Transfusion Medicine - Is Its future Secure?

 Will Medicine Change?

'If transfusion medicine is always so fraught with dangers,' you might wonder,' why is blood still used so extensively, particularly when there are alternatives?' One reason is that many doctors are simply reluctant to change treatment methods or are unaware of therapies that are currently used as alternatives to transfusions.  According to an article in the Journal Transfusion,  "physicians make transfusion decisions based upon their past teaching, enculturation, and 'clinical judgment." 

A surgeon's skills also make a difference.  Dr. Beverly Hunt, of London England, writes that "blood loss is highly variable between surgeons, and there is increasing interest in training surgeons in adequate surgical hemostasis [methods to stop  bleeding]." Others claim that the costs of transfusion alternatives are too high, although reports are emerging that prove otherwise.  Many doctors, however, would agree with the medical director   Dr. Michael Rose, who says: " Any patients who receives bloodless medicine is, in essence, the recipient of the highest quality surgery that is possible.

The highest quality of medical care-is that not what you would want?  If so, you have something in common with the people who brought you this magazine. Please read on to learn about their  remarkable stance on the matter of blood transfusions. 

Next time: Transfusion Medicine-Is Its Future Secure? - Death by TRALI

From the jw.org publications