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That’s nuts. Seems like researchers should look really closely at weird side effects of blood transfusions since these are effectively “natural experiments” that would be impossible or unethical to run normally.

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Generally, I think if a patient needs blood transfusions there's a bigger and more immediate life-and-death problem right there. I think allergies would be preferable to death.

Is my understanding correct? I hope blood transfusion hasn't become a routine procedure these days.

I don't think GC was suggesting that we stop blood transfusions, but rather that we do better tracking to improve our understanding in a way that normally would be unethical (if not for the fact that, as you say, blood transfusions are a life-saving intervention).

Yes exactly.

You get a blood transfusion for any major surgery.

Makes me wonder if there is any possibility to give blood in the lead-up to your surgery, such that you're transfused with your own blood?

It's called an autotransfusion and it's a thing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autotransfusion

You get it IF there is a need for it, not always.

I had an open heart surgery and didn't get a blood transfusion.

No.

Before the 1990's but not anymore. The contaminated blood scandal in the United Kingdom (https://www.infectedbloodinquiry.org.uk/) and a lot of papers showing benefits to avoiding blood loss in the first place have changed practices. We haven't eliminated the use of allogeneic blood transfusions but they're indicated a lot less than they used to be.

They do. These incidences are rare, but documented, and researched.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/when-peanut-aller...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4562830/

It looks like the allergy isn't permanent though.

Well, the boffins figured out somehow that if you get a blood transfusion from an Opossum you become immune to all snake venom for a while.

(Seems wikipedia removed this factoid now... and other sources state "most" snake venom)

I assume they tested on animals, not humans.

Can you provide a source? That sounds unlikely

Here is something scholarly:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5315628/

I cannot find anything now talking about a blood transfusion (I probably read about it 10 years back). It more or less jives with the scholarly article in that "immunogenic effects are reported".

A slightly less dry read:

https://www.grunge.com/1105496/how-an-opossum-could-be-the-r...

No, eggs, not nuts.

I'll see myself out.

As someone who has been deliberately used at a young age by a doctor for a medical experiment, I can tell you this is how human experiments are done these days. Take someone with condition X which is life threatening, and suddenly you can do all your unethical stuff without having to be afraid of consequences. You just have to crank up the severity and you suddenly are free to do whatever you want.

Can you sue?

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