Blood transfusions | Arthritis Information
Sooo... I was watching Oprah and she was doing a show on sperm donors and the children they fathered. One of the reasons a young girl cited for wanting to know her "sperm father" was medical history.
Well, that got me to thinking. Can you get RA from a blood transfusion if the person who donated was genetically predispositioned to develop RA?
It just break my heart to know I had a hand in dealing a stranger the RA card. I donated blood several times when I was younger during blood drives at work. Has anyone ever thought of this? Are there any of you that have had a blood transfusion and developed RA soon after or in the years after?
I don't know if this is even possible, but I wanted to go ahead and toss the question out there.
Hmmmm, I'm no expert, but I'm gonna say "no"
I mean, they'll take our blood, if we're not medicated. Sooooooo one would think!!!! Besides, if it was transmitted in blood, wouldn't it most likely also be through spit, eye juice, nose juice, etc etc???
Mrs. A,
I think the possibility is there and on the board there has been discussion before about donating blood with AI diseases.
AI diseases are blood related.
I freaked out in the hospital when they did my first knee replacement in 2000 and woke up to find they had a drain line and putting my blood back into my body. I asked the nurse to run it under ulterviolet light first and I know they got a big kick out of it and thought I was on too much pain medication. LOL Anyway, IMHO, I would my want blood from someone with AI diseases, especially since my RA is in remission.
LuAnn:)
Hmm... I wasn't on any medications when I was younger as I was pretty healthy. I didn't even like to take tylenol for headaches. (Now is a completely different story. Haha!) I donated blood until one of the nurses hurt me. It left a nasty scar and the next time I asked them not to use that vein and was hit again. I still remember the nasty bruises. I stopped donating at that point. I'm sure there's a awesome screening process once you donate blood, but I was just curious if it was a possibility.
I found a website that lists transfusion transmitted diseases - not sure how accurate/truthful it is though:
It probably hasn't been studied or anything. I was just wondering if it was possible since we have so many mother/daughter combos.
Thanks, LuAnn. Learn something new every day. I'll search for the thread.
PS - Congrats on the remission!!
Well, see. I said I wasn't an expert.
LOL
I have never been able to give blood. I'd love to, but they don't want mine. :( I lived in the UK before 1996, so they think I might have mad cow disease in me. Yeah right. LOL And poor Justin can't give either. He's gotten several (more like a dozen) of his own pints of generously donated blood.
[QUOTE=stemcell4me]Mrs. A,
I think the possibility is there and on the board there has been discussion before about donating blood with AI diseases.
AI diseases are blood related.
I freaked out in the hospital when they did my first knee replacement in 2000 and woke up to find they had a drain line and putting my blood back into my body. I asked the nurse to run it under ulterviolet light first and I know they got a big kick out of it and thought I was on too much pain medication. LOL Anyway, IMHO, I would NOT want blood from someone with AI diseases, especially since my RA is in remission.
LuAnn:)
[/QUOTE]
Also if you have ever had or seen a knee replacement, the doctor picks out all the infected tissue around the removed knee so in my heavily drug induced state I thought he was just putting the infection back into my body. I know a little strange but it still bothered me recycling my infected blood. I wanted my husband's blood but he was not my type.
They're always talking about all the good stuff in umbilical cords. I wonder if there's something in the "goo" (for lack of a better word) that could correct what the RA has messed with.
Can they replace your entire blood supply? Think "House" ;)
*sigh*
I'm not heavily medicated today, promise!! That hamster wheel of mine is just spinning today. Most of it is nonsense, but what the hell. LOL
No no! I LOVE it when people's hamster's get runnin'. :) It means there's some good conversation going on!! :)
I do think they could do that Mel, one day. Maybe not yet, but they've already done a lot with the cords!!! So why not, right??
You ever seen the movie "The Island" ? Creepy crap.....
Last reply. I promise.
I know of a individual from Georgia (Russia) who was dying from AI that involves hardening of skin and organs. They cycled all of his blood slowly through machine that heated up blood to a certain temp (I guess to steralize(sp) blood). He recovered and his body went back to normal (skin and organs) and this was over 15 years ago. He is still healthy and strong as an ox. He did say some of the patients died from procedure.
LuAnn:)
I know when my daughter first got sick, they kept asking if she had ever had a blood transfusion.
I checked the American Red Cross website the last time this came up, and there wasn't anything under 'medications' about any RA drugs I recognized, but it also had a disclaimer that different regions would have their own regulations.
I googled umbilical cord and it brought up
www.viacord.com. Looks like there are stem cells within the cord blood and this company says they're currently researching for cancer and heart disease treatments.
