2008 Woodie Awards
Alternative to blood donation: donate marrow
Stem cells found in bone marrow can save lives
Claire Stencel
Issue date: 2/22/05 Section: Features
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For those who are unable to donate blood, due to health problems like anemia, there is another way to help people without having to go as far as donating an organ.
Bone marrow donation is a potentially life-saving treatment for patients with leukemia, lymphoma and other blood diseases.
Patients with blood diseases who recieve a transplant of healthy blood-forming cells from a marrow donor have a better chance at healing and overcoming their diseases.
According to the National Marrow Donor Program, bone marrow is one of only three sources of blood-forming cells.
The other two sources are PBSC donations (in which blood-forming cells are collected from a blood donation) and umbilical cord blood. According to the Bonfils Blood Center Web site, "each year, thousands of people are diagnosed with a blood-related disease, including leukemia and aplastic anemia. A marrow (stem cell) transplant is often their only chance of survival"
The NMDP's require marrow donors to be between 18 and 60 years old and meet health guidelines. To become eligible to donate marrow, a small blood sample is taken and tested to determine the donor's tissue type.
Donors are also required to complete a questionnaire about their health and sign a consent form to have their tissue type listed on the NMDP registry. This registry can be searched by doctors when they need to find a donor with a certain tissue type for their patients.
Tissue type is inherited, so patients need marrow from donors of their same race and ethnicity.
At this time, there is a special need for donors who identify themselves as black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, Hispanic or Latino.
Ethnically diverse donors comprise only 25 percent of the NMDP registry at this time.
Marrow is not collected and stored, so the donation does not take place until a patient is found whose type matches an individual donor. Unlike blood donation, marrow donation is technically a surgical procedure.
Bone marrow donation is a potentially life-saving treatment for patients with leukemia, lymphoma and other blood diseases.
Patients with blood diseases who recieve a transplant of healthy blood-forming cells from a marrow donor have a better chance at healing and overcoming their diseases.
According to the National Marrow Donor Program, bone marrow is one of only three sources of blood-forming cells.
The other two sources are PBSC donations (in which blood-forming cells are collected from a blood donation) and umbilical cord blood. According to the Bonfils Blood Center Web site, "each year, thousands of people are diagnosed with a blood-related disease, including leukemia and aplastic anemia. A marrow (stem cell) transplant is often their only chance of survival"
The NMDP's require marrow donors to be between 18 and 60 years old and meet health guidelines. To become eligible to donate marrow, a small blood sample is taken and tested to determine the donor's tissue type.
Donors are also required to complete a questionnaire about their health and sign a consent form to have their tissue type listed on the NMDP registry. This registry can be searched by doctors when they need to find a donor with a certain tissue type for their patients.
Tissue type is inherited, so patients need marrow from donors of their same race and ethnicity.
At this time, there is a special need for donors who identify themselves as black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, Hispanic or Latino.
Ethnically diverse donors comprise only 25 percent of the NMDP registry at this time.
Marrow is not collected and stored, so the donation does not take place until a patient is found whose type matches an individual donor. Unlike blood donation, marrow donation is technically a surgical procedure.