After PFAS Contamination on English Channel Island, Government Panel Recommends Bloodletting for Those Affected (theguardian.com) 31
Jersey is an island in the English channel, "a self-governing British Crown Dependency near the coast of northwest France," according to Wikipedia — population: 103,267.
But now some residents of Jersey "have been recommended bloodletting to reduce high concentrations of 'forever chemicals' in their blood," reports the Guardian, "after tests showed some islanders have levels that can lead to health problems." Private drinking water supplies in Jersey were polluted by the use of firefighting foams containing PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) at the island's airport, which were manufactured by the U.S. multinational 3M. .. Bloodletting draws blood from a vein in measured amounts. It is safe and the body replenishes the blood naturally, but it must be repeated until clean...
In response to the blood results, the government established an independent PFAS scientific advisory panel to advise public policy. The panel's first report recommended that the government should look at offering bloodletting to affected residents. "Studies show that bloodletting is an effective way to lower levels of PFAS in blood," said Ian Cousins, one of the panel members, though he added that there were no guarantees the process would prevent or cure diseases associated with the chemicals. The therapy costs about £100,000 upfront and then as much as £200,000 a year to treat 50 people. The panel is also considering the benefit of the drug cholestyramine, which a study has shown reduces PFAS in blood more quickly and cheaply, albeit with possible side effects. The government says it plans to launch a clinical service by early 2025.
Contamination persisted on the island for decades. "We know they started to use 3M's firefighting foam in the 1960s and then ramped up in the 1990s in weekly fire training exercises, after which foam started to appear in nearby streams," said Jeremy Snowdon, a former Jersey airport engineer who drank contaminated water for years. He has measured elevated levels of PFAS in his own blood and has high cholesterol.
The article includes this quote from one of the 88 residents of the polluted area found to have high levels of PFAS after blood testing. "I just want this out of my body. I don't want to end up with bladder cancer."
But now some residents of Jersey "have been recommended bloodletting to reduce high concentrations of 'forever chemicals' in their blood," reports the Guardian, "after tests showed some islanders have levels that can lead to health problems." Private drinking water supplies in Jersey were polluted by the use of firefighting foams containing PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) at the island's airport, which were manufactured by the U.S. multinational 3M. .. Bloodletting draws blood from a vein in measured amounts. It is safe and the body replenishes the blood naturally, but it must be repeated until clean...
In response to the blood results, the government established an independent PFAS scientific advisory panel to advise public policy. The panel's first report recommended that the government should look at offering bloodletting to affected residents. "Studies show that bloodletting is an effective way to lower levels of PFAS in blood," said Ian Cousins, one of the panel members, though he added that there were no guarantees the process would prevent or cure diseases associated with the chemicals. The therapy costs about £100,000 upfront and then as much as £200,000 a year to treat 50 people. The panel is also considering the benefit of the drug cholestyramine, which a study has shown reduces PFAS in blood more quickly and cheaply, albeit with possible side effects. The government says it plans to launch a clinical service by early 2025.
Contamination persisted on the island for decades. "We know they started to use 3M's firefighting foam in the 1960s and then ramped up in the 1990s in weekly fire training exercises, after which foam started to appear in nearby streams," said Jeremy Snowdon, a former Jersey airport engineer who drank contaminated water for years. He has measured elevated levels of PFAS in his own blood and has high cholesterol.
The article includes this quote from one of the 88 residents of the polluted area found to have high levels of PFAS after blood testing. "I just want this out of my body. I don't want to end up with bladder cancer."
Just great ... (Score:1)
some residents of Jersey "have been recommended bloodletting to reduce high concentrations of 'forever chemicals' in their blood,"
Releasing more PFAS (back) into the environment. :-)
Re: (Score:2)
Solution to pollution is dilution (tm)
Trepanning back on the menu? (Score:2)
Or maybe leeches? Or both!
Re: (Score:2)
Cutting holes in the skull won't help.
This is definitely a job for leeches. History is repeating again.
Re: (Score:3)
I assume that they'd be at least an adequate option; though, amazingly talented phlebotomists for the price, supply their own anticoagulants at no additional charge, no sharps waste; and they require very little training.
Re:Trepanning back on the menu? (Score:5, Interesting)
I know you're mostly just trying to be funny, but bloodletting with or without leeches is in fact a valid therapy for several issues. It's clearly not useful fo of tr every medical condition and the ancient theory of humor imbalances that backed blood-letting throughout the ages was utter bunk. However, for hemochromatosis, bloodletting is a valid therapy. Also, for re-attached body parts, leeches can be useful for dealing with blood welling up under the skin before new blood vessel growth completes.
Re: (Score:2)
Or maybe leeches? Or both!
Please don't give the (probable) incoming Secretary of HHS [wikipedia.org] any ideas.
