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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (May 13, 2015)
National News Few Sickle Cell Patients Recieve Beneficial Drug Reed Commencement Speaker Reed College announces that kathleen Saadat ’74 will be the keynote speaker at the college’s 101st annual commencement ceremony on Monday, May 18 — chosen by the graduating class. Study finds medication helps reduce painful episodes F ew American adults with sickle cell anemia are get- ting a recommended medication that can help them manage pain, breathing problems and other debilitating symptoms, according to a new study. Using a national database, researchers found that less than one-quarter of sickle cell patients who should have been taking a drug called hydroxyurea actually were. “This is a medication that’s highly beneficial and yet most people aren’t getting it,” said Dr. George Buchanan, a sickle cell expert, and a professor at the Uni- versity of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, who was not involved in the new study. Findings from the study were reported in the April 28 issue of the Journal of the American Med- ical Association. Sickle cell anemia is an inherit- ed disease that mainly affects people of African, South Ameri- can or Mediterranean descent. In the United States, about one in 500 African American children are born with the condition, according to the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Experts contend that the central problem in sickle cell is that the body produces red blood cells that are crescent-shaped, rather than disc-shaped. Those abnormal cells tend to be sticky and can block blood flow—causing symptoms such as fatigue and shortness of breath. Many people with sickle cell also suffer sudden bouts of pain due to poor blood flow. And according to treat- ment guidelines released last year, adults who have three or more pain “crises” within a year should be prescribed hydrox- yurea. Hydroxyurea was originally developed as a cancer drug, but it treats sickle cell by prompting the body to make fetal hemo- g l o b i n — a n oxygen-carrying pro- tein in red blood cells. That, in turn, helps keep red blood cells from becoming stiff, sticky and crescent-shaped, according to the NHLBI. “My own view is, the vast majority of people with sickle cell anemia should be taking hydrox- yurea,” said Buchanan, who helped develop the latest treatment Later, she worked with keeston Lowry and other city employees to craft Portland’s civil rights ordinance, which prohibits discrimination against gays and lesbians, and people based on their source of income. PHOTO COURTESY REED COLLEGE Special to the NNPA from Our Weekly Saadat is well known in Portland as an advocate for economic justice, women’s rights, equal rights for people of color. She has also served as a mentor for Oregon’s LGBTQ community for nearly 40 years. In 1976, Saadat and six others organized one of Portland’s first gay rights marches. The Reed commencement ceremony begins at 11 a.m. on Reed’s Great Lawn in front of Eliot Hall. The ceremony is free and open to the public. More information is at www.reed.edu/commencement. need it getting the drug? There are several issues, said Dr. Michael DeBaun, who directs the sickle cell treatment center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. For one, DeBaun explained, there are few hematologists who specialize in treating sickle cell ‘This is a medication that’s highly beneficial and yet most people aren’t getting it’ guidelines. He added that people who work in the field have long known that hydroxyurea is underused, but this study offers hard numbers. “The findings are not surprising, but they’re very disappointing,” Buchanan said. So why aren’t more people who patients—especially adults. So people with the disease often see only a primary care doctor. But because sickle cell is rela- tively rare, DeBaun said, most primary care doctors have little experience treating it. Add to that the fact that they may know little about hydrox- yurea. “It’s a cancer drug,” DeBaun said, “and most internists do not go through their training learning how to manage a chemotherapy agent.” Another issue, DeBaun said, is that many sickle cell patients are low-income Blacks. Some may be uninsured or “under-insured,” and possibly have no consistent health provider. Plus, they often live in areas, whether rural or urban, that lack specialists in the disease, DeBaun explained. Enjoy quick & easy classified ad and announcement ordering at www.theskanner.com May 13, 2015 The Portland and Seattle Skanner Page 9
