ASH Highlights Anemia in the Elderly with Blood Editorial and Special Annual Meeting Symposium; New RFA from NHLBI on This Topic Also Published

In the November 15, 2005, issue of Blood, ASH Past President, Stanley L. Schrier, M.D., summarizes recent research findings on anemia and the elderly and highlights potential future research projects on this topic. The editorial, “Hematology, ASH, and the anemia of the aged, ” is available at Blood online.

Dr. Schrier’s editorial provides details about the National Institute on Aging (NIA) Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III). This study showed that 10 percent of men and women older than 65 years of age were anemic. Perhaps more importantly, although only a very small number of the research subjects had hemoglobin (Hgb) levels lower than 11 g/dL, prior studies had shown that such “trivial” levels of anemia resulted in decline in objective measures of physical performance, higher 30-day mortality rates for patients with acute myocardial infarction, and poorer outcomes in patients with heart failure. In 2004, ASH sponsored a research agenda-setting workshop on anemia and the elderly that considered some of the issues raised by NHANES III and suggested areas for further investigation.

Building on the Society’s efforts to address the importance of the anemia of aging for hematology, the ASH Practice Committee’s Subcommittee on Quality of Care is sponsoring a Special Symposium at the 2005 ASH Annual Meeting on this topic. The symposium “Anemia and the Elderly: A Public Health Crisis in Hematology?” will take place on Saturday, December 10, 2005, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:45 p.m., in the Georgia World Congress Center, Room B206. This session will review the key biologic problems related to anemia in the elderly, share recommendations for a clinical work-up of such patients, and discuss the role of the hematologist and ASH in addressing this public health crisis. The session will be chaired by Vincent Picozzi, M.D., M.M.M., and panelists include William Ershler, M.D., and Stanley Schrier, M.D.

Annual meeting attendees are encouraged to attend the Special Symposium. Also, look for a paper on the Special Symposium in the ASH Education Program Book, Hematology 2005.

In related news, NIA and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) recently published a Request for Applications (RFA) in support of studies to foster biomedical research leading to a better understanding of the epidemiology, pathophysiology, and clinical aspects of anemia in the elderly. Ultimately, information from the research supported by this initiative should improve the health and well-being of elderly patients with anemia and decrease the functional impairment and morbidity associated with anemia in this population.

NIA and NHLBI plan to commit $2.5 million in fiscal year 2007 to fund four to eight grants on this topic. Letters of intent are due December 30, 2005; applications must be completed by January 20, 2006. More information about the RFA is available online.