By Sean Marshall

Great news for those in the Boston area. It was reported by Eurek Alert, a science news website, that Boston University Medical Center has reduced its wait times specifically targeting sickle cell sufferers. It was stated that the time that those who come to the Boston University medical center specifically suffering from sickle cell disease have to wait has dropped “more than 50 percent, from an average of 56 minutes to 23 minutes, from triage to administration of the first dose of pain medication.” This was done due to an emergency department changes made from September 2010 to April 2014 by the pediatric emergency department. This was accomplished by focusing on four areas of improvement.

These four areas were “the development of a standardized time-specific protocol that guided care when the patient is in the emergency department; using intranasal fentanyl - a pain medication taken through the nose - as a first-line pain medication since placing intravenous lines (IVs) using an online "calculator" to quickly determine appropriate pain medication doses in line with what is used nationally for children in the emergency department; and providing education to both emergency providers and families on this work.”

When they put all of these practices to the test data reveled that discharged patients increased from “ 32 to 48 percent.” There was no increase in patient return. They have also been praised by the medical community and are now being used as an example across the united states on how to lower the risks of death in sickle cell sufferers.

The original article can be found here: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-09/bumc-bre091715.php

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By Sean Marshall

The medical diagnosis and research company Triangle Park has received a $222,950 grant from the National Institute of Health to “boost its development of a diagnostic test to aid in treating people with sickle cell disease.” As far back as 2006 the North Carolina company explained that if they were to acquire a loan of 19,000 from small business investors in order to peruse funding research into alternative testing for hospitals attempting to diagnose sickle cell anemia.

However the current funding is going towards a BioMedomics' quantitative point-of-care system. The system will test specifically for hemoglobin S and hemoglobin F. The reason behind this is that in the two different types of hemoglobin dictate the severity and often times the survivability of a person with sickle cell disease.

It was explained that “half of the SCD population undergoes frequent blood transfusions aimed at lowering HbS, and about one-third of these patients receive chronic Hydroxyurea therapy with the goal of raising their HbF levels.” The article further explained itself by going on to say “it’s difficult to track and balance the appropriate levels of HbS and HbF, especially because current test procedures take several days to a week for clinicians to get these critical results from remote testing labs.”

The machine should be available to the public but will have a heavy cost for those without insurance.

A link to the original article can be found here: http://wraltechwire.com/rtp-based-biomedomics-nabs-222k-nih-grant/14903029/

If there are any comments questions or concerns email us at [email protected]

By Sean Marshall

A new machine should help those with  sickle cell sufferers in the North Atlantic. There is even better news if you're near  Bermuda. The Bermuda Hospitals Board announced that they have “has unveiled a new machine to vastly improve its service for sickle-cell patients.”

The machine titled The Spectra Optia therapeutic apheresis machine is designed to extract and filter blood. In a more in depth description the machine when operating at maximum capacity should “act as a sort of cell exchange, it can extract red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets or plasma and simultaneously replace the removed components with the required product when necessary.”

This means the machine should do away with constant blood transfusions many who suffer from sickle cell have to go through sometime on a daily basis. There would only be a smaller amount of transfusions from the Spectra Optia instead. Often allowing a patient to go eight weeks without a visit to the hospital. The machine also “drastically reduces the amount of time a patient has to undergo transfusion.

The original article with extra information can be found at the link below: http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20150909/NEWS/150909721

Good news for those who have sickle cell in Oklahoma Sam and Pat Burns are expanding sickle cell anemia treatment centers. It was explaining that the state of Oklahoma actually “does not have a 24-hour comprehensive acute-care sickle cell anemia center for adults.” So The Burns has stepped in with comprehensive plans on expanding and creating many sickle cell centers in Oklahoma for the treatment of sickle cell. There will be more details in the future when work has began.

The brief article can be found here, however you must make an account to access further information. http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepagelatest/sam-and-pat-burns-expanding-sickle-cell-anemia-centers-in/article_cb15823a-7445-5fe1-9220-dd642b7b6698.html

If there are any comments questions or concerns email us at [email protected]

By Sean Marshall

It was reported by Trade Arabia this week that a July to Augest study has shown that last month was the deadliest month for Bahrains sickle cell population in the last three years. It was explained that “in total, nine sickle cell sufferers succumbed to complications related to the disease throughout July and August, according to figures provided by the Bahrain Sickle Cell Anemia Patient Care Society.” 


However with further examination it is reveled that seven of those deaths happened in August. It was also mentioned that the initial study was first reported by the Gulf Daily News

The article can be found here: http://www.tradearabia.com/news/HEAL_289280.html

Other news this week featured Bakerfiled's Hina Patel Foundation for Sickle Cell Disease seventh annual fun run in an attempt to raise funds for sickle cell research. The run is planned on the 12th of September at Barkerfield's Riverwalk Park. It was stated that registration is at 6:30 Am and the cost is a flat 25 American dollars The organization is doing this not only to raise funds for researching but continue to raise awareness of sickle cell disease.


 It was commented by Sanjay Petal that “There are 250 million people in the world that carry the sickle cell gene,” there was also mention of how “it’s a disease scientists are working around the clock to treat. “and that “there are multiple studies going out across the world to find a genetic or gene therapy to cure it,”

If you are in the area or would just like to donate any time effort or even money all helpful information can be found at Hinapatelfoundation.org.

Thee original article can be found here: http://www.bakersfield.com/news/2015/09/03/first-look-hina-patel-foundation-runs-to-support-sickle-cell-research.html

If there are any comments questions or concerns contact us at [email protected]