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Article: Discarded blood could be put to good use, say experts. (blood from patients with hemochromatosis could have therapeutic use)
- Article from:
- Medical Update
- Article date:
- December 1, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Benjamin Franklin Literary & Medical Society, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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From ancient times until recently, many diseases were treated by getting rid of "bad blood" -- and many unfortunate patients were bled to death in the process (George Washington being among the more prominent examples). Even today, however, there is a hereditary medical condition for which the treatment is regular bloodletting -- and some 100,000 get regular "therapeutic phlebotomies" for hemochromatosis, also called iron overload disease.
In this condition, excess iron accumulates in cells throughout the body, literally rusting body organs. Early warning signs are chronic fatigue, joint pain, and impotence-and severe cases, in which the skin turns a bronze ...