Friday, August 15, 2008

Anemia caused by chemotherapy, dialysis or heart disease may actually help heal the body

From the Ottawa Citizen:
Anemia caused by chemotherapy, dialysis or heart disease may actually help heal the body rather than harm it, says a new study that challenges the need for a $9-billion-a-year drug.

The study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, suggests millions of patients with anemia due to chronic disease are being dangerously overtreated. In many cases, the treatments could increase risk of death, said Dr. Ryan Zarychanski, the study's co-author and a scientist at the Ottawa Health Research Institute.

"Doctors have been taught for generations that anemia is bad and they want to help their patients by treating it," said Dr. Zarychanski, who's also a hematologist at The Ottawa Hospital. "But we failed to consider this response may be adaptive and may be exactly the response that the body needs at that time." ...more

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