SHERIDAN — Sheridan Memorial Hospital will host its monthly HealtheLife blood screenings Sept. 15. From 6:30-11:30 a.m., patients will complete a wellness blood screening at SMH Primary Care. Tests offered include a blood chemistry panel, CBC, PSA, HA1C and Vitamin D.
Thirteen-year-old Dreylan Holmes may not describe himself as very talkative, yet he’s got an abundance of energy that fuels his love of sports. But that energy quickly vanished when Dreylan became riddled with excruciating, life-threatening pain in the fall of 2021. His hemoglobin dropped and his platelet count plummeted. That’s when doctors raised the flag that he needed blood—immediately. But the one item that could help both reduce the pain and restore the bounce in his step was unavailable. His situation is reminiscent of what many patients are going through now, as the Red Cross has seen a concerning drop in blood donations in recent months. The impacts of an active disaster season, busy travel season and back-to-school have caused numerous canceled blood drives, resulting in tens of thousands of blood donations going uncollected. Uncertainty filled every minute. “Over the course of those two days [waiting for blood], he got progressively worse,” said his mother, Vesha Jamison, who works as a blood donor recruitment manager for the Red Cross and was keenly aware of the low national blood inventory levels. Dreylan is one of more than 100,000 people across the U.S. living with the disease, which distorts round, healthy red blood cells into crescent-shaped ones, making it difficult for them to flow through the bloodstream and carry oxygen to the body. This often leads to severe pain, tissue and organ damage, anemia and strokes. Finding compatible blood types for sickle cell patients like Dreylan isn’t easy. An estimated 62% of the U.S. population is eligible to donate blood, but only about 3% donate each year. One in three African American blood donors are a match for people with sickle cell disease, the most common genetic blood disorder in the country affecting mostly those of African descent. Dreylan’s chronic pain crises still continue today and sometimes require blood transfusions. He’s had more than a dozen so far in his lifetime. “Typically as moms, we put on our capes and we come to our children’s rescue. And this is the one thing that I cannot not fix,” Vesha recalled. Teenage Life, Interrupted September is Sickle Cell Awareness Month, a time to acknowledge and support those living with the disease who navigate its challenges year-round. For Dreylan, flare-ups of extreme pain—known as sickle cell crises—often keep him from participating in common activities that make up everyday teen life. He’s had to miss roughly half of the entire school year, relying on help from a homebound teacher’s aide. He lights up when playing basketball, but can’t always participate alongside his friends. “It’s like getting hit with a baseball bat,” he said of the pain that leaves him unable to get out of bed sometimes. Dreylan knows firsthand that misconceptions of sickle cell disease are abundant. “Sometimes, kids at school look at me funny, like they can catch it [sickle cell disease] or something,” he said. But the condition is genetic and can be inherited if both parents carry the sickle cell trait. Many people also remain unaware if they carry the trait, as sickle cell trait testing at birth was not widely provided in the U.S. until 2006. That’s exactly how Vesha found out about her son’s diagnosis. “It was heartbreaking,” Vesha said. “I felt very guilty . . . like I had given him the worst part of me. I knew all my life that I had the [sickle cell] trait, but not the full extent of what that meant. Hope at Last Eventually, after a harrowing two-day wait, blood finally arrived for Dreylan thanks to a generous blood donor. “I say a little prayer for whoever donated that blood when the bag is being hung by Dreylan’s bedside,” Vesha said, teary-eyed. “It’s my family today, but it could be yours tomorrow.” People with life-threatening conditions are relying on blood donors now more than ever. To schedule an appointment to give blood, visit RedCrossBlood.org/ OurBlood or call 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767). This month, the Red Cross is launching Joined By Blood and teaming up with partners in the Black community—such as 100 Black Men of America, Inc., Kier’s Hope Foundation, Inc. and others—to host blood drives and rally blood donors who are Black to support the blood transfusion needs of sickle cell patients. The initiative is a fall activation of the Red Cross Sickle Cell Initiative, representing the powerful connection between blood donors and patients.
