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Haematology
Neuroblastoma patient in remission 18 years after CAR-T infusion
A woman diagnosed with neuroblastoma in childhood has remained in remission for more than 18 years after being treated with an engineered CAR-T cell...
World’s largest protein study to revolutionise cancer, dementia tests
The world’s largest study of proteins circulating the human body will launch in the UK this month, with tens of millions of pounds in...
Aspirin for secondary prevention of atherosclerosis – evidence or dogma?
Decades of recommendations to give aspirin for primary prevention of cardiovascular events, based on over-optimistic interpretation of inconclusive data, were recently overturned after a...
FDA green lights Pfizer’s drug for haemophilia A, B
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Hympavzi (marstacimab, Pfizer) as routine prophylaxis to prevent or reduce the frequency of bleeding episodes in patients...
Blood type tied to risk of early stroke – US study
Scientists have suggested that people with type A blood groups are at greater risk of having a stroke before they turn 60 than those...
UK launches major study of personalised cancer therapies
A large-scale collaborative study of personalised cancer therapies could offer clinicians a real-time view of how well treatments are working, say scientists, and decide...
Pfizer withdraws sickle cell treatment after deaths
Pfizer is withdrawing its sickle cell disease treatment Oxbryta from all markets where it has been approved, citing risks of a painful complication and deaths.
Pfizer...
Common medical practices that older patients should question
Some treatments and procedures become routine despite lacking strong evidence to show that they’re beneficial – and recent studies have called a few of...
Older patients' survival gains from dialysis ‘modest’ – US study
A recent US study has found that over three years, older patients with kidney failure who started dialysis immediately survived for only a short...
UK launches global-first study to ID stem cell super donors
Britain has just launched a world-first study to identify people who could be stem cell super donors, with scientists planning to analyse DNA samples...
Pre-surgery iron vs blood transfusions for anaemic patients – US study
Researchers have suggested – after a rigorous medical records study covering tens of thousands of patients – that some patients with pre-operative anaemia have...
Potential cause of lupus raises hope for cure – US study
Researchers have identified a possible cause of lupus that they say could lead to a cure for the life-threatening condition, potentially stopping the immune...
What period blood can reveal about health
In a move highlighting the potential for future studies and findings, the FDA recently approved the first at-home diagnostic test based on period blood,...
World’s first patient starts sickle cell gene therapy
Kendric Cromer, a 12-year-old boy in Washington, last week became the first person in the world with sickle cell disease to begin a commercially...
Covid for a record 613 days, with 50 mutations
A 72-year-old patient in the Netherlands suffered from the novel coronavirus infection for 613 days – marking the longest SARS-CoV-2 infection duration to date...
Drug breakthrough offers hope for deadly blood cancer – UK study
After a recent discovery, British scientists believe existing drugs could be repurposed to treat rare leukaemia and herald a “new era” for how an...
Children used as guinea pigs in UK's tainted blood scandal
The National Health Service in the UK is facing a major criminal and ethical scandal as the true scale of the number of medical...
Scientists call for HIV+ donors for bone marrow transplants
In South Africa, someone is diagnosed with blood cancer every 72 minutes – but because of the lack of bone marrow transplant donors, scientists...
Fatal blood-clotting disorder tied to common cold
US researchers have linked a potentially fatal disorder that causes blood clotting to a common cold, the first time the respiratory virus has been...
Sickle cell disease 11 times more deadly than thought – global study
A recent study indicates that the death toll attributed to sickle cell disease could be as much as 11 times higher than what mortality...
Blood type can affect Covid-19 risk – US study
Scientists have determined that people with certain blood types, specifically type A, are more likely to become infected with Covid-19, echoing earlier studies from China in...
Aspirin as good as Heparin in preventing blood clots – US trial
A multi-centre trial of more than 12 000 orthopaedic trauma patients has shown that cheap aspirin was as effective as injectable blood thinners in...
Lab-grown blood administered to people in world-first clinical trial
Laboratory-grown blood has been put into people in a world-first clinical trial, with tiny amounts – equivalent to a couple of spoonfuls - being...
Electrolyte disorder a major driver of SA hospital deaths – Stellenbosch study
Hyperkalaemia, an electrolyte disorder caused by too much potassium in the blood and which leads to heart attacks, is quite prevalent among those with...
Oral milvexian for prevention of venous thromboembolism — McMaster University
Oral milvexian in patients undergoing knee arthroplasty was effective for the prevention of venous thromboembolism and was associated with a low risk of bleeding....
Artificial Intelligence can detect low-glucose levels via ECG without fingerprick test
Two pilot studies in the UK have found that using artificial intelligence (AI) the Currently Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGM) used by the UK's National...
Type A blood converted to universal donor with bacterial enzymes
On any given day, hospitals across the US burn through some 16,500 litres of donated blood for emergency surgeries, scheduled operations, and routine transfusions....
FDA warns against the vampire fad
Unscrupulous parties are touting blood plasma infusion from young donors to fight ageing or serious illnesses. This week the US Food and Drug Administration warned against...
Blood test could soon detect blocked or narrow arteries
A Duke Health pilot project suggests that in the near future, a blood test could show whether arteries carrying blood to the heart are...
New drug a breakthrough in treatment of haemophilia
The HAVEN 3 study, led by a University of the Witwatersrand researcher, found that emicizumab prophylaxis (trade name: Hemlibra) administered subcutaneously once weekly or...
Blood type link to severity of E. coli infections
A study shows that a kind of E. coli most associated with "traveller’s diarrhoea" and children in underdeveloped areas of the world causes more...
Low-cost, rapid test for iron and vitamin A deficiencies
Cornell University engineers and nutritionists have created a swift solution for a challenging global health problem: a low-cost, rapid test to detect iron and...
Restrictive transfusion practice improves patient care, quality, safety
By analysing data from randomised clinical trials comparing blood transfusion approaches, Johns Hopkins experts, along with colleagues at Cleveland Clinic and NYU Langone Medical...
When it comes to blood transfusions, 'fresh is not best'
A landmark Australian-led five-country research trial has found the transfusion of older stored red blood cells is safe and, surprisingly, associated with fewer side...
No major side effects from more frequent blood donations
Giving blood more frequently – up to every 8 weeks for men and every 12 weeks for women – has no major side effects...
Novel therapy acts as an antidote to blood thinner
A phase III clinical study demonstrates the safety and efficacy of idarucizumab, a novel therapy that acts as an antidote to the blood thinner...
Study recommends reducing maximum storage limit of blood
The oldest blood available for transfusions releases large and potentially harmful amounts of iron into patients’ bloodstreams, a Columbia University study has found. Based on...
Drones viable for transport of blood products
Drone transportation systems are a viable option for the transportation of blood products, found a Johns Hopkins proof-of-concept study.
The researchers have determined that large...
Blood thinners safe with brain metastases
Cancer patients with brain metastases who develop blood clots may safely receive blood thinners without increased risk of dangerous bleeding.
Guidelines on blood transfusion after surgery
Existing national and international transfusion guidelines recommend that blood transfusions only be given to patients who develop very low haemoglobin concentrations. The largest ever randomised trial in the UK in a surgical or cardiac surgery population shows that this strategy may increase the number of deaths in cardiac surgery.