Word: anemia
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Sickle-cell anemia is a truly discriminating disease: 99% of its U.S. victims are black. The result of a genetic mutation that occurred in Africa centuries ago, it reduces susceptibility to malaria in the 8% to 10% of U.S. Negroes who carry it. But in those (about 1%) actually harmed by it, periodic crises distort the normally spherical red blood cells into crescent-like ("sickle") structures, which then block the narrow capillaries. This deprives nearby tissues of needed oxygen and causes severe pain. The disease kills at least half its victims before the age of 20; only a handful live...
Nalbandian's team is cautiously optimistic about its discovery. Earlier attempts to treat sickle-cell anemia with alkalis and antihistamines either failed or produced undesirable side effects. But Nalbandian's treatment, tested on 25 patients at four major hospitals, has thus far proved safe and effective...
...Frances Cunningham entered MacNeal Memorial Hospital in Berwyn, Ill., for treatment of anemia in 1960. During her stay, she received several pints of blood, and when she came down with a severe case of serum hepatitis a few months later, she sued the hospital...
Chlorosis, the virginal love sickness that produced a greenish pallor in young girls suffering the pangs of unrequited love, passed out of medical terminology when it was discovered to be nothing more than iron-deficiency anemia. Febricula, a "little fever" that lingered in some medical texts until 1947, was once thought to be caused by stale beer, foul odors and sewer gases. It has since been identified as a symptom of a variety of other-and more easily identified-viral infections of the respiratory tract...
...caused by race, individual heredity, personal idiosyncrasy, or allergic reaction. Enzyme deficiencies and abnormal hemoglobins are found among Negroes and some Mediterranean peoples. In as many as 10% of Negro males, normal doses of the antimalarial drug primaquine will precipitate an acute and potentially fatal blood-destroying anemia. Many individuals with this peculiarity are almost equally sensitive to sulfas and several other drugs...