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.
The procedure is performed in a hospital, and the donor is given anesthesia. Donors can choose between general anesthesia, which puts the donor to sleep during the procedure, or local anesthesia, which allows the donor to stay awake but not feel pain.
To get the marrow, doctors use special, hollow needles to withdraw liquid marrow from the donor’s pelvic bones.
The average amount of marrow drawn out is about 1,000 milliliters (ml), or about one quart.
The amount of marrow withdrawn from the donor is dependent on the size of the donor and recipient. The marrow is completely replaced by the donor’s body within four to six weeks.
As would be expected, the NMDP says that marrow donors can expect to feel some soreness in their lower back for a few days or longer.
As with blood donation, tiredness can also be a lingering effect.
In a few cases, donors have reported some difficulty walking, but most donors are back to their usual routine in a few days.
The center where the donation took place will follow up with the donor to make sure that there are no complications or problems.
The marrow recipient, after undergoing chemotherapy and/or radiation treatment to destroy their diseased marrow, has the healthy donor cells injected directly into their bloodstream. The cells travel to the marrow, where they begin to function and multiply.
The blood drives held on campus will occasionally offer students the opportunity to be typed for free and registered on the national bone marrow donation registry.
Otherwise, anyone interested in donating can go to their local Bonfils Blood Center. The cost of typing is $30 at Bonfils.
For more information about bone marrow donation, visit the National Marrow Donor Program Web site at www.marrow.org or the Bonfils Blood Center Web site at www.bonfils.org.
