Posted on 02/09/2009 10:31:00 AM PST by BGHater
The parents of an eight-year-old boy with a rare blood disorder have amazed doctors by finding a cure for him after refusing to give up hope.
Reuben Grainger-Mead suffered a condition so rare that doctors did not even have a name for it.
The schoolboy suffered from a low level of red blood cells, which left him with a weak immune system and needing blood transfusions once a month. Doctors compared his condition to living with a permanent hangover.
But after years of research his parents Michelle and Peter, discovered Reuben lacked vital amino acids and proteins and put him on a course of dietary supplements.
Now his red blood cell count his above average and he is catching up to his school friends in height.
Mrs Mead said: "We are dumbfounded at how successful it has been. We did live in hope but always had the doubt as all the medics were saying there was nothing else we could do."
The success of Reuben's treatment has led to doctors planning a study to see if similar therapy works on other ill children and adults.
One expert has described it as a medical breakthrough that could eventually lead to a cure for some cancers among other diseases.
Dr Jose Delafuente, an eminent haematologist at Imperial College, London, said: "Reuben has been given amino acids as part of a diet of supplements and this seems to have a positive effect on him. They seem to be helping his cells grow normally and as a result he is starting to grow properly."
The story mirrors that of Lorenzo Odone, who was diagnosed with an incurable brain condition in 1984 aged six – and was turned into Hollywood film "Lorenzo's Oil" starring Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Low red blood cell production is called “ablastic anemia”. I don’t know why they said there’s no name for it.
Good question.
Dr. House would have figured it out.
On the USA Network - no less.
their son experienced a miracle ...
Thank God for it.
In an hour
After nearly killing him a few times with various mis-diagnoses, of course. I like “House”, but I would NEVER EVER want someone like the character as my doctor if I had any choice in the matter.
FYI
This story appears to be a case of really finding a cure, and shouldn’t be compared to the Odone story, for which there is no medical evidence that the miracle oil helped, much less cured anyone. I have some personal knowledge of the Odone story, and it’s not what was presented in the movie by a long shot.
I love HOUSE!!
“It’s Lupis...begin treatment for Lupis immediatley!”
You’re thinking of aPlastic anemia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aplastic_anemia , but that involves the white blood cells as well. This sounds like some form of pure red cell aplasia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acquired_pure_red_cell_aplasia , but there may be details that didn’t match up with known forms of that (from the skimpy Wikipedia entry, it appears that red cell aplasia generally involves some autoimmune and/or infectious process, meaning red cells are getting destroyed, rather than not produced in the first place).
From another article:
“Doctors believe his condition is unique, but said it is similar to Diamond Blackfan Anaemia (DBA) - but some of his symptoms were very different.”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1139624/Boy-baffling-illness-rare-does-cured-PARENTS.html
HaHa!! On HOUSE, don’t they always get to “Lupis” somewhere along the line in each episode? And he always has his final medical epiphany when he’s doing something commonplace, like taking a crap or eating a ham sandwich.
Vitamin supplement BUMP!
House is the same show every week with a new disease that is always cured just before the last commercial.
I liked it for a while, but no hospital in their right mind would have a known drug addict doctor on staff, no matter how smart he was.
My wife watches House. I alway tease her because Dr. House always misdiagnoses the patient at least 3 times during any episode and the treatments for the misdiagnosis’ often almost kill the patient.
No wonder they only “practice” medicine.
It’s always Lupis. :)
Look I only know about it because I saw that movie “Being There” with Peter Sellers, and that’s the disease the old man had in the movie. I’m an engineer, you’ll have to talk to my wife the biologist about the health stuff.
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