EPO therapy puts blood and oxygen to the brain - It gets

[truedelphi]

utilized by athletes in sports (although it is usually illegal to gain advantage in sporting competitions by using it.)

Is it being used in the USA to help elderly people? Is it being used for people with severe anemia, including cancer victims whose treatment leaves them anemic?

EPO stands for Erythropoietin. I know there have been tests on its use done in Europe, and I know this was one of the therapies Lance Armstrong utilized to win his Tour De France cycling adventures.

But is it getting to patients who need it? If not, why not?

[Warpy]

1. It's used in cancer protocols

I've never seen it used to treat simple anemia, usually iron tablets are prescribed or, in severe cases, transfusions given.

Athletes who want to escape doping charges generally train at altitude, which accomplishes the same thing, increasing the circulating RBCs to improve oxygen transport at low oxygen altitudes like mine. We see cyclists, especially, training out here but they're not the only ones.

[Nay]

2. Would it help people with COPD?

[truedelphi]

5. I imagine that people with COPD also

don't get much oxygen to their brains, so most likely the answer would be yes.

[Mosby]

3. procrit is used all the time for severe anemia

It's a form of epo.

Costs about 1800 per shot.

I had a family member with multiple myeloma, was a life extending treatment.

[truedelphi]

4. As someone who has done lots of elder care nursing,

I hadn't had any patients who have had it offered to them.

Even though some of the people I have helped suffered a lot from anemia after the chemo and/or radiation treatments for cancer.

I wonder if some HMO's don't utilize it to save on costs.

But glad to here that your family member was able to have it.