Where has my aunt's blood gone?!
Question: Ok, this is a weird situation. My mum's aunt has been in and out of hospital, well for years now. She goes into hospital to receive a blood transfusion, almost of her blood has gone, and when I say gone I really mean vanished, disappeared. She doesn't lose blood in her urine, faeces or even coughs it up. The blood literally drains from her system within a month or two and the doctors cannot even establish where it goes. She attends the hospital 6 months a year for transfusions, because the blood already in her system disappears without a trace.
Now, I study infectious diseases, but I have no idea about this case. Can anyone help? It is not made up, infact a week ago, a blood sample was taking from my mum's aunt, the result was "there is something in it" now I don't know what that means, I wasnt there, but what can that "something" be, the doctors here in the UK don't have a clue. Can anyone shed some light, or do I have to call the creators of that TV show House?
Please please
Answers: Ok, this is a weird situation. My mum's aunt has been in and out of hospital, well for years now. She goes into hospital to receive a blood transfusion, almost of her blood has gone, and when I say gone I really mean vanished, disappeared. She doesn't lose blood in her urine, faeces or even coughs it up. The blood literally drains from her system within a month or two and the doctors cannot even establish where it goes. She attends the hospital 6 months a year for transfusions, because the blood already in her system disappears without a trace.
Now, I study infectious diseases, but I have no idea about this case. Can anyone help? It is not made up, infact a week ago, a blood sample was taking from my mum's aunt, the result was "there is something in it" now I don't know what that means, I wasnt there, but what can that "something" be, the doctors here in the UK don't have a clue. Can anyone shed some light, or do I have to call the creators of that TV show House?
Please please
I work in a hospital lab so I see people in need of transfusions often. If your aunt doesn't have some type of cancer then my next best guess would be that she's having some sort of antibody reaction to the blood that she's getting and she's not able to make enough of her own. The more blood that's transfused, the more she's exposed to minor antigens in other people's blood. (The major antigens are the classes we all know about, A and B. There are scores of other ones.) Anyway, if that the case then the red blood cells would be attacked be her immune system and then break down normally. They go through a process where they break down by several steps ultimately into bilirubin and then into bile and then are eliminated with the stool. There would be no trace of blood at this point because it's happened as it normally would. Have her doctor check her bilirubin levels or do a direct antiglobulin test to see if her blood is being coated with antibodies.
There are three ways blood can disappear:
1.Loss in urine, feces or sputa all of which should be easily detectable.
2.Internal destruction in the body, often by antibodies, is calledhemolytic anemia and also easily detectable.
3.Decreased production by the bone marrow often as the result of a vitamin, mineral or iron deficiency. This can also occur as the result of poisons or toxic drug effects as well as some leukemias all of which may adversely affect blood production in the marrow.
Your doctor should in all cases be able to determine the cause without a lot of difficulty. You are not asking the right questions of him. Compose a list of questions beforehand and don't leave his office until they are all answered satisfactorily in simple terms. What is the exact cause of the condition. Why does it keep returning. What is the treatment and how effective will it be. What is the long term outlook or prognosis. If you don"t know the answer can you send me to an expert for another opinion?-some examples.
Theres nothing weird about it. your aunt maybe suffering from anemia. Anemia is having less than the normal number of red blood cells or less hemoglobin than normal in the blood.Or she could also have internal bleeding. U hevent told me any of your mums aunts symptoms so i cant really tell you what it is for sure. Try searching the website below, you might find what your looking for.