http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Anemia increases operative mortality and morbidity in non-cardiac and cardiac surgical procedures. Anemic surgical patients may require more blood transfusions, raising the risk of transfusion-related complications and increasing costs. For those reasons, optimizing patient readiness by correcting anemia prior to surgery is an important clinical goal. A simple new protocol has been proposed that helps correcting anemia using a single, high dose of recombinant human erythropoietin (HRE) administered only two days prior to surgery. The results of a randomized study will be presented by Luca Weltert, MD, Cardiac Surgery Department of the European Hospital in Rome, during the Plenary Scientific Session of the 93rd AATS Annual Meeting in Minneapolis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-high-dose-erythropoietin-days-pre-op-transfused.html Surgery Mon, 06 May 2013 10:49:37 EST news287056166 A simple, inexpensive blood test performed on trauma patients upon admission can help doctors easily identify patients at greatest risk of death, according to a new study by researchers at Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-simple-blood-trauma-patients-greatest.html Health Fri, 18 Jan 2013 00:20:01 EST news277661804 (Phys.org)—Johns Hopkins researchers have uncovered a protein "partner" commonly used by breast cancer cells to unlock genes needed for spreading the disease around the body. A report on the discovery, published November 5 on the website of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, details how some tumors get the tools they need to metastasize. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-link-molecular-culprit-breast-cancer.html Cancer Sun, 25 Nov 2012 07:30:01 EST news273049193 (Medical Xpress)—Results of new research from the University of Adelaide are a promising step forward in helping to improve the quality of life-saving blood transfusions for preterm babies, by reducing the likelihood of adverse inflammatory responses to the blood. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-efficacy-blood-transfusions-preterm-babies.html Pediatrics Thu, 22 Nov 2012 08:40:03 EST news272795237 Duke Medicine researchers studying the interaction of blood stem cells and the niche where they reside have identified a protein that may be a long-sought growth factor for blood stem cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-duke-team-potent-growth-factor.html Medical research Tue, 23 Oct 2012 10:30:01 EST news270203970 Using tiny spheres filled with an anesthetic derived from a shellfish toxin, researchers at Boston Children's Hospital and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a way to delay the rise of neuropathic pain, a chronic form of pain that arises from flawed signals transmitted by damaged nerves. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-block-neuropathic-pain.html Medical research Tue, 09 Oct 2012 10:52:28 EST news268998715 Researchers have gained new insight into why 22% of Canadian women of childbearing age are still not achieving a folate concentration considered optimal for reducing the risk of having babies with neural tube defects, despite a virtual absence of folate deficiency in the general Canadian population. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-supplement-folate-status-canadian-women.html Health Tue, 10 Apr 2012 10:34:30 EST news253272860 There is no difference in early measures of pulmonary function, immunologic status or coagulation status after fresh versus standard issue single-unit red blood cell (RBC) transfusion, according to a new study from the Mayo Clinic. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-duration-rbc-storage-affect-short-term.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:40:03 EST news246254418 Correcting anemia, a red blood cell deficiency, can preserve kidney function in many kidney transplant recipients, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN). The results indicate that aggressively treating anemia may help save the kidneys—and possibly the lives—of many transplant recipients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-common-blood-disorder-kidney-transplants.html Other Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:21:31 EST news243800434 A long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) regulates programmed cell death during one of the final stages of red blood cell differentiation, according to Whitehead Institute researchers. This is the first time a lncRNA has been found to play a role in red blood cell development and the first time a lncRNA has been shown to affect programmed cell death. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-non-coding-rna-death-maturing-red.html Genetics Wed, 07 Dec 2011 17:00:05 EST news242497738 Patients who rely on recombinant, protein-based drugs must often endure frequent injections, often several times a week, or intravenous therapy. Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston demonstrate the possibility that blood vessels, made from genetically engineered cells, could secrete the drug on demand directly into the bloodstream. In the November 17 issue of the journal Blood, they provide proof-of-concept, reversing anemia in mice with engineered vessels secreting erythropoietin (EPO). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-drug-secreting-blood-vessels-reverse-anemia.html Medical research Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:27:32 EST news240596839 University of Kentucky researchers, including lead author Samy Selim of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine and the Saha Cardiovascular Research Center, have recently published a paper suggesting that transfusion may not always be the best treatment for hospitalized patients with anemia. Results suggest the age of stored blood may be a factor in negative effects of transfusion. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-transfusion-treatment-anemia-age-blood.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 12 Oct 2011 12:47:07 EST news237642414 In patients with acute myocardial infarction (heart attack), blood loss from greater use of phlebotomy (blood drawn for diagnostic testing) appears to be independently associated with the development of hospital-acquired anemia (HAA), according to a report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The article is part of the journal's Less Is More series. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-blood-loss-lab-hospital-acquired-anemia.html Other Mon, 08 Aug 2011 16:30:01 EST news232030996 Intravenous administration of epoetin alfa, a product that stimulates red blood cell production, to patients with heart attack who were undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI; procedures such as balloon angioplasty or stent placement used to open narrowed coronary arteries), did not provide reduction in the size of the heart muscle involved and was associated with higher rates of adverse cardiovascular events, according to a study in the May 11 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-outcomes-erythropoietin-heart-patients-pci.html Medical research Tue, 10 May 2011 16:25:29 EST news224263508