Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

JustAnotherGen

(33,778 posts)
Fri Dec 8, 2023, 03:44 PM Dec 2023

FDA Approves cure for Sickle Cell Disease!

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-approves-cure-sickle-cell-disease-first-treatment-use-gene-editing-rcna127979

Caveat - it costs $2.2M per person.

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a powerful treatment for sickle cell disease, a devastating illness that affects more than 100,000 Americans, the majority of whom are Black.

The therapy, called Casgevy, from Vertex Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics, is the first medicine to be approved in the United States that uses the gene-editing tool CRISPR, which won its inventors the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2020.


Expensive - but huge! Its such a painful disease. It's so rare that medical research is centered on us . . . unless our bodies are being abused.


11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
FDA Approves cure for Sickle Cell Disease! (Original Post) JustAnotherGen Dec 2023 OP
FDA Link JustAnotherGen Dec 2023 #1
Awesome news!!! Hope22 Dec 2023 #6
Good news! 2naSalit Dec 2023 #2
WOW................................... Lovie777 Dec 2023 #3
This is wonderful news--such a painful, awful disease. Timeflyer Dec 2023 #4
Such wonderful news. I hope the treatment will be available for everyone who needs it. 50 Shades Of Blue Dec 2023 #5
I hope this will soon be available for anyone who needs it. If insurance won't pay, sometimes there are japple Dec 2023 #7
Or, You Could Just Eat a Few Apricot Kernels Every Day to Prevent Sickle Cell Attacks. panfluteman Dec 2023 #8
Thank you for this valuable information RainCaster Dec 2023 #10
The Average American JustAnotherGen Jan 2024 #11
looking forward to this becoming common RainCaster Dec 2023 #9

JustAnotherGen

(33,778 posts)
1. FDA Link
Fri Dec 8, 2023, 03:46 PM
Dec 2023
https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-gene-therapies-treat-patients-sickle-cell-disease

“Sickle cell disease is a rare, debilitating and life-threatening blood disorder with significant unmet need, and we are excited to advance the field especially for individuals whose lives have been severely disrupted by the disease by approving two cell-based gene therapies today,” said Nicole Verdun, M.D., director of the Office of Therapeutic Products within the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. “Gene therapy holds the promise of delivering more targeted and effective treatments, especially for individuals with rare diseases where the current treatment options are limited.”

Casgevy, a cell-based gene therapy, is approved for the treatment of sickle cell disease in patients 12 years of age and older with recurrent vaso-occlusive crises. Casgevy is the first FDA-approved therapy utilizing CRISPR/Cas9, a type of genome editing technology. Patients’ hematopoietic (blood) stem cells are modified by genome editing using CRISPR/Cas9 technology.

Hope22

(3,088 posts)
6. Awesome news!!!
Fri Dec 8, 2023, 04:06 PM
Dec 2023

This is so exciting! May it be successful and put this awful disease to an end! 🙏🏼💗

japple

(10,387 posts)
7. I hope this will soon be available for anyone who needs it. If insurance won't pay, sometimes there are
Fri Dec 8, 2023, 06:21 PM
Dec 2023

alternative groups that will provide patient assistance. This is awesome.

panfluteman

(2,168 posts)
8. Or, You Could Just Eat a Few Apricot Kernels Every Day to Prevent Sickle Cell Attacks.
Fri Dec 8, 2023, 06:32 PM
Dec 2023

Apricot kernels contain a lot of vitamin B 17, or Amygdalin, which was present in the traditional diets of African countries, where the sickle cell gene evolved to offer people protection against malaria, which was endemic in the region. Certain traditional foods in the African diet, such as the Cassaba Melon, are rich in vitamin B 17. Those with the sickle cell gene were immune from sickle cell attacks just as long as they stuck to their traditional diets, but since the Standard American Diet (SAD) is devoid of this vital nutrient, the nutritional protection / prevention is gone, and sickle cell attacks occur.

By the way - Apricot Kernels, or Bitter Almonds, are used to make Amaretto Liqueur, and Bitter Almonds / Apricot Kernels, called Xing Ren in Chinese, are what is traditionally used to make Almond Chicken - for those who can read the Chinese characters on Chinese restaurant menus, such as myself, this is quite apparent. I once went into a Chinese restaurant with a bag of Apricot Kernels that I had bought at a local Chinese supermarket and had them cook me some Almond Chicken the old traditional way. It was a little bitter but delicious - and I didn't die! You see, the whole cyanide scare is something that was concocted by the medical establishment just to scare people away from natural cancer therapies that use Apricot Kernel extract. Although the Amygdalin / B 17 molecule bears a close resemblance to cyanide, it does NOT metabolize into cyanide in the human body - that is a lie concocted by the medical mafia.

And by the way - Xing Ren, or Apricot Kernels, are now being used to treat COVID in Chinese hospitals because they are one of the most effective traditional Chinese herbs for opening up the respiratory passageways. I learned that in a continuing education course on Chinese herbal treatments for COVID to renew my acupuncture license.

RainCaster

(11,640 posts)
10. Thank you for this valuable information
Fri Dec 8, 2023, 06:41 PM
Dec 2023

Western medicine claims to have all the answers, but as you know, they don't. Often, the simple treatment (diet) is the best.

JustAnotherGen

(33,778 posts)
11. The Average American
Tue Jan 16, 2024, 01:50 PM
Jan 2024

Can not read Chinese. And the reality is - this idea diminishes the extreme pain and suffering that folks with Sickle Cell endure.

Please save this for the holistic forums. This is a very SERIOUS health issue in our community. We are never the winners - just the guinea pigs (Harriet Lacks, Tuskeegee Syphilis study).

Thank you,
JustAnotherGen - Group Host

Latest Discussions»Alliance Forums»African American»FDA Approves cure for Sic...