Blood Substitutes

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the search for the perfect substitute for human blood. The paper presents various products developed as blood substitutes and explores their effectiveness. The products discussed are Fluosol-DA, Oxygent, Hemopure, Polyheme, and Polyethylene Glycol (PEG).

From the Paper:

"The search for the perfect substitute for human blood began as early as the 17th century, when water, oil, milk and animal blood were used for transfusion until the first human-to-human transfusion in Philadelphia in 1795 (McCarthy 2003). Successes were, however, inconstant since then, as patients died due to injuries or from reactions to foreign blood, so that it was only a last resort during emergencies. Early in the 20th century, the cataloging of blood types enabled the matching of blood types between donors and recipients, despite the risk of blood infected with HIV and other viruses, drugs and toxins (McCarthy). Even then, there have been too few donors in proportion to a large number who require it. In 2000, for example, eight million donated 13 million liters and 4.5 received the donated blood. Supply has not only remained short of the need, the shelf life is also short. The shelf life of red blood cells, for example, is 42 days and given this shelf life, 3 to 8% of donated units are soon disposed into the incinerator (McCarthy)."

More papers on Blood Substitutes:

• Essay # 48908 : "Blood Substitutes in Development"
• Term Paper # 104351 : "Teaching Patients about a Low-Sodium Diet"
• Essay # 72769 : "Blood"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: