(Circulation. 2001;103:e9047.)
© 2001 American Heart Association, Inc.
Cardiovascular News
New Measures Considered to Eliminate "Mad Cow" Disease
Because fears of mad cow disease spread more rapidly than the disease itself, the American Red Cross announced on May 21, 2001, that people who have spent as little as 3 months in Britain or 6 months anywhere in Europe are not eligible to be blood donors. The restrictions are thought to be more strict than those being considered by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), according to a report in the May 21, 2001, issue of the Wall Street Journal.
The Red Cross’ rules would also ban donations from anyone who had received a blood transfusion in the United Kingdom. Last year, the FDA decided that anyone who had spent a total of 6 months in Britain between the years 1980 and 1996 could not give blood. The new rules from the Red Cross could decrease the current donor pool by 8% in an era when blood donations are down and shortages of blood are chronic.
European Tests of Using Skeletal Muscle Cells to Replace Heart Muscle Planned
Studies in the Netherlands and France will test an American researcher’s plan to use cells from skeletal muscle to replace damaged myocardium in humans. Safety trials are set to begin soon at the University Hospital Dykzigt in Rotterdam of an approach pioneered in animals by Doris Taylor, PhD, a scientist at Duke University Medical Center. A second study, which is already underway at Hospital Bichat in Paris, uses a different approach to deliver the skeletal muscle cells to the heart.
Dr Taylor’s plan uses muscle cells from the leg that
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