This month, the American Legion and Auxiliary will sponsor their final 2023 American Red Cross Community Blood Drive on Tuesday, Sept. 13, from 1-6 p.m., in Fellowship Hall at Sun Prairie United Methodist Church, 702 North St. The American Red Cross will be collecting whole blood and power red cells. Race to give blood this September × This page requires Javascript. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Featured Local Savings
KENDALL COUNTY, Texas – A San Antonio-area woman whose blood alcohol content was nearly four times the legal limit when taken into custody on a sixth DWI charge has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, court records obtained by KSAT Investigates show. Karon Shouse, 58, was sentenced last month in Kendall County District Court, nearly two years after investigators said she drove the wrong way down a street, nearly struck a man with her vehicle and then refused to stop for a Fair Oaks Ranch police officer who attempted to pull her over. Separate breath specimens provided by Shouse came back with blood alcohol content (BAC) levels of .315 and .308, nearly four times the legal limit to drive in Texas, Kendall County records showed. Shouse’s arrest occurred while she was on probation for felony DWI in Comal County, records show. Shouse, who was required to have an ignition interlock device installed on any vehicle she operated as part of the 2019 DWI plea agreement in Comal County, was driving a vehicle without one on the night of her arrest in Kendall County. Shouse, as part of an Aug. 16 guilty plea in Kendall County, was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine, $445 in court costs and was given credit for 183 days of time served. Shouse, who was in the process of being transferred to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice this week, will serve her sentence in a “therapeutic community,” court records show. A Therapeutic Community program provides treatment for inmates with a history of substance abuse, according to TDCJ’s website. “The sentence speaks for itself. The judge gave the maximum sentence allowed by law,” Shouse’s attorney, Mark Stevens, said via telephone Tuesday. History of DWI started in Bexar County For Shouse, her Kendall County arrest was her sixth time being charged with DWI since 2006, according to records compiled by KSAT Investigates from four area counties. Shouse racked up three DWI charges in a five-month period in Bexar County, misdemeanor court records obtained by KSAT show. Shouse was first charged with DWI in Bexar County in February 2006, while under investigation for a separate November 2004 drunk driving incident, according to court records. Shouse was eventually charged in the initial 2004 case, in April 2006, 17 months after San Antonio police said her vehicle struck a guardrail while driving along Loop 1604 North, according to charging paperwork. Shouse, who failed a standard field sobriety test and provided a breath specimen with a BAC over .08, suffered a cut to her head during the crash. Magistrate officials refused to accept her for booking after her arrest and instead sent her to a hospital to be treated, causing the misdemeanor case to be filed against her more than a year later, records show. Shouse was then charged with DWI-open container and driving while license invalid in July 2006, after officers said a cup of wine was found in her possession while she was driving drunk, court records show. Shouse was found guilty in April 2007 as part of a negotiated plea that called for the February 2006 charge to be dismissed and for her to plead no contest in the July 2006 case, records show. Months before signing the plea agreement, however, in January 2007, Shouse was found to have violated the conditions of her pretrial release, after an ignition interlock device determined Shouse had alcohol present on her breath while her vehicle was running. Shouse was eventually sentenced to 14 months of probation and ordered to pay fines and court costs, records show. Trouble elsewhere Two years later, in June 2009, Shouse was booked for felony DWI in Hays County. Shouse pleaded guilty in January 2010 and was ordered to serve 90 days in jail as part of a work-release program, court records show. The program, which called for Shouse to be released from jail on weekday mornings and to return at night, was later shortened to 66 days from the original 90, records show. In August 2018 Shouse was again arrested for felony DWI, this time in Comal County. In exchange for pleading guilty in September 2019, a ten-year prison sentence was set aside and Shouse was instead given ten years of probation, ordered to serve 960 hours of community service and serve 10 days in the county jail, a copy of the plea agreement shows. After Shouse’s most recent arrest in Kendall County, she was booked back into the Comal County Jail in November 2021, Comal County officials previously said. Shouse was transferred from the Comal County Jail to the East Texas Treatment Facility in January 2022, court records show.
