by turtleturtle 11 Replies latest watchtower medical
"Furthermore, blood does not settle into four primary components. This only occurs after being put through a centrifuge with additives."
From: http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/blood-transfusions.php
Question: What are the "additives" that jwfacts is speaking of?
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Answer: anticoagulant.
Drawn blood will begin coagulation within only a few seconds or minutes (depending on specie) unless an anticoagulant is added.
Depending on why blood is drawn, various anticoagulants are used. Some of these are known as citrate, oxalate and heparin.
Marvin Shilmer
http://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com
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References:
1. The article Watchtower's Blood Doctrine provides links to scores of articles addressing every facet of the organization’s blood taboo. This article is available at: http://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com/2010/09/wtsblooddoctrine.html
2. See also, Watchtower’s Answer Shows Blood Doctrine Is False available at: http://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com/2010/09/watchtowers-answer-shows-blood-doctrine.html
They might be talking about anticoagulants, like EDTA or sodium citrate. Without them, blood specimens tend to clump together, making it hard to differentiate blood cells when running tests.
Most hospitals use a glass or plastic tube called a vaccutainer that already has the additives in them. Purple probably means EDTA, light blue sodium citrate, and green is heparine.
I am not a pro, as I'm only taking hematology 1 this semester. But that's what I think they're talking about.
"Straining the gnat" comes to mind...
Probably - heparin, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), and sodium citrate - as these are added to blood after being extracted from a person and before testing.
OK, moving past the technical answers on the additives -
What was the Watchtower's point in bringing this up?
In other words - why would this matter to them as an issue in their blood policy?
It is of note that the American Acadamy of Hemotology has a similar view of "main components". That was a line of reasoning I have hit a brick wall on.
"What was the Watchtower's point in bringing this up?
"In other words - why would this matter to them as an issue in their blood policy?"
Watchtower asserts its blood doctrine as God’s view. Problem is, nowhere in scripture is there any reference at all to the individual blood components known as red cells, white cells, platelets and plasma.
So what can Watchtower leverage as though representing God’s view? Since according to the Bible God is Creator then it turns to nature.
Watchtower’s view that blood naturally settles out into the individual components of red cells, white cells, platelets and plasma is a means to argue: 1) Since as created by God blood naturally settles out this way and since 2) ancient humans would have been able to realize this natural settling then ancient humans would have known each of those particular blood products should not be eaten.
Problem is, blood does not at all settle out into those four products as Watchtower claims.
In the natural world blood settles out initially as two products; serum and a clot. Serum is a clear liquid that is plasma less clotting factors. The clot is very dark and is everything else other than serum.
After blood has settled out as serum and a clot it will eventually begin to decompose with heme being purged from the clot and turning the serum dark red from the bottom upwards.
But, and again, at no time do we find blood in the natural world settling out as Watchtower says.
Hence Watchtower’s appeal to nature to explain its taboo against transfusion of products such as red cells, white cells, platelets and plasma is entirely without any sort of biblical support stemming from either text or creation.
By publishing its patently absurd notion that blood naturally settles out into the above four components, Watchtower’s top leadership betrays its total lack of competency, not to mention dishonesty.
Marvin Shilmer
http://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com
-- See Watchtower’s Answer Shows Blood Doctrine Is False available at: http://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com/2010/09/watchtowers-answer-shows-blood-doctrine.html
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It is of note that the American Acadamy of Hemotology has a similar view of "main components".
You’d better hit the books a little harder!
The source cited absolutely DOES NOT remotely suggest what Watchtower does, that blood settles out naturally into the four components known as red cells, white cells, platelets and plasma.
Those four products can be rendered from blood by modern means and methods that were completely unknown and unavailable to ancient humans.
Rendering those products from blood is an entirely unnatural manmade affair. There is no instance of this occurring in the natural world without human intervention with chemicals and technology.
Marvin Shilmer
I agree, Marvin - but why would the Watchtower bring up the point about "additives" - as obviously, the four main components will not naturally separate without the additives and operations such as a centrifuge?
Doesn't that really put the lie to their argument that "components are a natural consequence of blood"?
(Yes, I know - there is nothing logical about any of their argument on this...)