Re: (Score:2)
This is Jersey, not New Jersey.
Speaking of which, it was occupied by the Germans in WWII so we can blame them.
Maybe its a case for Bergerac
Medical costs are out of control! (Score:3)
Thousands of pounds for bloodletting? A medieval barber would've done that for half a loaf of bread per treatment, and probably thrown in some leeches for free!
Or donation (Score:2)
Thousands of pounds for bloodletting? A medieval barber would've done that for half a loaf of bread per treatment, and probably thrown in some leeches for free!
Here in the US we occasionally have blood drives, where the public is invited to give blood for various medical purposes. (Including after a crisis where many people are injured.)
A van drives up, you go in, and about 15 minutes later you're a pint short.
$200,000 to treat 50 people? I bet the Red Cross would do it for much less than that. (Knowing that the donated blood can't be used.)
Re: (Score:2)
Sure, now you're donating a pint of forever chemicals along with your heme.
Re: (Score:2)
$200,000 to treat 50 people? I bet the Red Cross would do it for much less than that. (Knowing that the donated blood can't be used.)
This isn't about donating blood (or rather not donating blood since it's contaminated). It's about donating plasma which can be recovered from the blood in question. The latter takes closer to an hour and requires a host of special machines, multiple people, as well as laboratory oversight which is where the $200k figure comes from.
Re: (Score:1)
My nephew cuts himself for free, just so he can feel anything at all.
I told him what's 'wrong with feeling nothing like the rest of us', but now I think the boy might be on to something.
Re: (Score:2)
Thousands of pounds for bloodletting?
I'm sure some of of American readers took that "£100,000 upfront" as the per-person price.
Re: (Score:2)
That isn't a medical cost to you. It's the total cost of establishing a system of therapy to the entire medical system, and isn't out of control. Jersey is a tiny island without necessary infrastructure to perform this. The costs includes getting additional clinician, nurses, cleaners, and apheresis machines, the latter alone contributes 50% of that 100000 pound up front figure, and the staff contribute to the majority to the 200,000 pound/yr figure and the entire setup can do 50 people per year given staff
Why not dialysis? (Score:3)
It clearly works, so why not?
See also: Decreased levels of perfluoroalkyl substances in patients receiving hemodialysis treatment [sciencedirect.com]
The present study demonstrated the significantly decreased levels of PFHxS, PFOA, PFNA, PFDA, PFUnDA, T-PFOS, and L-PFOS in HD patients compared control subjects after adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, smoking history, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, CAD, and cerebrovascular disease. Furthermore, an additional analysis indicated a notable and consistent decrease in PFAS levels, with the HD group exhibiting the lowest concentrations, followed by the stage 5 non-dialysis CKD group, and the...
I don't know about you guys, but I would prefer to keep my blood and merely remove the perfluorinated compounds in it.
Re: (Score:2)
Why don't we all fly to the moon? It's just as easy as walking to the corner store right?
There's a HUGE difference in complexity and cost and equipment necessary between donating plasma and performing dialysis. There's also a huge difference in risk, the former being very safe - to the point that its a service offered roadside, the latter having a whole host of potential medical complications.
No I prefer to take something out of my body that it will naturally replenish itself rather than go through medical
Re: (Score:2)
Bloodletting never went away, the number of diseases it is used to treat was simply reduced and the ridiculous concept of imbalances of the four humors was rationalized out of medicine. If you have hemochromatosis, however, bloodletting is still a valid therapy.
Re: (Score:2)
Homosapiens Sapiens is a failure.
Actually the fact that bloodletting is an actual therapy used for a variety of medical conditions, including this new problem, and that bloodletting relies on our own bodies biology it shows what an absolute success of a species Homo sapiens actually are. That said, actually many species exhibit the biology that allows bloodletting to have a positive impact on their bodies so we can't take all the credit.
Whoah (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Hardly. It's still used medically for certain conditions. Only ones where it is actually useful and based on solid theories not the four humors bunk that goes back to Hippocrates or even earlier. It probably comes from leaving blood sitting around until it separates into layers of red blood cells, platelets and white blood cells, and plasma. That would explain three of the biles, but it's less clear where the fourth comes from. Perhaps from some of the blood coagulating?
Re: (Score:2)
First literal use of the word 'bloodletting' in this century.
Probably won't be the last ...
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah but only because we gave it a fancy name these days like "therapeutic phlebotomy".
Reminds me of high school (Score:1)
I recall in high school those of 18 years of age (or perhaps younger with parental permission) would be encouraged to donate blood in an annual event to replenish the local stockpile of blood for people needing this blood for surgeries and such. One argument made for donation was that the process of donation meant removing any contaminates in the blood and therefore improved the health of the donor. While that kind of made sense to me I was still suspect on the argument since if that was the case then I t