Marcia DeRousse, best known for playing Dr. Ludwig on HBO’s vampire drama True Blood, has died. She was 70. According to Variety, DeRousse passed away on Saturday, September 2 in Altadena, California, after a long illness. The actress previously opened up about her health issues on Facebook, revealing in April that she’d suffered a fall at her doctor’s office that exacerbated her problems. “Who knew a fall in my doctor’s office would lead to my death? It caused my hiatal hernia to move to an area where it is now dangerous. Can’t eat, can’t breathe, just general misery,” DeRousse wrote in a Facebook post. “Palliative care comes soon, and we wait to turn into hospice and then to die. Thank you all for being great friends. Love to you.” Born in Doniphan, Missouri, DeRousse began her on-screen acting career in the 1980s, making her debut in the movie Under the Rainbow and then appearing in minor roles in television series such as The Fall Guy and St. Elsewhere. HBO/YouTube In a 2009 interview with TrueBloodNet.com, DeRousse said, “When I went to college, I believed that I was going to teach special ed, I’d really intended to do that but I walked past the theater department one day and walked in and that was it! I thought, “Oh no, this is home. This is where I’m supposed to be.” Her career would slow down in the 1990s, but she returned to the screen in the 2000s, playing Kathleen in the 2003 dramedy Tiptoes alongside Gary Oldman and Kate Beckinsale. Then, in 2009, she landed her most memorable role, playing Dr. Patricia Ludwig in Alan Ball‘s True Blood. She first appeared in Season 2 in the episode “Scratches” and later returned for the drama’s fourth and seventh seasons. More recently, DeRousse starred in the 2013 TV comedy Schoooled and the 2016 psychological horror movie The Disappointments Room.
You wouldn’t know it from looking at us, but inside the blood coursing through our veins are tiny variations that categorize every human into one of these blood-type groups: A-positive, A-negative, B-positive, B-negative, O-negative, O-positive, AB-positive and AB-negative. Often, these minute differences don’t matter until they really matter and you’re in the hospital in need of a blood transfusion, or after you’ve donated blood and you learn which type you have. Some people find out during pregnancy, when special treatment is required for someone with a negative blood type. Knowing your blood type can not only be crucial in an emergency, but it can also offer some important insight into your health. Ongoing research into blood types suggests they may matter more than we give them credit for — at least when assessing risk for certain health conditions, especially heart disease. These invisible differences in the blood may give some people an edge at staving off cardiovascular problems, and may leave others more susceptible. Read more: 3 Ways to Find Your Blood Type if You Don’t Already Know What does blood type really mean? The letters A, B and O represent various forms of the ABO gene, which program our blood cells differently to form the different blood groups. If you have type AB blood, for example, your body is programmed to produce A and B antigens on red blood cells. A person with type O blood doesn’t produce any antigens. Blood is said to be “positive” or “negative” based on whether there are proteins on the red blood cells. If your blood has proteins, you’re Rhesus, or Rh, positive. <!–> –> <!–> The ABO system is the best known way of classifying blood types. Ekachai Lohacamonchai/EyeEm/Getty Images People with type O-negative blood are considered “universal donors” because their blood doesn’t have any antigens or proteins, meaning anyone’s body will be able to accept it in an emergency. But why are there different blood types? Researchers don’t fully know, but factors such as where someone’s ancestors are from and past infections which spurred protective mutations in the blood may have contributed to the diversity, according to Dr. Douglas Guggenheim, a hematologist with Penn Medicine. People with type O blood may get sicker with cholera, for example, while people with type A or B blood may be more likely