likely to die within a month of the surgery as patients not given extra blood... But only seven seven per cent of patients who did not have a blood transfusion went on to have an infection, compared to 18 per cent of those who did receive blood from someone else. The vast majority of patients, more than eight in 10, did have some form of transfusion, researchers found.
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University of Rochester Medical Center
Study Links Blood Transfusions to Surgery Complications in Women
December 12, 2007
Women die and get infections more often than men after heart surgery because they tend to receive more blood transfusions, which boost the risks of bad outcomes, according to a study published in the December Journal of Women’s Health. Co-authored by researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Center and University of Michigan Health System, the study raises another red flag about transfusions, an ancient medical practice that some doctors now believe is overused.
Blood transfusions were once reserved for only the sickest patients, but have evolved from a life-saving therapy to an elective treatment for many illnesses. Patients today receive donor blood, for example, to prevent severe anemia and improve oxygen delivery due to heart failure.
“For 100 years we’ve assumed blood transfusions are good for people, but most of these clinical practices grew before we had the research to support it,” said co-author Neil Blumberg, M.D., professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and director of Transfusion Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center.....
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Blood Transfusions are not Always Safe - At times blood transfusions can result in deaths as a direct result, or, in the short or long term, lower the chance of survival with major operations.
Blood transfusions, while they can sometimes save lives, they have also been known to take lives. One experience is told by a man in Philadelphia, whose 11 year old sister died from a blood transfusion. Death from blood transfusion in not uncommon. The following articles show that many lives have been lost as a direct result of blood transfusions. Blood transfusions are given too often, and many times the blood itself is not safe.
Bio Medicine - 9/5/2006
Gujarat: At least four people have died due to the multiple organ failure and suspected infection after blood transfusion in Rajkot, Gujarat officials said Monday.....
Blood-transfusion death investigated - China.com.cn Jan 8, 2008
An inquest will be held to determine how a 52-year-old man died yesterday morning after receiving contaminated blood in Tuen Mun Hospital in Hong Kong last week.
Wong Yun-cheun received the blood transfusion on January 3. He suffered from chronic liver disease and anemia. His family said they reserved the right to sue the hospital if an investigation by an expert panel formed by the Hospital Authority determines that his death was caused by human negligence. As of last night, the man's family had not yet discussed compensation with the hospital.
Wong went into shock, had a severe shortness of breath and his blood pressure dropped two hours after the transfusion. He was transferred to the intensive care unit and died at 2:16 am yesterday.
Laboratory tests found that the patient's blood and blood bag were contaminated with Pseudomonas fluorescens bacterium. On Sunday, hospital officials said that the transfusion had been conducted according to guidelines and that the blood had been stored and handled properly. University of Hong Kong professor Yuen Kwok-yung, chairman of the review panel, said the incident could be related to the blood bags and blood storage fridge, but no systematic problem or abnormality was found yesterday.
He said the cause of death can not be found in 90 percent of the cases where patients die from blood transfusions.
To lower the chance of future blood contamination, the panel members suggested timing blood donations to ensure the skin had enough time to sterilize and reduce contamination of blood bags, Yuen said.
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Heart patients are twice as likely to die during the first 30 days of hospitalization if they receive a blood transfusion for anemia, or blood loss.
http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/healthteam/story/1905759/
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April 24, 2008 - Guardian.co.uk Guardian News and Media
More than half of blood transfusions may do more harm than good, with some patients facing a six-fold greater risk of dying following surgery because of transfusions, doctors warn today.
While the risks of contracting life-threatening infections, such as HIV, from blood transfusions are well understood, doctors believe the danger posed by the blood itself is more serious. Although they do not fully understand why blood transfusions are linked to higher death rates, they suspect that ageing blood that has been stored before being given to patients is less able to carry oxygen to vital organs and causes damage to the immune system.
One study of almost 9,000 patients, led by cardiac surgeon Gavin Murphy at the Bristol Heart Institute, found that patients who had heart surgery between 1996 and 2003 were three times more likely to die a year after their operation if they had a blood transfusion. In the month after surgery they were six times more likely to die than patients who did not receive donated blood.
The American review will attempt to find out why blood transfusions appear to be so harmful to many patients.
One theory is that chemicals in donated blood suppress the patient's immune system, making it harder to fight off infections. But doctors also know that within hours of being collected red blood cells stiffen up, making them less able to squeeze down narrow blood vessels and supply oxygen to vital organs..............
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Hepatitis C and blood transfusions -
July 31, 2009 The Medical News
Blood transfusions run the risk of contracting Hepatitis C at the rate of 1 in 900.
This translates to approximately 5,500 in the U.S. per year.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a blood-borne disease that causes inflammation of the liver and to which there is currently no vaccine available. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 3% of the world's population, approximately 170 million people, are infected with HCV and it is a leading cause of liver cirrhosis, end stage liver disease, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver transplantation.
The mortality rate for those with Hepatitis C is approximately 11-37% higher than those who do not have the disease. This means that there would be approximately 900 deaths per year in the U.S. as a result of contracting Hepatitis C from blood transfusions over an approximately eight year period, interpolating the statistics from clinical studies on Hepatitis C.
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Sep 28, 2009-
Phildadelphia -
Scrubbing
In: Restored to sight as a final gift
By
Rachel K. Sobel, Philadelphia Inquirer
"She saw the moon, she went to the Hall [the meeting place for
Jehovah's Witnesses]. She got to see my baby's ultrasound picture. ...