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Man With the "Golden Arm" Has Saved Lives of 2 Million Babies
schwit1 writes: James Harrison, known as "The Man with the Golden Arm," has donated blood plasma from his right arm nearly every week for the past 60 years. Soon after Harrison became a donor, doctors called him in. His blood, they said, could be the answer to a deadly problem. Harrison was discovered to have an unusual antibody in his blood and in the 1960s he worked with doctors to use the antibodies to develop an injection called Anti-D. It prevents women with rhesus-negative blood from developing RhD antibodies during pregnancy. "In Australia, up until about 1967, there were literally thousands of babies dying each year, doctors didn't know why, and it was awful," explains Jemma Falkenmire, of the Australian Red Cross Blood Service. "Women were having numerous miscarriages and babies were being born with brain damage." It was the result of rhesus disease — a condition where a pregnant woman's blood actually starts attacking her unborn baby's blood cells. In the worst cases it can result in brain damage, or death, for the babies. Australia was one of the first countries to discover a blood donor with this antibody, so it was quite revolutionary at the time. Last year we ran a story about another person with "golden blood" named Thomas.
Do they label the containers of his donated blood 'GH 325'?
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
Can they not cultivate these antibodies?
Because, you know, relying entirely on this one guy seems like bad idea.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
I owe him for the lives of both my daughters. I'm O+, my late wife was O-, and both girls were O+. My wife got Rhogam and both girls were healthy.
Mr. Harrison, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
Don't let him know about this guy.
was so hoping it wasn't about breach births
In actuality the blood plasma was drawn from his gluteus maximus and he was known as the man with the "Golden Ass".
B- CMV- platelets are apparently good some some kids. Used to donate very often. Probably still should.
I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
It says he's donated from his right arm for the past 60 years. Does it only work from his right arm? Do the antibodies stay in if they take blood from his left?
Sadly for a lot of British folk in Canada, because of Mad Cow disease and the unknown incubation period, we're ineligible to give blood. Who knows how many Golden Arms are out there? I used to give blood regularly but that ended when I came to Canada. Not sure how many other countries have those kinds of restrictions.
Well don't leave us hanging - what's James's blood's name?
I'm surprised he's allowed to donate weekly. In my area (Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center), you can only donate plasma once every 28 days.
Was he the Kid with the Golden Arm when he was younger?
The basic problem is that the kids' blood is different from the mothers. As such, the mother's body attack's the kid's blood.
The problem re-occures when the mother gives birth to a female child that has blood similar to her own. But in that case the daughter does NOT need the blood.
So actually every kid the golden arm saves will never have to worry about this problem again.
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
They can isolate and concentrate it, maybe stimulate production, but full synthesis? I don't see that happening yet.
Huh?
Human monoclonal antibodies have been grown by culturing gene-engineered mouse cells since at least 1988. They're already in use treating a number of diseases and more are in the approval pipeline.
From Wikipedia:
This disease process looks like suitable candidate for this approach, as well.
A few antibody PRODUCING cells, harvested from the same donor(s) as the antibodies, would be an ideal starting point: The antibodies have already been proven to cure the disease, so only a production mechanism is needed. Once a suitable cell line has been constructed, tested, and its product approved, the donor can retire, secure in the knowledge that his genetic material will continue to save mothers' and babies' lives, even long after his death.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Your're telling me this antibody stuff can't be produced artificially?
He donated, and they profited.
That's a legitimate super-power right there. And it's not very often that a fictional superhero saves 2 million anything. Just sayin'.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Although it's (sort of) named after rhesus monkeys, the protein is "Rh factor", not "Rhesus factor". Those mothers aren't rhesus-negative, they're Rh-negative.
Well, they are rhesus-negative, but that's because of their livestock inventory, not their blood type.
One small poke in the arm for you, some bleeding, and maybe someone gets to live.
Sad to say, donating blood is probably the most good I do my fellow human beings, of all my activities.
I was kind of pissed when I found out that my trip to Sinaloa, Mexico disqualified me from donating for a year. (Out of fear of malaria.)
--PM
And probably put the man in a book.
Niven, Pournelle? You've put a few friends in wonderful stories. If you collaborate again, this man deserves it.
As a platelet donator myself I have nothing but respect for Mr. James Harrison
Unlike Mr. James Harrison I simply can't foresee I can do 600 bouts of aphresis donation
During the 'peak years' I donated almost once every 2 weeks, as I was always 'on call' by the blood bank as my platelet count is high (more than 350, sometimes approaching 400)
Many blood banks prefer to give the patients, - especially those severely weakened patients who had gone through regiments of chemotherapy to fight their blood/bone marrow cancers, - platelets from single donor rather than platelets collected from multiple donors
Thus far I have done platelet donation for more than 200 times, but due to the accumulation of scar tissues many of the blood veins in both of my arms have either collapsed, or shrunk
I still give blood, but whole blood, as my veins can no longer take the punishment from the aphresis process
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
The article says he is irreplacable, and that about 17% of Australian women are at risk for the condition his blood helps to correct. Is there a backup plan for how to handle that many at-risk pregnancies when Mr. Harrison can no longer donate?
>Unlike Mr. James Harrison I simply can't foresee I can do 600 bouts of aphresis donation
Depends on how much he is getting paid. Given the rare antibody, he is probably banking big dollars.
What part of 'donation' do you not understand?
This might be a stupid question, but is the scar tissue the result of so many donations, or injuries unrelated to the donations?
I am a longtime regular (biweekly) platelet donor as well-- over 32 gallons of platelets to Children's Hospital Los Angeles, dozens of gallons before that to Red Cross-- but unlike you, my platelet count has never been over about 230, and more typically about 180 or so. I'm 67 now... have been using the same needle site for many years... I hope I never have the problem you have had, since I take great satisfaction in my donations, and would be quite happy to continue for another few hundred years. In actual fact, I am confident researchers will eventually make our donations no longer necessary due to some form of synthetic or other substitute, such as genetically engineered platelets (and, plasma, red cells, white cells, etc.) provided by bacteria, plants or other life forms created especially for the purpose. (I see others on Slashdot can create paragraphs, but when I write anything with paragraphs it appears as a single block of text-- WHY???)
In Australia donors don't get paid. They give you a cup of tea and a snack. My hat is off to this bloke. I get sick when I give blood but I try to do it anyway. Many life events stop you being able to donate and my boring life has ensured I can do so. I just get anaemic like crazy afterwards. I've only donated about ten times in twenty years. Shame.
I see others on Slashdot can create paragraphs, but when I write anything with paragraphs it appears as a single block of text-- WHY???
Because Slashdot is fucked. You need to markup your text with html tags such as this
When I was in hospital they put a tube in my arm with a plug in it. This way I could be hooked up for numerous IV/injection in the same hole. I would imagine this guy might have something similar.