JEHOVAH WITNESS MEDICAL BELIEFS HOW TO

“We pull out all stops to minimize the blood loss, to conserve what they’ve got, to take care of them pre-operatively so they don’t come in anemic,” Koch said of treating Jehovah’s Witnesses.

JEHOVAH WITNESS MEDICAL BELIEFS HOW TO

Members of the religion believe passages in the Bible prohibit them from accepting blood transfusions, which means doctors have had to get creative about how to prep them for major operations. Jehovah’s Witnesses also spent less time in the hospital and the intensive care unit, on average, and were less likely to need an extra operation because of bleeding problems. One Witness had a heart attack during a procedure, compared to nine people who had blood transfusions. A similar number of patients - 10 Jehovah’s Witnesses and 14 in the comparison group - died in the hospital.

Most of them were in for bypass surgeries. She and her colleagues compared 322 Jehovah’s Witnesses who had heart surgery at their center between 19 without a blood transfusion to an equal number of patients who were similar in most ways, but who did get transfusions. That could have implications for managing people who are okay with getting blood transfusions - but might be better off if they could avoid one, Koch said. Colleen Koch, who worked on the study at the Cleveland Clinic. does not appear to place patients at increased risk, and actually some of the complications are fewer,” said Dr. And those precautions seem to be working, according to the new study.

Because Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t have that option, surgeons typically take extra pre-procedure precautions - such as giving patients B vitamins and iron - to ensure their red blood cell counts don’t get too low during surgery. NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Jehovah’s Witnesses, whose religious beliefs don’t allow for blood transfusions, seem to do as well or better than other patients after heart surgery, new research suggests.ĭoctors sometimes give heart patients a transfusion of red blood cells if tests show they have low levels of hemoglobin or hematocrit after the procedure to prevent severe anemia, despite some transfusion-related risks.

Jehovah witness medical beliefs