Sickle Cell News
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Anatomy Lesson: Vasculature of the Abdominal Wall
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Blood Transfusion Dose
The magic number to remember is 4.
4ml/kg of packed red blood cells will give you an increase of about...
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2012 Sickle Cell - Choose To Know Walk-A-Thon... Registration is now Open!!Registration is now open for the 2nd Annual 5k Walk for Camp Crescent...
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Four hemophiliac patients successfully treated with gene therapy
Hemophilia, a disease whose victims can suffer serious...
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The Standing Ovation Tour: Make a Joyful Noise
Coming Summer 2012
The deadline to make the down payment for the Sickle Cell Benefit Cruise taking place on the week of Dec. 9 has been extended to April 9, 2012!!
We encourage all people to take part in this once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Part of the proceeds will go towards support for sickle cell sufferers in Ontario as well as research for this rare blood condition.
Booking Information
Please contact:
Ken Bedasse
Guelph CruiseShipCenter Inc.
585 Scottsdale Drive, Guelph, Ontario N1G 3E7
Phone: 519-823-5979 or Toll Free: 800-544-2656
Fax: 519-823-8788
E-Mail: mbedasse@cruiseshipcenters.com
Hope you can all make it!
The latest lecture and discussion hosted by TAIBU community centre.
The newest event in support of the Jamaican Canadian Association and the Sickle Cell Association of Ontario.
I recently met up with an individual suffering from sickle cell disease. Although this man was not a doctor, he still had a vast knowledge of blood and blood transfusions. He enlightened me on the complexity of donating blood and the fact that most individuals who take part in this altruistic act do not fully understand it. As it relates to sickle cell, fully understanding how blood donations work is essential to your help in saving other people’s lives.
When one goes into donate blood they have a needle placed in their arm and roughly one pint of blood is taken from your body. Your blood is now used for people who suffer serious injuries or have conditions that require them to receive blood transfusions. This process is generally a very simple process assuming the blood types are the same or if the blood type is the universal “O”. For a one-time need of blood, matching blood types are accepted by the body regardless or race or ethnicity. For example, a Caucasian can give to someone of African descent with very little problems. This is why all types of people are encouraged to donate blood. There are no barriers.
Things get complicated however when you are dealing with someone who requires regular blood transfusions for diseases such as sickle cell. When a person requires blood on a regular basis, they need a blood type that is a closer match to their own. The match is found beyond the basic A, B, O blood types, it lies in the phenotypes/antigens of each blood. These are the deeper make-up of your blood. They are important because if a person receiving regular blood transfusions requires a matching blood type as well as closely matching phenotypes. The less of a match the phenotypes are, the quicker your body will produce antibodies towards the new blood even though it is a match in blood type. This process occurs over time but is still problematic for those receiving blood transfusions often. The production of antibodies makes the new blood you receive less and less effective over time. Essentially, the closer your phenotypes match, the longer you can accept that type of blood. This is important to people who receive blood transfusions from a poorly matched phenotype because they may find themselves in a position where the blood they are receiving is very inefficient in their body, similar to watered down gasoline in a car.
I hope you are all still following me. Now, let me relate this to sickle cell. Better matching phenotypes are typically found in people of similar ethnic and country of origin (unlike blood types). This is why persons of African-Canadian and Caribbean descent need to donate blood more often because persons with sickle cell in Ontario have a better chance of receiving good blood (a good phenotype match) from them. We always encourage people to donate blood, but once is simply not enough. If you truly want to help sickle cell patients in Ontario and you are of these groups you must donate regularly. Canadian Blood Services allows people to donate once every 56 days. This should be more than manageable for most people. Get out there and do it.
As I mentioned earlier, I learned all of this in a 30 minute conversation. I encourage you to learn more about blood types. Check out blood.ca for more information.
The Toronto Monologue SLAM in support of the Sickle Cell Association of Ontario.
A depiction of how sickle cells move through the blood stream.
A shortage of blood and stem cells in the black community is costing lives, Canada’s blood agency warns.
Canadian Blood Services is calling on people of African and Caribbean heritage to register as blood and stem donors through its OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network.
Sickle cell disease is an inherited disease of red blood cells, predominantly affecting people of African descent. In people with sickle cell disease, the red blood cells are abnormally shaped and starve tissues of oxygen.
The lifespan of affected people is about three decades shorter than average, said Dr. Isaac Odame, medical director of the Global Sickle Cell Disease Network at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
Complications can include infections, extreme bone pain and damage to the brain, lungs, heart and kidneys, Odame said.
Kynan Jackson, 7, of Halifax struggles with painful sickle cell disease. He takes medication twice a day, has had blood transfusions and been admitted to the hospital a few times since he was diagnosed at age four.
“It is stressful,” said his mother, Winnell Jackson. “It’s almost like a waiting game. The medication won’t ever stop him from getting crisis again, so I know it’s coming.”
A stem cell transplant replaces the bad, misshapen ones with normal ones, said Odame.
Sickle cell disease can be cured with stem cell transplants, says Dr. Issac Odame. (CBC)
“The only way to give him [Kynan] a chance is to cure it,” Odame said. “We know that it can be cured through stem cell transplantation.”
Stem cell transplants require a close match from a donor of the same ethnic background, which narrows Kynan’s odds of getting one.
“If you are Caucasian and you’re looking for an unrelated match, probably 75 per cent chance you will find one. If you are of African descent, your odds are far, far, far less,” Odame said.
Canada’s blacks represent about 2.5 per cent of the population, based on the 2006 census. But of the 300,000 on the blood agency’s stem cell and marrow registry, only 0.7 per cent are of African descent.
“Sometimes people wait six months to years to find a match and they may end up passing away in that time period because we can’t find a match in Canada or around the world,” said Sue Smith, executive director of One Match.
During Black History Month, Canadian Blood Services is appealing for young, black male donors in particular to donate blood and be registered. Men tend to be bigger and deliver a larger volume of stem cells without the complications of an over-reactive immune system that can occur during pregnancy.
Currently, the agency said there is a waiting list of 36 African Canadians with cancer who could be cured with a stem cell transplant. Kynan’s mom hopes the campaign is a success and she’s able to see him grow up.
It would “be really nice to know that, you know what, he does have a match out there. There’s somebody out there wherever they may be, that would match him and be able to take that pain, help ease that pain in his life.”
The blood agency’s theme this year, “Our Canadian Story: Making Community Engagement a Priority,” emphasizes commun
