Artificial blood 'a success'
From correspondents in Stockholm, Sweden
October 23, 2003
SWEDISH doctors have for the first time successfully used artificial blood to treat patients with a method they hope will eventually help revolutionise health care, they said today.
The artificial blood is made from real blood that has been donated but which normally only has a shelf life of 42 days. Now, instead of throwing that blood away after 42 days, doctors are able to use the red blood cells to produce a powder that can be stored for several years.
The powder can then be mixed into liquid form when needed, for example at the scene of an accident, and used immediately regardless of the patient's blood type.
Pierre LaFolie, chief physician at Stockholm's Karolinska Hospital, said that if artificial blood were approved for use it could lead to dramatic changes in health care.
"If this really works all the way, then mankind will have taken a big step forward. This is like like landing on the moon," he told Swedish radio.
LaFolie said synthetic blood could save time after an accident, noting that the blood would not need to be tested before being given to a patient and could be administered directly at the scene.
The synthetic blood has also been shown to transport oxygen through the body better than real blood, which can help limit damage to the body, for example during a heart attack.
"In acute situations time is of the essence, within an hour all these things have to be done. That's why I think this artificial blood is so important for people," he said.
The blood would be used to complement a patient's own blood, not replace it, as real blood has qualities that the artificial blood lacks.
The synthetic blood has been developed by researchers in the United States - the exact process for developing it has been kept secret - and it has been tested for the first time on eight patients at Karolinska Hospital.
"There has been no sign that the blood would be rejected. This is a molecule that the body's immune system gladly welcomes," professor Bengt Fagrell, who is leading the study, told Swedish news agency TT.
Fagrell said the patients had been administered artificial blood made out of human red blood cells, but noted that red blood cells from any mammal could be used.
"We have chosen to use human blood for ethical reasons. But we could use blood within the entire mammal chain, such as cow blood," he said.
Agence France-Presse
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_...5E1702,00.html
