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Historically, there have been many efforts in the past to make artificial blood and IIRC they didn't turn out well for the patients. It's a bit like the the bo
by platz 7y ago
Historically, there have been many efforts in the past to make artificial blood and IIRC they didn't turn out well for the patients.
It's a bit like the the body with vitamins. At first they thought vitamins were all you needed - then they started discovering micro-nutrients.
Blood is pretty complex - does this include just the highest-order bits of blood, or does it include everything that blood has?
- wbl 7y agoIf I'm bleeding out and the blood bank is dry I'm not going to be so picky. A few weeks later I'll have made my own to replace it.
- LeonM 7y agoObviously, any blood is better then no blood. But will you survive that long on artificial blood if it doesn't contain all the right properties for your body?
- M2Ys4U 7y agoI would have thought that getting blood into trauma patients in the field would be the main application for this? Once back in a hospital setting they could switch to using real blood.
- Blakestr 7y agoParamedic here - two main areas of concern regarding blood in the prehospital/emergency setting - 1 - Volume - You need enough fluid in a closed system to maintain pressure to push that fluid. 2. Oxygen carrying capacity - Oxygen binds with red blood cells which then deliver it to every cell in your body. Right now the prehospital setting can more or less manage #1, we have been for a century with Normal Saline. There is some stuff circulating (pun intended) regarding fluids that can transport oxygen but it will be years before we can use it
- Mountain_Skies 7y agoDoes #1 mean that a person with high blood pressure is more able to survive blood loss than a person with standard blood pressure?
- ldoughty 7y agoNot a medic/doctor, but I would assume higher pressure would result in pushing blood out of your system faster. This probably offsets gains
- agumonkey 7y agoYeah that was my first thought. Doesn't need to be a full replacement, if side effects are minuscule and long term, this would be a superb buffer. Many hospitals are asking for donations. Well now they might ask for subventions :p
- Marsymars 7y agoIf you're bleeding out and compatible blood isn't immediately available, we already have several volume expanders that can be used.
- JoeAltmaier 7y agoI think 'micronutrients' is pretty much vitamins and minerals. Because, that's all that there is?
- maxerickson 7y agoThe (immediate) goal isn't to have it so you go get drained and refilled once in a while, it's to have a longer lived substitute that is good enough to use. So the question is whether it works in emergency situations, not whether it is as good as the real thing in all ways.
- wollstonecraft 7y agoIt looks like we know about 36 different blood group systems, including the well-known ABO and Rh. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_blood_group_systems https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_blood_group_systems