to experience blood clotting issues. While our blood can’t keep up with the different biological or viral threats going around in real time, it may reflect what’s happened in the past. “In short, it’s almost like the body has evolved around its environment in order to protect it as best as possible,” Guggenheim said. –> People with type O blood may have a lower risk of cardiovascular events. Arctic-Images/Getty Images The blood types most at risk for heart disease People with type A, type B or type AB blood are more likely than people with type O to have a heart attack or experience heart failure, according to the American Heart Association. While the increased risk is small (types A or B had a combined 8% higher risk of heart attack and 10% increased risk of heart failure, according to one large study) the difference in blood clotting rates is much higher, per the AHA. People in the same study with type A and B blood were 51% more likely to develop deep vein thrombosis and 47% more likely to develop a pulmonary embolism, which are severe blood clotting disorders that can also increase the risk of heart failure. A reason for this increased risk, according to Guggenheim, might have to do with inflammation that happens in the bodies of people with type A, type B or type AB blood. The proteins present in type A and type B blood may cause more “blockage” or “thickening” in the veins and arteries, leading to an increased risk of clotting and heart disease. Guggenheim also thinks this may describe the anecdotal decrease in risk of severe COVID-19 disease in people with type O blood. (Note: Since this article was first published over a year ago, more research has added to the notion people with type A blood may have a higher risk of infection. This because the COVID-19 virus binds to cells slightly differently based on blood type.) <!–> –> <!–> There are four main blood groups (types of blood): A, B, AB and O. Peter Dazeley/Getty Images Other consequences of blood type People with type O blood enjoy a slightly lower risk of heart disease and blood clotting, but they may be more susceptible to hemorrhaging or bleeding disorders. This may be especially true after childbirth, according to a study on postpartum blood loss, which found an increased risk in women with type O blood. People with type O blood may also fare worse after a traumatic injury due to increased blood loss, according to a study published in Critical Care. Other research has found people with type AB blood might be at an increased risk for cognitive impairment when compared to people with type O. Cognitive impairment includes things like trouble remembering, focusing or making decisions. Should I change my lifestyle based on my blood type? While research available now shows that blood type can tip the scale in terms of someone’s risk of developing heart disease, big factors such as diet, exercise or even the level of pollution you’re exposed to in your community are the major players in determining heart health. Guggenheim says that for patients trying to keep their heart healthy, there’s no special recommendation that he’d make other than a good heart-healthy diet that lowers inflammation, regardless of someone’s blood type. –> Lean proteins, healthy fats, fruits, vegetables and whole grains are all part of a heart-healthy diet. Lina Darjan/500px/Getty Images But, he notes, future research could offer more definitive ways doctors treat patients based on their blood type. All factors considered equally, a patient with healthy cholesterol levels and type A blood may benefit from taking
The WVU Retirees Association, in cooperation with the American Red Cross, will be holding a blood drive from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 26, at the Erickson Alumni Center, Nutting Gallery. To donate blood, please email [email protected] for a time slot. Walk-in slots are not available. WVU students can obtain community service hours for donating blood and volunteering to work at the blood drive. Contact the Center for Service and Learning to sign up or for clarification on this opportunity. Donating blood can save lives in our community.
