bs@linus.UUCP (Robert D. Silverman) (11/10/86)
A friend of mine has just been diagnosed as having a VERY rare blood disorder known as nocturnal hemoglobin urea. I heard a lecture on the genetics of this disorder by Prof. Paul Levine back when I was studying biochemistry. I only remember his comments vaguely but it seems that the disorder has a purely genetic cause. The order with which the lipo-proteins (particularly spectrin) are inserted into the cell walls (red blood corpuscles) when they are manufactured is somehow 'mixed up'. This in turn somehow weakens the cell walls in a way that wasn't understood then. The disorder results from certain chemicals released during sleep. They somehow interact with the weakened red blood cell walls and cause them to lyse during sleep. Note: I'm not sure I have all the details correct. Query: Is anything else known about this disorder? What is known about treatment, prognosis, etc. Bob Silverman
bs@linus.UUCP (11/22/86)
Isn't anyone going to respond to my query about Nocturnal Hemoglobin urea? Bob Silverman