Much has been published on heart health, kidney health, and gut health. But how many of us are aware of our blood health? Is your blood as healthy as it should be? How would you even know? Blood Works is a fascinating new blood owners' guide to help you care for the health of your most precious fluid--your blood.

About 2 billion people globally are anemic, and almost as many suffer from iron deficiency without anemia. Many don't even know they have it, just feeling tired, lethargic, and "foggy-headed." Sound familiar? Over 600 million more suffer from acute or sometimes unrecognized chronic blood loss from causes such as heavy menstrual bleeding, obstetric hemorrhage, gastrointestinal bleeding, surgery, and trauma. Anemia, iron deficiency, and bleeding are signs of "blood failure" and have major negative health effects. Blood Works, with contributions from 48 leading international medical experts, is a must have book for all who want to look after their blood health.

Your blood is the essential fluid that keeps you alive. Yet, while many of us know our cholesterol level and blood pressure, few of us are aware of our blood count. What we don't know can affect our everyday quality of life and put us at risk if we have bleeding, an injury, or require hospitalization.

Blood, and the vessels that contain it, make up the largest organ system in the body. Its balance and health must be maintained. For many decades, the treatment of first resort for anemia and blood loss has been blood transfusion, which is essentially a "liquid organ" transplant from another person. In heart failure or kidney failure, organ transplantation is not first-line treatment. In blood failure, blood "transplantation" should not be the first thing we reach for. Since the 1990s, scientific research has shown that the common use of blood transfusion is not the most effective treatment in many medical situations. It has been identified as one of the most overused treatments in modern medicine, costing billions of dollars, while causing changes in the recipient's immune system that may increase the risk of complications and death. In October 2021, the World Health Organization called for the urgent global implementation of Patient Blood Management (PBM), stating "our own blood is still the best thing to have in our veins."

Blood Works is one of the most exciting books on blood health you will read. The book zooms in on why medical experts from around the world now recognize the need for fundamental change in the way a patient's blood is managed. Known as PBM, Patient Blood Management places the person receiving treatment at the center of decisions involving their lifeblood. Its aim is to improve general health and treatment outcomes by managing and preserving a patient's own blood while empowering them to share in making decisions.

Meticulously researched and referenced, masterfully illustrated, and featuring personal stories from patients and their families, Blood Works is a compelling read. It will have a profound impact on your health and the health of your loved ones and is an invaluable resource for health care professionals.
About the Author: Shannon is an academic researcher and a consultant and pioneer in Patient Blood Management, having been in the field for over 30 years. He is a Doctor of Health Science and has appointments as Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, Discipline of Surgery, Medical School, The University of Western Australia, and Honorary Research Fellow in Haematology, Department of Haematology, Royal Perth Hospital, Western Australia. He is a medical journal peer-reviewer, and serves on several PBM committees and guidelines expert working groups. In 2021 he was invited to serve on the World Health Organization External Working Group to develop a WHO Policy Brief and Guidelines for the implementation of PBM. He has published numerous peer-reviewed research papers, is a regularly invited lecturer, and has consulted to national and international health authorities. In 2014 he received the Dr Kathleen J Sazama Award (USA) "For Outstanding Leadership in Advancing Patient Rights and Patient Blood Management."

Irwin Gross, M.D. FCAP, is former Chief of Pathology at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor Maine, U.S.A. Dr. Gross was also Director of Transfusion Services and the Coagulation Laboratory at Eastern Maine Medical from 1987 through 2015. Irwin's interest in patient blood management began at the bedside of bleeding patients as he consulted with surgeons and intensive care specialists in his hospital. New ideas aren't of much value unless you put them to use, so he founded the Eastern Maine Medical Center PBM Program in 2006 and served as Medical Director until 2015. As a member of the Board of the Society for Advancement of Patient Blood Management, he chaired the SABM Standards Committee. Irwin is a Scientific Associate of the International Foundation for Patient Blood Management, and currently serves as Co-Chair of a World Health Organization (WHO) committee charged with developing international Guidelines for the implementation of PBM.

Aryeh Shander, M.D., FCCM, FCCP, FASA is Emeritus Chair, Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care Medicine, Pain Management and Hyperbaric Medicine at Englewood Hospital & Medical Center in Englewood, NJ. He is also Adjunct Clinical Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, Medicine and Surgery at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai as well as Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in NJ. He is the Executive Medical Director of The Institute for Patient Blood Management and Bloodless Medicine and Surgery at Englewood Hospital, and Past -President of the Society for the Advancement of Blood Management. He serves as the director for education for TeamHealth. Dr. Shander lectures nationally and internationally on a variety of topics related to anesthesiology, critical care medicine, and patient blood management and his publications have appeared in several prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals.