[ti:Study Finds Treatment Cured Sickle Cell in 9 Adults] [ar:Steve Ember] [al:Health Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English [00:03.04]Health Report. [00:04.58]Last week, researchers [00:06.31]in the United States reported [00:08.58]curing nine adults [00:10.66]with sickle cell disease. [00:13.30]Ten patients in all [00:15.22]were treated in a study [00:17.00]with donated bone marrow. [00:19.87]The healthy marrow causes [00:22.04]new blood cells to form. [00:24.41]Sickle cell disease, [00:26.61]also called sickle cell anemia, [00:29.40]is a genetic condition that [00:32.07]deforms red blood cells. [00:35.04]They become sticky and harden [00:37.85]into the shape of the letter C, [00:40.11]like a sickle, a hand tool [00:42.63]with a curved blade. [00:44.72]The deformed cells [00:46.68]block blood vessels [00:48.87]and cut off the flow of oxygen [00:51.27]to tissue in the body. [00:53.78]People with sickle cell disease [00:56.19]can suffer severe pain, [00:58.15]bacterial infections [01:00.21]and the death of tissue. [01:02.36]In other studies, [01:04.77]bone marrow transplants [01:06.64]cured severe sickle cell disease [01:09.47]in almost two hundred children. [01:12.00]Doctors first used chemicals [01:15.04]to destroy the children's [01:16.67]own marrow, then replaced it [01:21.67]with healthy marrow. [01:23.02]However, doctors have considered [01:25.57]this treatment too risky [01:27.57]for adults with the disease. [01:30.13]Their major organs are already [01:33.22]too damaged to have all their [01:35.86]bone marrow destroyed. [01:37.89]So for the ten patients [01:40.02]in the study, doctors used [01:42.17]a low amount of radiation [01:44.49]to destroy only some [01:46.88]of their marrow. [01:48.34]Then the patients [01:49.98]received healthy marrow. [01:51.66]There was enough space [01:53.70]in the bone for the healthy marrow [01:56.33]to start producing new red blood cells. [02:00.03]The researchers say [02:02.01]all ten patients remain alive [02:04.88]two and a half years [02:06.83]after the treatment, [02:08.42]and the disease has [02:10.05]disappeared in nine of them. [02:12.13]Marrow is a soft, [02:14.32]spongy tissue inside bones. [02:17.24]Doctors can collect it [02:19.70]with a needle. [02:20.63]But people who donate marrow [02:23.02]must first have tests [02:24.97]to make sure they are [02:26.69] a good match for the patient. [02:29.16]The New England Journal [02:31.25]of Medicine published the study. [02:32.92]John Tisdale at the National [02:35.67]Institutes of Health was [02:37.72]the lead investigator. [02:39.66]He says other uses for [02:42.24]the treatment are also [02:43.73]likely to be found. [02:45.70]Black people in Africa [02:48.38]are the huge majority of those [02:51.00]with sickle cell disease. [02:53.05]About two hundred thousand cases [02:55.79]are found in African children every year. [02:59.54]About eighty thousand people [03:02.28]have it in the United States. [03:04.61]A study published in September [03:07.99]in the Lancet said [03:09.75]antibacterial vaccines [03:12.42]could save the lives of children [03:15.13]with sickle cell in Africa. [03:18.11]The study pointed out that [03:20.73]many children die [03:22.31]before they are even identified [03:25.38]as having the disease. [03:27.68]They die from bacterial infections [03:31.03]for which there are new vaccines. [03:34.06]But these vaccines are costly [03:37.28]and available mainly in wealthy countries. [03:40.83]And that's the VOA Special English [03:44.19]Health Report, [03:45.56]written by Caty Weaver. [03:47.47]For more health news, [03:49.46]go to 51voa.com. [03:53.64]I'm Steve Ember.