Life
Jamaica looking into carbon monoxide treatment of sickle cell anaemia
“The administration of carbon monoxide is not recommended as a treatment for sickle cell disease. However, further trials would seem to be justified if conducted under careful controlled conditions,” the study concluded.
Professor Reid admits that inhaling carbon monoxide can be toxic to humans and it is for this reason he said that Sangart Inc., will be administering it intravenously to patients instead.
“The expectation, and this has been borne out by our lab studies, is that you will not get the level of carbon monoxide that you will get with the inhalation route,” he said.
“So at low concentration, it is very good, at high concentration which is what everybody knows about, carbon monoxide is dangerous because it causes you to basically suffocate really,” he pointed out.
Still, he said, they are not sure what the effects of this treatment will be, even when taken intravenously since this is only the first phase of this study.
“At the end of the day, if it turns out that the side effects are such that it makes no sense, then obviously then we can’t proceed,” he said.
While he could not say how many Jamaicans were born with sickle cell disease or carried the trait, Professor Reid said the figure exceeds those living with congenital heart disease.
Sustained efforts to get sickle cell drugs listed among those that are subsidised by the National Health Fund have proven futile since the agency has not updated it’s list for some time now.
Prior to the change in government, Professor Reid said a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was being worked on between his unit and the Ministry of Health, which if signed could see sicklers getting better access to drugs. It is his hope that the new health minister will facilitate this MOU coming into effect.