I found a news article about a different company and the article noted that there are over 60 diseases that can be treated with cord blood!
I remember they offered to store the cords for both of my sons, but it was too expensive. In hindsight, we should have done it anyways. I'm guessing the ones that aren't stored are either tossed or donated to science?
Katie, this hamster is "speed walking" like that commercial guy. LMAO
I don't think I've seen that movie yet. Is it worth watching?
MrsA2008-02-08 17:37:21OT about Oprah - I heard a clip on the radio and the girl was saying, "I wonder if he ever thinks about me."
The sperm donor? I hope Oprah gave her a reality check!
LOL Suzanne! I thought the same thing. One of these guys donated three times a week for 3 or 4 years cause they paid him "a cup." Did he ever think of the possiblity of having a hand in fathering a kiddo, sure. Does he think of the +/- 624 children who he could possibly be father to? Not so much.
MrsA2008-02-08 17:42:35[QUOTE=MrsA]
I remember they offered to store the cords for both of my sons, but it was too expensive. In hindsight, we should have done it anyways. [/QUOTE]
I've seen more than one news story about people whose kid got sick and they thought they were safe because they had cord blood. But apparently, most of the stuff they would use it for, if you have it, your cord blood has it, too, so it is no good. Every story made it sound like storing cord blood was a ripoff.
They gave us the literature at the hospital, too, but since no doctor ever once said a word about it, we figured it wasn't as great as the marketing implied. I don't know anyone who stored cord blood.
Cord blood is a great source of stem cells. The 72 diseases have to do with stem cells.
Storing the cord blood in my opinion would be rip off unless they guarantee you cord blood match to be available should you need it. At Northwestern Hospital where I had my stem cell transplantation, they collected 18 million of my own stem cells. They used 9 million for my procedure. They stored the other 9 million. The kicker is they only have shelf life of five years and then are tossed. I am sure my little "Babies" are being reproduced and used as part of their research program as I signed release to study my blood and stem cells.
Well Mrs. A you got me going on this subject LOL
LuAnn:)
Mel, it's worth a watch with the mood you're in right now! It'll make your brain tick even more. :) Just keep in mind, it IS a hollywood flick...lolHi guys, there was a story only in the last couple of weeks where a girl had a blood transfusion or it may have been a donated organ and for the first time ever, the patient has taken on the immune system and blood group of the donor!!! It was in the news a fair bit so try to look it up if you are interested. Thought it may help us in the future if we could take on someone elses immune system instead of our own crappy one. Regards Janie.
Run a search here for "leukocyte reduction" and or "Red Cross".
They're not saying we're contagious YET - but the evidence is mounting. Because I believe wholeheartedly in the 'infection connection' and mycoplasmic infection being the cause of these AI diseases - I cannot in good conscious donate my blood. If you even think there might be some truth to what I've been saying, please do not donate.
This was the original article in the LA Times.
All I know is that when I told my OB/GYN that I couldn't donate in our home town because I have PRA, the first words out of her mouth were "They know."
Good bye and thank you for playing.
Pip
I had asked a similar question a while back because I used to donate blood and it seems we're always having shortages of blood around here. I felt bad I wasn't donating since my DX and wondered if it would be OK. I was told by a nurse it's OK if I wasn't in a flare, but when we talked about it here, someone (Pip?) brought up the point about maybe passing on the disease in the blood, which I hadn't thought about. So I don't even consider donating anymore. I couldn't in good conscience take the chance of passing this on to someone else. That defeats the whole purpose of trying to do some good. i want to donate so bad! but i dont think i can, i dunno if heard mixed things......i dont think i can right cause im on enbrel and methotrexate?I have donated blood since I was 18. I donated blood for my own operations (its called autologus). Having O Pos blood I have been called at short notice by the blood bank for an urgent 'pint'. I was able to donate right up until I went on the immunosuppressants and now its only good for me... sigh. Hi Mrs A,
I doubt that it is passed on through blood transfusions. I used to donate blood in my early 20's and they won't let you donate if you have anything like RA/Lupus here in Australia anyway. They wouldn't even let me donate when I had the Rubella immunisation. They do tests on the blood to check so they would tell you to see your doctor if they found anything. And Yes, I had a transfusion after the birth of my first son. That was about 9 years before I was diagnosed. It didn't have anything to do with the RA though as both my parents have RA to different degrees - My mother's is inactive and my Dad's was the same strain as mine. So I inherited it from them, not from the blood. That is my story and while I am not a medical professional, I do highly doubt it could happen.
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