Keep out of the mouths of babes
my
SMALL “BUTTON” BATTERIES, found in
countless home and personal electronic
devices, represent a huge danger to children.
Since 1985, more than 3,500 injuries and at
least 17 deaths have been attributed to children
swallowing button batteries,
according to Energizer, a battery-industry leader and a partner with
Safe Kids USA in a child-safety
advocacy group devoted to raising
awareness of this threat.
Many homes have older devices
not equipped with the more current
safety approaches being used by manufacturers. Calculators, remote control devices, cameras, penlights, hearing aids, cellphones and
watches are just a few of the devices that use
button batteries, which can also be found in
musical greeting cards.
Choking is not the danger. The big risk is
the power emitted by these tiny but powerful
lithium batteries. When combined with saliva
or other body fluids, the result can be a serious
burn. The battery doesn’t have to be leaking for
that to happen, and even a weak or dead battery
will have enough of charge left to do damage.
Immediate action is required if you suspect
a child has swallowed a button battery. It takes
as little as two hours for a hole to be burned in
or through a child’s esophagus, trachea, stomach or nasal septum, leading to serious illness
or even death.
If you think your child has
swallowed a button battery or has
placed one in his or her nose, seek
medical attention immediately.
Button batteries are visible on an
X-ray. If one is detected in the
esophagus, trachea, ear or nose, it
must be removed as soon as possible to prevent serious injury.
MEDIA BAKERY
stor y
Real Success Stories.
Real Costco® Members.
Tips for a battery-safe home
• Keep spare or dead batteries as inaccessible to children as medications or products
containing poison.
• Never let children play with batteries.
• If you have devices that use button batteries, make sure to secure the battery compartment from your child’s prying fingers. Extra
layers of tape over the battery compartment
door may prove effective.
For more information, visit www.poison.
org.—David Wight
Tricia Dewey
Suisun City, CA
Member since 1990
BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT is a lifesaving treatment for people with leukemia, lymphoma and other life-threatening
diseases. Bone marrow is spongy tissue
in the center of many bones, and is a
source for stem cells—young, unspecialized cells that produce all blood cells.
Patients with certain illnesses are
treated with chemotherapy and/or radiation that destroys their own stem cells.
A marrow transplant delivers stem cells
that make their way to the recipient’s
bone marrow, where they produce blood
cells that rebuild a healthy blood and
immune system.
Stem cells for use in transplants can
also be obtained from two other sources:
peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) and
umbilical cord blood.
PBSCs circulate in the bloodstream.
Normally few stem cells are found in
the blood, but giving hormone-like substances called growth factors to stem
cell donors a few days before the harvest
causes stem cells to grow faster.
Umbilical cord blood is the blood
left in the usually discarded umbilical
cord and placenta after a baby is born.
Parents can choose to store their newborn baby’s cord blood at a private cord
blood bank in case their baby or a family
member ever needs it, or can donate the
cord blood to a public cord blood bank
so that any genetically matched individual needing treatment has access to it.
Initially all stem cell transplants
done were bone marrow transplants,
but PBSC transplants are now far more
common. Often, doctors are able to harvest more stem cells from peripheral
blood than from bone marrow, and it’s
also easier for the donor to give peripheral blood stem cells than bone marrow.
For a successful transplant, a patient
needs a matching donor. Special testing
determines whether a patient and a
bone marrow donor or umbilical cord
blood are a good match.
About 70 percent of patients do not
find a donor in their family and instead
depend on the national Be The Match®
Registry®, run through the nonprofit
National Marrow Donor Program® to
find an unrelated donor. Finding an
unrelated donor can take months.
To learn more about marrow donation or to join the Be The Match
Registry, visit www.marrow.org.—DW
November
National
Marrow Awareness
Month
With alli®, I lost
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The more results I saw, the more
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Featured member is provided alli product, retail value of
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with alli. Featured story has not been independently
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Read and follow the alli label. Results may vary. alli is safe
when used as directed. ©2011 GlaxoSmithKline
WAREHOUSE/ COSTCO.COM | AVAILABLE NOW
NOVEMBER 2011 ;e Costco Connection 69
