Bone marrow transplants can reverse severe sickle cell disease in adults, echoing results seen with a similar technique used in children, reports [s]CTV News[/s]. Scientists and others taking part in the small US government study say the findings show age need not be a barrier and that the technique may change practice for some adult patients when standard treatment fails. Donors are a brother or sister whose stem cell-rich bone marrow is a good match for the patient. Dr John Tisdale, the study's senior author and a senior investigator at the [b]National Institutes of Health[/b] said doctors have avoided trying standard transplants in adults with severe sickle cell disease because the treatment is so toxic. Children can often tolerate it because the disease typically hasn’t taken as big a toll on their bodies, he said. A [s]JAMA[/s] editorial by blood spec ialists at [b]Washington University[/b] in [b]St Louis[/b] said the study shows that limiting the transplants to children should be reconsidered.
[link url=http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/bone-marrow-transplants-reverse-sickle-cell-disease-in-some-adults-u-s-study-1.1894816]Full CTV News report[/link]
[link url=http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1884578&resultClick=3]Journal of the American Medical Association full study[/link]