Benzene and Leukemia Lawyer & Attorney : Burke & Eisner Law Firm : Benzene Exposure, Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma

In Cave City, Scotland Pam Hunt, now 60 years old, has never let her diagnosis of Aplastic Anemia get her down or limit her activity. She was diagnosed originally with leukemia but after a bone marrow test was diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia. At that time she was 15 years old. Her treatment was to get transfusions every two weeks.

She was told to limit her activities, not to play sports, not to become pregnant because of the risks of injury and internal bleeding. She ignored the warnings and is a living example of how one's attitude can play a part in how to deal with a diagnosis like hers. After her daughter was born she played softball, went fishing and boat riding. Even today she can put in a 12-hour day but is ready for bed when she gets home.

“The specialists and all the doctors told me that, with aplastic anemia, the top age of an adult would probably just be 35 to 40 years old,” Hunt said. “I never paid any attention to all that and that’s been the success to my survival. I don’t think about years or minutes or days or hours. I just wake up and do my thing and thank God that I’m here to do it.”

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Science advances and Treatments improve.  Here's what US News and World Report has to say.

But there's hope: Considered fatal as recently as two decades ago, aplastic anemia is becoming a far more manageable disease. Advances in drug therapies and improvements in the field of transplantation have slashed the death toll, allowing patients to live longer, fuller lives.

"We are getting better at treating aplastic anemia, either in getting rid of it or treating its symptoms," said Dr. Jaroslaw P. Maciejewski, with the Cleveland Clinic's Department of Hematologic Oncology and Blood Disorders.

Source:  USNews and World Report:  Aplastic Anemia

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This blog posts questions whether Procrit is effective for Aplastic Anemia Treatment:  Obviously please make your own decision with your doctor.

Is aranesp considered medically necessary for aplastic anemia?

Erytropoietin levels are elvevated in apalstic anemia patients. This raised the probability that additional exogenous erythropoietin may not be effective. However, despite the same concern, erythropoietin is effective in  in myelodysplastic syndrome. I reference a Japanese editorial that advocated the use of erythropoietin ( and this would include darbepoetin) for aplastic anemia.

Source:  Aplastic Anemia Treatment and Procrit

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Bone marrow transplants continue to be an important Aplastic Anemia Treatment.  If you are in Canada, read this article.

A better chance to find a match
Blood donors can now register online, use mail-in swab kits
By JOHN GILLIS Health Reporter
Fri. Feb 29 - 7:11 AM

FINDING A match for a person who needs donat­ed blood, cells or mar­row can be like finding a needle in a haystack.

Now potential donors can better a sick person’s odds without getting needles them­selves.

At Canadian Blood Services’ new website onematch.ca, peo­ple can register to be donors and be mailed a cheek swab kit. Donors can then take swabs and mail them back to have their DNA entered in a data­base.

Each new registrant could be a match for a person any­where in the world. Sue Smith, executive direc­tor of the OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network, said it’s especially important that peo­ple from different ethnic com­munities join the registry.

“The face of Canada is changing dramatically," she said in a news release. “The more diverse One­Match is, the better the odds to save lives."

While Caucasians in Canada who need stem cell transplants have about a 75 per cent chance of finding a donor, aboriginal, black, Chinese, South Asian and Filipino Canadians don’t stand as good a chance because there aren’t enough available donors from those communi­ties.

It is more likely a donor will come from a person’s own com­munity.

Ifeoma Obi, who immigrated to Canada from Nigeria, has sickle cell disease and requires regular blood transfusions.

“I want to personally thank people for helping me enjoy a better quality of life," Ms. Obi said in a release.

“And I want them to encour­age their friends and family to become blood donors so that they too can save a life like mine."

People with sickle cell or aplastic anemia need donors who are precisely matched.

Canadian Blood Services, the Health Association of Afri­can Canadians and the United African-Canadian Women’s Association Sickle Cell Ane­mia Project held a special clin­ic Thursday to attract donors.

Source:  NovaScotiaNews.com

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A study recently released says it now knows where stem cells originate.    Why is this important in the treatment of Aplastic Anemia?  If doctor's and researchers know where the body creates stem cells, then they can try to recreate that environment and grow stem cells in a lab.  Do that and you have a treatment option for Aplastic Anemia.

Here's the article:

FRIDAY, March 7 (HealthDay News) -- Blood stem cells, which later differentiate into all types of blood cells, originate and are nurtured in the placenta, a U.S. study finds.

This finding may help researchers replicate the specific embryonic microenvironment necessary to grow blood stem cells in the lab so doctors can treat patients with diseases such as leukemia and aplastic anemia, said senior author Dr. Hanna Mikkola, a researcher in the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

"It was a big mystery, where these cells originated. This is the first time we can really say definitively that blood stem cells are generated in the placenta. There's no more speculation," Mikkola said in a prepared statement.

The discovery, reported in the March 6 issue of Cell Stem Cell, was made in research with mice. The researchers are now working to replicate it in humans.

"If we want to fully harness the potential of embryonic stem cells to treat disease, it's critical for us to learn how to make tissue-specific stem cells. We can learn that by studying what happens during embryonic development," said Mikkola, an assistant professor of molecular, cell and developmental biology and a researcher at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

In previous research, Mikkola and her colleagues found the placenta contained a large supply of stem cells, but the researchers weren't sure if these stem cells were created in the placenta or originated elsewhere and migrated to the placenta to self-renew.

In this new study, Mikkola's team examined a unique mouse model, a mouse embryo without a heartbeat. Because there was no blood circulation, the researchers were able to find the blood stem cells at their point of origin in the placenta.

"Using this model, we identified that the placenta has the potential to make hematopoietic [blood] stem cells with full differentiation ability to create all the major lineages of blood cells. The placenta acts as a sort of kindergarten for these newly made blood stem cells, giving them the first education they need," Mikkola explained.

Source:  USNews.com

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Was reading a blog post about Aplastic Anemia Treatment.  It is a pretty good post with general information on treating Aplastic Anemia. 

The treatment of aplastic anemia was considered once as impossible ones. But, currently many therapeutic applications are available for the affected persons like transfusion of blood or bone marrow replacement together with appropriate medications. Platelet transfusion also helps the treatment.

Iron chelation therapy is undertaken when repeated transfusions of red blood cells are given. However, it needs a periodical monitoring of blood status.

...

In general, stress free life with good feeding with enough protein and fiber help to prevent the disease of aplastic anemia.

The only negative comment I have is concerning the idea that if you lead a stress free life that it will help in preventing aplastic anemia.  That seems overly broad.  I think that if we lead a stress free life it will help a lot of things, but I don't know about preventing aplastic anemia.

Source:  Alvin Soong's Blog

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Cord Blood Stem cells are probably not going to be available to Aplastic Anemia victims who have AA because of benzene exposure.  But this press release does indicate the value of using stem cells in attempting to treat Aplastic Anemia.

The analysis examined transplant recipient data from 16 cases of nonmalignant blood disorders. Four of the patients were infused with their own cord blood stem cells to treat aplastic anemia, an acquired condition. Twelve patients were transplanted with cord blood stem cells of a sibling for a range of inherited conditions including, thalassemia, sickle cell anemia, Fanconi anemia and Hurler syndrome.

The review showed that two-thirds of the patients (10) are either cured or in remission, including half of the patients treated with their own cord blood. Three patients died of complications unrelated to their cord blood transplant; one patient experienced a relapse; and the outcomes status of two patients is not known.

Source:  Business Press Release from the Cord Blood Registry

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