May 1, 2012
TUESDAY, May 1 (HealthDay News) — Elelyso (taliglucerase alfa) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a long-term enzyme replacement therapy for people with a rare genetic disorder called type 1 Gaucher disease.
People with the disorder don’t produce enough of an enzyme called glucocerebrosidase. This causes the buildup of fatty lipids in the spleen, liver, kidneys and other organs. Warning signs of the disorder may include anemia, low blood platelets and bone problems, the FDA said in a news release. About 6,000 people in the United States are thought to have the disorder.
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March 27, 2012
TUESDAY, March 27 (HealthDay News) — Omontys (peginesatide) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat anemia in adults who require dialysis due to chronic kidney disease.
Anemia is characterized by a lack of enough healthy red blood cells. The newly approved drug is designed to stimulate bone marrow to produce more of these cells, reducing a person’s need for a blood transfusion, the FDA said Tuesday in a news release.
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February 2, 2012
THURSDAY, Feb. 2 (HealthDay News) –
Greater use of certain types of treatments for kids with sickle cell anemia may explain why black children’s risk of ischemic stroke dropped significantly between 1999 and 2007, new research finds.
The disparity in stroke-related deaths between black and white children also fell during that period.
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December 15, 2011
THURSDAY, Dec. 15 (HealthDay News) — Low levels of iron in the blood are associated with an increased risk of dangerous blood clots that form in a vein, according to the results of a new study that included patients with an inherited blood vessel disease.
The findings suggest that treating iron deficiency may help prevent the condition known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT), according to the researchers at Imperial College London in England.
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August 8, 2011
By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, Aug. 8 (HealthDay News) — One in five patients who are hospitalized for heart attacks develop anemia because so much of their blood is drawn for routine diagnostic tests, researchers have found.
Often, this anemia persists for a month or more after discharge and could spell worse outcomes — even death — down the line, according to a study in the Aug. 8 online edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
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June 24, 2011
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, June 24 (HealthDay News) — Doctors should use the anemia drugs Procrit, Epogen and Aranesp more cautiously in patients with chronic kidney disease, U.S. health officials said Friday.
The new warning comes in response to data showing that patients on these drugs face a higher risk of cardiovascular problems such as heart attack, heart failure, stroke, blood clots and death, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said.
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June 13, 2011
FRIDAY, June 10 (HealthDay News) — Consuming high amounts of folate — through supplements and foods fortified with folic acid — does not disrupt a healthy body’s use of vitamin B12, according to new research.
Folic acid — the synthetic form of the vitamin folate — is added to grain products in the United States to reduce women’s risk of conceiving a child with a neural tube birth defect. But some worry that folic acid levels in these foods may be too high for other people. Their concerns stem from studies that found that people with low B12 levels and high folate levels were more likely to have anemia than those with low B12 levels and normal folate levels.
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May 10, 2011
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, May 10 (HealthDay News) — People given a drug known as erythropoietin alfa after a heart attack may experience new heart problems and even greater cardiac damage from the attack, a new study finds.
The drug, which stimulates red blood cells, has been used in some heart attack patients because certain studies suggested it might reduce the extent of heart attack damage and improve heart function, the researchers explained.
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March 25, 2011
FRIDAY, March 25 (HealthDay News) — A poor diet is associated with a greater risk of developing anemia among postmenopausal women, a new study has found.
Researchers analyzed data from 72,833 older women in the United States and found that deficiencies in more than a single nutrient were associated with a 21 percent increased risk of persistent anemia. Risk increased 44 percent with deficiencies in three nutrients.
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October 26, 2010
TUESDAY, Oct. 26 (HealthDay News) — Physicians need to use caution when giving a class of drugs called erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) to cancer patients who have anemia caused by chemotherapy, according to new medical guidelines.
And with rare exceptions, ESAs should not be given to cancer patients who are not receiving chemotherapy, according to joint guidelines issued by the American Society of Hematology and the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
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