Discussion Forums > Thalassemia Major

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olivia mary:
Dear Namitha,
 
Hi my name is Kathleen Olivia's mom. (christine's cousin).
Olivia is a little over 2 1/2 yrs old and was diag. with thal intermedia this year. Her Hb was getting very low, at one time a 6.3. The doctors started to talk to us about transfusions. Then we heard about Hydroxyurea from a dr. who used it it many sickel cell pts. and some thal intermedias with good results. He thought we should give it a try with Olivia. We did alot of research and decided to try it. Thank God we did. She is doing so good now. At 8 weeks on the medication her hb was a 9.0. (we go back to the dr on 10-18). She also takes folic acid every day too. I know the side effects are scarey I was so worried about them.( I mean this is my baby girl and i would never want to see her sick from this medication) Olivia has not had any problems to date. She has a beautiful color to her face  she eats and sleeps better and has so much energy. Now after seeing what it has done for her I would say it it worth a try. I will continue to keep you all posted. I hope this helps.

**Also you will be closley watched by your doctor while on this medication so if there is anything going on they will  be able to take action.....what if it does work for you too?***

Love Kathleen

§ãJ¡Ð ساجد:
Hi Kathleen,

This is really a great news and I totally agree with you that Thal. InterMs. should give it a try. After all any oral medicine is better than TransX which has it's own side effect (iron overload and then use Desf. and it's side effects i.e pain etc)

Just give it a try and if things don't work out smooth, just stop using it; Simple!

Take care, Peace!

namitha:
Hi Christine, Andy, Kathleen and Sajid,

Thanks for the info. After reading that Olivia is tolerating hydroxyurea well, I have decided to speak to my hemato about it. I will keep you posted. Thanks for dispelling my fears. I was scared that it was a chemo drug.

Thanx a bunch.

Regards,
Namitha

Shikha Mitra:
Namitha

Dr. Sharmila Chanda of Kothari Medical Center, Kolkata, has been using the drug.. and I do believe that she is getting very good results.. you might want to speak to her if you get the opportunity..
She has a full fleged thal Unit at the medical center. I think she is the best in Kolkata onThal.. I have been to her a number times...

Shikha

Andy Battaglia:
Hydroxyurea is used in chemotherapy also, but the dosage is higher and it works by inhibiting DNA synthesis and thereby the cell division of cancer.

From http://www.cancerbackup.org.uk/Treatments/Chemotherapy/Individualdrugs/Hydroxycarbamide


--- Quote ---Hydroxycarbamide may be prescribed for conditions other than cancer. The drug dosage may then be much lower and therefore these side effects will probably not occur.
--- End quote ---

It has shown much usefullness in many intermedias and has also had trials in majors with some success in totaly eliminating transfusion dependency.

I have mentioned this study before but it is worth repeating.

From http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12702505&dopt=Abstract


--- Quote ---We now report a marked elevation of total Hb levels with HU that permitted regular transfusions to be stopped in 7 children with transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia... We conclude that HU can eliminate transfusional needs in children with beta-thalassemia major.
--- End quote ---

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