A broad new strategy could hold hope for treating virtually all blood cancers with CAR T cell therapy, which is currently approved for five subtypes of blood cancer. Scientists in the Perelman School of Medicine have demonstrated the potential efficacy of this approach in preclinical tests. Image: iStock/PhonlamaiPhoto In the study, published in Science Translational Medicine, the researchers used engineered CAR T cells to target CD45—a surface marker found on nearly all blood cells, including nearly all blood cancer cells. Because CD45 is found on healthy blood cells too, the research team used CRISPR base-editing to develop a method called “epitope editing” to overcome the challenges of an anti-CD45 strategy, which would otherwise result in low blood counts, with potentially life-threatening side effects. The early results represent a proof-of-concept for epitope editing, which involves changing a small piece of the target CD45 molecule just enough so that the CAR T cells don’t recognize it, but it can still function normally within the blood immune system. “Up to this point, we haven’t had the tools to create a targeted cell therapy approach that could work across all different forms of blood and bone marrow cancers,” says senior corresponding author Saar Gill, an associate professor of hematology-oncology. “We’re excited to create a new solution that could solve a major issue in immunotherapy, which is the inability to target surface markers that are found on both cancer cells and healthy cells.” Because CD45 is found on nearly all blood cells—and is usually highly expressed on blood cancer cells—a treatment that wipes out all CD45-bearing cells would leave patients without any blood cells, including red blood cells, platelets, plasma, and even the marrow-based stem cells that generate new blood cells. Furthermore, since T cells are blood cells and normally express CD45, CAR T cells targeting CD45 effectively would kill each other before they could be infused into patients. The team built on previous work to overcome this challenge, using CRISPR base-editing to develop a new strategy called epitope editing. This involves the genetic modification of both the CAR T cells and blood stem cells to alter a small piece of the CD45 structure or “epitope” where the CAR T cells bind to the CD45 molecule. The altered version of CD45 still works but differs enough from normal CD45 that the anti-CD45 CAR T cells do not recognize and attack it. “It’s essentially a blood stem cell transplant paired with CAR T cell therapy,” says lead author Nils Wellhausen, a graduate student in pharmacology and a member of Gill and June’s labs. “The idea is that when the engineered cells are infused, the CAR T cells kill the cancer cells that bear normal CD45, but don’t kill each other or the newly engineered blood stem cells. This allows the engineered blood stem cells to begin making new blood cells.” Read more at Penn Medicine News.
by Tyrah Majors, KOMO News Tue, September 5th 2023, 6:55 PM UTC African-Americans are disproportionately affected by sickle cell disease, including the daughter of KD Hall (pictured), who says her 8-year-old daughter KJ lives with a version of the disease. (Photo: KD Hall Foundation)
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails A shirtless man slashed himself with a knife in dramatic scenes following a violent street robbery in London’s West End, according to a BBC radio reporter who was live on air at the time. The victim was targeted outside the Royal Gifts Gallery in Oxford Street on Tuesday, with shop staff coming to his aid as thieves tried to steal his watch and phone, catching one of the robbers. BBC reporter Anna O’Neill said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that one of the thieves began slashing himself with a large knife until his accomplice was released. She wrote: “While I was live on air, a violent street robbery happened outside one of the gift shops! Poor Phil, visiting the UK on business, was attacked for his watch. “He was wrestled to the group (sic) by two men who tried to take his watch and phone. “The men in the gift shop came out and pulled the robbers off Phil. They managed to apprehend one of the men who was wearing a grey suit. “But his partner came back with a large knife and started slashing himself until they let his partner go … which they did. “We’ve heard police cars, vans and an ambulance heading towards Marble Arch. “The second man was naked from the waist up and covered in blood, holding a large knife.” She was speaking to Eddie Nestor on BBC Radio London as the drama unfolded. The victim, named only as Phil, later spoke to the broadcaster. He said: “They tackled me and they were trying to get my watch off me and get my phone. “And I was able to hold on to the small guy who was trying to take my watch and I wouldn’t let him go. “These guys were around him and pulling them off, and then he got up and he ran without getting my watch. “And they retained the other fellow but the other guy came back, the small fellow who tackled me, and he was starting to cut himself with a knife.” The man who slashed himself is believed to have run off to Marble Arch Tube station, although this has not yet been confirmed by police. A spokesman said: “Police were called at 10.51am on Tuesday, September 5, to reports of a man with a knife in Oxford Street. “It was reported that he was harming himself and threatening to harm others. “Officers attended along with paramedics from the London Ambulance Service. “The man was detained nearby, inside Marble Arch Underground station. “The man was Tasered to prevent him causing further harm to himself or the public. “He was taken to hospital for treatment to self-inflicted injuries. “No other injuries were reported.”
