I was watching CNN Headline News yesterday. Why? I don’t know. Those little things they run on the bottom are all I ever want to know about and you don’t get anything but a tease from them. Ok, now that I got that off of my chest…
Does anyone know anything about blood replacers being made from cow’s milk? I’d like to stay on top of that one. (Food allergy thing again.)
Can’t speak directly to this but here in San Diego, a company called Alliance Pharmaceuticals has been kicking around the idea of an artifical blood to be used in emergency situations that is still in testing (I believe)
Actually I posted a link to the explanation about this and the company a while back (month or so ago). I thought you were the OP but that it started out as another question. I’ll try to dig it back up. The search engine has been sketchy lately though.
This is not a new idea. Back in the late 70’s/early 80’s a doctor in Southern California developed a blood replacement product for emergencies. He and his partners had a lot of patients who were Jehovah’s Witnesses and would not accept blood transfusions. My mom worked in his office, I was in high school at the time. I don’t know whatever happened with this product. IIRC, the doctor passed away in the late 80’s. If I can remember the name of the product or the doctor’s last name I’ll do a search and post the results.
“The analyst went barking up the wrong tree, of course. I never should have mentioned unicorns to a Freudian.” – Dottie (“Jumpers” by Tom Stoppard)
Well, I don’t remember that. I asked about the GE cows that they are trying to get to produce human milk proteins. They got pigs trying to grow human organs. They trying to make medicical treatments out of cow’s milk. It’s freaking me out. I know someday I’m going to go to the hospital for something simple and their going to kill me by giving me something I’m allergic to without knowing it.
I mean, I have history that makes me want to stay on top of it. When I had gestational diabetes and my dr. was starting to talk about insulin, I said, “Do they still use pigs for the source of insulin?” He had to check on it! He didn’t know what the source was. He was just going to prescribe it if I needed it. Later I was on some hormones and I broke out in hives, called the pharmacy to see if they were animal-based. He said, “No, not animal-based. There’s no way way you could be reacting to them.” I found out years later that this hormone derived from horse piss. I kind of suspected something like that, since I quit breaking out when my dosage was up.
Anyway, I just didn’t want you to think I’m paranoid or something. I figure if the people responsible for my medical care aren’t going to keep up with this stuff then I better.
If the hormone in question was premarin they do sort of advertise the source. “Premarin” stands for “pregnant mares’ urine”.
A form of blood replacement is made from calves’ hooves. Known as SPPS, it is used in patients with major amounts of haemorrhage for circulatory support. Of course it’s not a complete blood replacement in that it is unable to transport oxygen like haemoglobin but it will help in preventing renal failure due to hypovolaemic shock. This is an essential distinction between it (and other colloid replacements) and whole blood which is very difficult to get across to Jehovah’s Witnesses.
SPPS has actually recently been withdrawn around here due to a large number of anaphylactic reactions which were occurring. Haemaccel is what we’re using now, and I’m not actually sure what it’s made from…
I knew it was around here someplace…
Cows Making Human Milk SDMB
"Genzyme Transgenics said the first protein to be produced in the cow milk under the agreement would be human serum albumin, which is used to maintain fluid balance in the blood.
The protein will then be purified out of the milk for medical use. Human serum albumin is currently derived from pooled human plasma. About 440 metric tonnes of plasma-derived albumin are used annually worldwide, with annual sales of about $1.5 billion.
Serum albumin is given to patients who have lost a great deal of blood and is used widely in a range of other problems from extreme malnutrition to burns."
From Genzyme human serum albumin
"Current clinical uses include blood volume replacement during shock, serious burns, and surgeries.
For albumin and all human blood-sourced products, the theoretical risk of virus transmission, including HIV and hepatitis, remains a medical concern, despite improved screening and purification techniques.
Genzyme Transgenics is developing human serum albumin in transgenic cows, because of the potentially large size and scale of the albumin market. One dairy cow could produce approximately 8,000 liters of milk per year, or an estimated yearly output of 80 kilograms of albumin per year. This level of productivity may provide Genzyme Transgenics with the ability to produce albumin at costs competitive with albumin sourced from human blood."
Thanks! Now, do you know why it was on CNN the other day?
It appears their quarterly report came out on March 8. Other than that I see no other press releases or announcements on the web site that would be considered “breaking news”.
Hmmm… albumin is not really a blood replacer; it’s a volume replacer.
When people suffer burns, or trauma, they often lose a large percent of the liquid volume inside their blood vessels. In burns, this happens bacause the vessel walls become porous & fluid (but not cells) leaks out; in trauma, this happens because blood vessels are torn open & both liquid & cells pour out (bleeding).
Initially, the most life-threatening issue is strictly volume. Crystalloid (water with salts) is used. If large quantities are required however, this fluid usually winds up leaking from the blood vessels after several hours & going into the surrounding tissues (just like in the burns). Fluid with albumin increases the tendency of fluid to stay within the blood vessels, at least for 24-48 hours or so.
If too much blood (as opposed to volume) is lost, adding volume does not restore the oxygen-carrying capacity needed, and red blood cells (or rarely whole blood) are/is transfused. Many companies, and the US military, are working on substitutes for red blood cells & hemoglobin molecules that will pick up oxygen under conditions found in the lungs, and release oxygen under conditions found in the tissues. Reasons for doing do include potentially unlimited supplies, religious objections from JW’s, increased safety due to lack of ABO/Rh & other incompatibilities, and ease of storage/transportation for military operations.
Sue from El Paso
Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.