Transfusion of Whole blood?

by Marvin Shilmer 5 Replies latest jw friends

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  Marvin Shilmer

  Transfusion of Whole blood?

  Today I added a new article to my blog addressing contemporary medicine and the use of whole blood transfusion.

  In developed societies whole allogeneic blood is transfused for a variety of conditions, and it saves lives. Modern medicine also transfuses whole blood from preoperative autologous blood donation, and this also saves lives. Both of these are forbidden under Watchtower doctrine for Jehovah’s Witnesses, with a result of higher risk of disease and death.

  My article is titled Transfusion of Whole blood? and is available at: http://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com/2012/02/transfusion-of-whole-blood.html

  Marvin Shilmer

  http://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com
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  Dogpatch

  Wikipedia gives a more thorough explanation, and so does the Red Cross.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_transfusion

  Processing and testing of blood products after donation

  The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (June 2011)

  A bag containing one unit of fresh frozen plasma

  Donated blood is usually subjected to processing after it is collected, to make it suitable for use in specific patient populations. Collected blood is then separated into blood components by centrifugation: red blood cells, plasma, platelets, albuminprotein, clotting factor concentrates, cryoprecipitate, fibrinogen concentrate, and immunoglobulins (antibodies). Red cells, plasma and platelets can also be donated individually via a more complex process called apheresis.

  • All donated blood are tested for infections. The current protocol tests donated blood for HIV-1, HIV-2, HTLV-1, HTLV-2, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Syphilis (T pallidum), Chagas disease (T cruzi), and West Nile Virus. In addition, platelet products are also tested for bacterial infections due to its higher inclination for contamination due to storage at room temperature. Presence of Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is also tested because of risk to certain immunocompromised recipients if given, such as those with organ transplant or HIV. However, not all blood is tested for CMV because only a certain amount of CMV-negative blood needs to be available to supply patient needs. Other than positivity for CMV, any products tested positive for infections are not used.
  • All donated blood are also tested for ABO and Rh groups, along with the presence of any red blood cell antibodies.
  • Leukoreduction is the removal of white blood cells by filtration. Leukoreduced blood products are less likely to cause HLA alloimmunization (development of antibodies against specific blood types), febrile non-hemolytic transfusion reactions, cytomegalovirus infections, and platelet-transfuion refractoriness.
  • Pathogen Reduction treatment that involves, for example, the addition of riboflavin with subsequent exposure to UV light has been shown to be effective in inactivating pathogens (viruses, bacteria, parasites and white blood cells) in blood products. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] By inactivating white blood cells in donated blood products, riboflavin and UV light treatment can also replace gamma-irradiation as a method to prevent graft-versus-host disease (TA-GVHD). [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ]

  The bottom line is that besides testing, white blood cells are routinely removed before using blood, at least in the U.S. They can be pathogenic and kill the person under some situations. Then it is not really "whole blood." They are ROUTINELY THROWN IN THE TRASH according to a Red Cross Rep. at our blood bank van we set up. They ought to know.

  More to come.

  Randy
• 

  Dogpatch

  Wikipedia also says this to show how sometimes a lot of blood is needed to get just one pint of altered blood, such as they give to Witnesses:

  Plateletpheresis and whole blood platelets

  Not all platelet transfusions use platelets collected by automated apheresis. The platelets can also be separated from donations of whole blood collected in a traditional blood donation, but there several advantages to separating the platelets at the time of collection. The first advantage is that the whole-blood platelets, sometimes called "random" platelets, from a single donation are not numerous enough for a dose to give to an adult patient. They must be pooled from several donors to create a single transfusion, and this complicates processing and increases the risk of diseases that can be spread in transfused blood, such as human immunodeficiency virus. [citation needed]

  Collecting the platelets from a single donor also simplifies human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matching, which improves the chance of a successful transfusion. Since it is time-consuming to find even a single compatible donor for HLA-matched transfusions, being able to collect a full dose from a single donor is much more practical than finding multiple compatible donors.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_transfusion

  This should be made known all over. Blood is treated and components are removed as a rule, at least in this country, by the Red Cross. That is one of the purposes of the blood bank, to educate the public what Jehovah's Witnesses use in terms of public resources but give nothing back. The locations of several blood vans, and the publicity associated with it, with fliers and videos and signs, will expose the doublespeak of the Witnesses. That's why AJWRB.ORG now has three forums, one to educate the public, one for doctors only, and one for anonymous Witnesses. We are not condemning them or doing anti-JW rallys in the future. It is our own publicity campaign, where you "arrest" the gaze of the bystander, which at first thinks that the sign is incorrect, but then they inquire and find out all the details in a kind way.

  The old way of attacking Witnesses for it should be put to rest. The Smalley/Rusk blood policy may be dropped sooner than without it. We're willing to hit the streets. We need ACTION, no more deskwork. Enough of that has been done and is on the AJWRB.ORG site, just use the new site index and you will find it all.

  Some interesting letters back and forth between "R. Jensen" and the Watchtower late last century reveal a little more of insider info that the anerage publisher doesn't know:

  http://www.ajwrb.org/currentwtpolicy/watchtower/index.html

  People don't understand cultspeak, or hyow cults use it.

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/220448/1/Why-are-there-two-Watchtowers-published-The-real-reason

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/201579/7/Generation-Teaching-Everyone-is-speechless

  http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110608135237AAu09QN

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/220997/1/Blondies-Comments-You-Will-Not-Hear-at-the-01-22-2012-WT-Study-HELP-MEN

  TIME to expose the cultspeak!

  But our new program will be low key, and no losers or attacks made. It will be in progressive harmony with the older articles on the site. We just want to save at least one life.

  Randy
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  Marvin Shilmer

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  Thanks for your contribution to this subject.

  It is counterproductive to attack the community of Jehovah’s Witnesses for doctrines of the Watchtower organization. It is a wholly top-down enterprise.

  One of the biggest lies every told by the Watchtower organization is that Jehovah’s Witnesses abstain from blood. Nothing could be further from the truth. This has been the case for decades.

  Articles on my blog are to share well-researched and vetted information with readers. Those readers will make of it whatever they will, which is as it should be. If they spot errors or overstatements hopefully they will comment to point this out for sake of review and correction if necessary.

  Marvin Shilmer

  http://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com
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  Dogpatch

  Right on Marvin, especially when you say,

  It is counterproductive to attack the community of Jehovah’s Witnesses for doctrines of the Watchtower organization. It is a wholly top-down enterprise.

  WE didn't invent their cultspeak as JWs, the leaders did. We HAD to learn it!

  Now we just have to get it out of our heads. Hey, after 30 years I still find land mines in my brain left over from them! :-))

  Randy
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  Marvin Shilmer

  _

  Thanks for your comments.

  The antidote for lunatic religious indoctrination is education. It is the only remedy.

  Unfortunately the line of individuals standing in line as prey for dishonest leaders is probably a few billion deep. Education is the only means of reducing this line of prey.

  We cannot out-think dishonest leaders without getting down to their level, at which point they’ll beat us with experience.

  But we can educate, if we let ourselves.

  Marvin Shilmer

  http://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com