by QuestioningEverything 10 Replies latest watchtower medical
My mom is in the hospital with internal bleeding. She has agreed, much to my surprise, to accept the blood alternative of bovine blood. Is this something new? I've never heard of it but it appears that the JW Hospital Liason Elders told her about it and that it was a conscious matter.
Anyone out there who can give me some insight about this?
That's new to me. Last I heard on that topic specifically was during one of the annual parts on the topic in which they specifically said something about a product called 'bogus blood' that is derived from cow's blood, and as such is unfit for christians.
I wish your mom a swift recovery. Hopefully this cult's apparent relaxation of the blood ban will prevent it from claiming her life.
Edit: I should probably note that the last I heard of this was about 15 years ago.
Yup, hemopure.
http://biomed.brown.edu/Courses/BI108/2006-108websites/group09artificialblood/Pages/hemopure.htm
I can see how HLC may be enamoured of this medical miracle. In an attempt to keep the WT prohibition and still live.
They ignore of course that we are supposed to pour the animal's blood out on the ground instead of "consume" it. I mean, that's where the whole stupid prohibition came about in the first place, isn't it?
I wouldn't share this cynicism with your mom of course. We all want her to live.
Welp, there ya go. It's so rediculous what the blood ban has come to. They've gone so far with their literal interpretation of it as to ban life-saving treatments that use willingly donated blood from a living host, while allowing blood from a slautered animal (what the origonal biblical ban was all about) to be used!
The bible says that animal blood must be poured out on the ground, not used for something else....this product is made out of stored bovine blood, how is that possible and fulfill that requirement?
(Just pretend that is a cow)
You need to get as much information from the elders as you can, anything in writting. Seems as though hemopure is ok to use but I have not found any Jw documents were they outright say this. It would be big if you could get any info written.
*** g 8/06 p. 11 The Real Value of Blood ***
What Are Hemoglobin-Based Oxygen Carriers?
Within each red blood cell are some 300 million hemoglobin molecules. Hemoglobin represents about one third of the volume of a mature red cell. Each molecule contains the protein globin and a pigment called heme—which includes an iron atom. When a red blood cell passes through the lungs, oxygen molecules penetrate the cell and attach themselves to hemoglobin molecules. Seconds later, the oxygen is discharged into body tissue, sustaining the life of the cells.
Some manufacturers now process hemoglobin, releasing it from human or bovine red blood cells. The extracted hemoglobin is then filtered to remove impurities, chemically modified and purified, mixed with a solution, and packaged. The end product—not yet approved for use in most lands—is called a hemoglobin-based oxygen carrier, or HBOC. Since the heme is responsible for the rich red color of blood, a unit of HBOC looks just like a unit of red blood cells, the primary component from which it is taken.
Unlike red blood cells, which must be refrigerated and discarded after a few weeks, the HBOC can be stored at room temperature and used months later. And since the cell membrane with its unique antigens is gone, severe reactions due to mismatched blood types pose no threat. However, compared with other blood fractions, the HBOC presents more challenges to conscientious Christians, who seek to obey God’s law on blood. Why? As long as the HBOC is derived from blood, there are two objections that may be raised. One, the HBOC carries out the key function of a primary component of blood, the red cells. Two, hemoglobin, from which the HBOC is derived, makes up a significant portion of that component. Regarding this and similar products, then, Christians face a very serious decision. They must carefully and prayerfully meditate on Bible principles concerning the sacredness of blood. With a keen desire to maintain a good relationship with Jehovah, each must be guided by his Bible-trained conscience.—Galatians 6:5.
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Hemopure, developed and produced by OPK Biotech, is a hemoglobin-based oxygen carrier based on chemically stabilized bovine hemoglobin. It has been developed for potential use in humans as an oxygen delivering bridge in cases when blood is not available or is not an option. The product, Hemoglobin-glutamer 250 (Bovine) approved for human use and sale in South Africa for several years.
"Oxyglobin", a similar product Hemoglobin-glutamer 200 (Bovine) or HBOC-301 was approved for use to treat canine anemia in 1998.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemopure
(Look up more on the source of the hemoglobin...direct from the blood)
Thank you to all for your replies!! It ended up not being necessary. Thank goodness!
