http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (Medical Xpress)—An antidepressant drug used since the 1960s may also hold promise for treating sickle cell disease, according to a surprising new finding made in mice and human red blood cells by a team from the University of Michigan Medical School. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-antidepressant-sickle-cell-disease.html Medical research Tue, 19 Feb 2013 14:40:01 EST news280506114 Researchers at Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center (DF/CHCC) have taken the first preliminary steps toward developing a form of gene therapy for sickle cell disease. In an abstract presented on Dec. 10 at the 54th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology, the research team—led by DF/CHCC's Raffaele Renella, MD, PhD, Stuart H. Orkin, MD, and David A. Williams, MD—announced that they had demonstrated in an animal model the feasibility of activating a form of hemoglobin unaffected by the sickle cell mutation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-highlight-potential-gene-therapy-approach.html Medical research Tue, 11 Dec 2012 12:00:03 EST news274447323 A University of Michigan Health System laboratory study reveals a key trigger for producing normal red blood cells that could lead to a new treatment for those with sickle cell disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-reveal-potential-treatment-sickle-cell.html Medical research Wed, 02 Nov 2011 04:55:50 EST news239428526 Not long after birth, human babies transition from producing blood containing oxygen-rich fetal hemoglobin to blood bearing the adult hemoglobin protein. For children with sickle cell disease, the transition from the fetal to adult form of hemoglobin – the oxygen-carrying protein in blood -- marks the onset of anemia and painful symptoms of the disorder. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-scientists-reverse-sickle-cell-anemia.html Medical research Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:00:19 EST news237732418 A thalidomide analog is shaping up as a safe, worthy opponent of sickle cell disease, Georgia Health Sciences University researchers report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-thalidomide-analog-worthy-opponent-sickle.html Medical research Mon, 18 Jul 2011 11:41:56 EST news230208105 New research shows a drug commonly used to treat sickle cell anemia in adults reduces bouts of acute pain and a pneumonia-like illness, cuts hospitalization time and eases other symptoms of the disease in young patients. Results of the randomized, double-blind trial mark a dramatic advance in treatment of children with the inherited blood disorder. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-sickle-cell-anemia-drug-safe.html Medications Thu, 12 May 2011 18:30:01 EST news224428066 Nitric oxide gas appears to directly impact the source of the classic, disabling pain crises of sickle cell disease, Georgia Health Sciences University researchers report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-nitric-oxide-impacts-source-sickle.html Medical research Mon, 09 May 2011 15:55:01 EST news224175262