NEW YORK, March 19 ― Their stories are divided into before and after.And then ― after agonising treatments ― what felt like the miracle of life after sickle cell disease .Two Americans whose lives were turned around by newly approved treatments tell AFP they want others to benefit too.
At seven, she suffered a life-threatening case of anemia and then aged 13 she had a stroke which led to monthly blood infusions. She began studying at the prestigious Howard University hoping to become a doctor but her health forced her to drop out. She then tried community college but, once more, SCD meant couldn't finish.As a newlywed in her twenties, she was dismayed at needing an intravenous medicine drip for eight hours every night to manage her condition.
First, doctors draw out stem cells from the bone marrow before modifying them in a lab. Then comes the hardest part ― chemotherapy to clear the way for the return of the treated cells. “It looks like the cure, but we like to call this 'transformative,'” said physician-scientist John Tisdale of the National Institutes of Health, which ran the trial Tesha took part in.Childhood struggle