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A potential bone marrow donor is a person who is able to donate a part of himself to another, needy person. Registration in the database can only be made if there are no medical contraindications. It is said that any healthy person between 18 and 55 can become a bone marrow donor. She must weigh no less than 50 kg and her BMI must not exceed 40.
To become a bone marrow donor, you must join the database of potential bone marrow donors. In Poland, there are several such bases, and probably the best known is base of the DMKS Foundation. In addition, you can also apply to your own Regional Center for Blood Donation and Blood Treatment.
Once we are in the appropriate facility, we will have to complete a form and a declaration of will. After that, blood samples will be taken from us to test for HLA antigens. This is due to the need to determine genetic compatibility with a potential recipient.
However, we do not have to be physically at the facility to register, because registration also takes place online. For this purpose, we can go to the website of the DKMS Foundation and fill out the registration form there. The form will ask about our age, height, weight and citizenship, as well as whether we are already registered in some other database.
We will also have to provide our contact details so that the foundation can send us by post a registration package including the form, information materials and instructions for taking a swab from the oral cavity with two sticks for downloading. The smear material as well as the completed documents should be sent to the Foundation’s address. We will receive an answer in some time, along with a donor card.
As a donor, one should be ready that at any time there may be a person waiting for our stem cells. This does not mean, however, that we can do nothing else than wait, the donor should continue to live his usual manner and not forget to update his data, if necessary.
From that moment on, you should remember to be in the bone marrow donor base, especially when you decide to get a tattoo or a longer stay abroad. Information such as: periods of taking medications, the period of absence or six months after skin tattooing should be reported to the base, thanks to which it will be able to temporarily change the donor status to inactive.
Do you have concerns about registering as a bone marrow donor? Be sure to read: I would like to register with a bone marrow donor bank, but I am afraid of taking a sample for registration with the bank
Bone marrow donor – requirements
The most important requirement is good health. However, there are a number of contraindications that exclude a potential donor only temporarily. Such a state is certainly pregnancy and lactation. If we have a fresh tattoo or surgery, the period for which we have been disqualified is 6 months.
In addition, there are relative contraindications. In the event of their occurrence, the potential donor may register, but in the event of compliance, the decision on donation is made by the doctor.
For diseases that relatively disqualify a potential bone marrow donor, include active asthma, hypertension, and epilepsy. Relative disqualification also includes those who use hormonal drugs.
Why is it worth becoming a bone marrow donor? Karolina Czarnecka on being a bone marrow donor: I’ve been waiting for my genetic twin for nine years
Bone marrow donor – contraindications
In order to help a sick person, you need to be in good health yourself. They absolutely exclude diseases of the cardiovascular system from registration in the database. A person suffering from neoplastic disease cannot be a bone marrow donor. Infectious diseases are also a contraindication.
Another important group that excludes a potential bone marrow donor are some autoimmune diseases. However, some of them require only a medical consultation. It may happen that the doctor decides that the donor’s condition poses no threat to the patient or himself. There is also a group of blood and bone marrow diseases that completely excludes. These include, for example, thalassemia or spherocytosis.
Also in the group of mental illnesses, there are cases that do not allow registration in the database. Such cases are schizophrenia and personality disorders. Also, people who struggle with alcohol, drug or drug addiction cannot become donors.
See also: Facts and myths about bone marrow transplant
There are two ways of donating bone marrow: Usually (as much as 80 percent of cases) it is done by donating peripheral blood. In the remaining 20 percent, the marrow is harvested from the iliac plate.
Peripheral blood marrow collection – before this method, the bone marrow donor has to take injections of G-CSF, i.e. a growth factor for 5 days (interestingly, many donors give themselves injections). Be aware that you may get flu-like symptoms when you receive the injections.
The bone marrow is harvested by apheresis. It consists in puncturing both hands of the cannula donor. Blood is drawn from one hand and passed through a special machine that isolates the stem cells to return to the other hand. Thanks to this method, there is no need for the donor to come to the hospital and lasts from 60 to 90 minutes.
Taking marrow from the iliac plate – This method requires a short hospitalization for 2-3 days. The donor must go to the branch before the marrow is collected. A special needle is used to collect the marrow. However, there is no need to worry as the donor is generally anesthetized (anesthetized).
During the procedure, a liter of blood is taken with the bone marrow (about 5 percent of the content). The body compensates for this slight loss within 2 weeks. Over the next few days, however, the donor may develop hip pain similar to a bruise after hitting the edge of a cupboard.
Find out more: How is it done, i.e. methods of bone marrow harvesting
Bone marrow donor – threats
Getting bone marrow from a donor is a safe procedure. This is evidenced, for example, by the number of transplants performed in recent years. Sometimes such a transplant is the only method that allows to extend the patient’s life.
The collection of marrow or hematopoietic cells does not take place in the first place. They are performed in Bone Marrow Transplant Centers. These centers must meet strict criteria. All this is for the safety of the donor and the patient.
This download always consists of two steps. At the very beginning, the donor takes special injections. The drug contained in them is designed to release the cells contained in the marrow into the peripheral blood. On the day of the procedure, the donor is connected to a special apparatus that isolates the stem cells.
The donor sits comfortably on a special chair. It has two punctures. From one, the blood flows to the apparatus that separates the stem cells, and the other returns to the donor. This method of collection does not require a hospital stay. Usually, immediately after its completion, the donor goes home.
However, there are times when it is necessary taking marrow from the plate of the iliac bone. It is this method that people fear the most. In practice, however, it is not as scary as it seems. This download takes between 60 and 90 minutes. After collection, it is necessary to stay in the ward.
If all is well and there are no complications, the bone marrow donor can spend the night at home. Most often, however, the donor is released home the day after the bone marrow is collected. Typically, 15 to 25 milliliters of marrow per kilogram of donor body weight is required. This amount is always matched. In addition, after 2-3 weeks, the bone marrow completely regenerates. So there is no cause for concern.
In some cases, the very anesthesia before the procedure causes fear. There is rather minimal risk when given before the bone marrow is harvested. Sometimes there is nausea and pain at the injection sites. Each donor is informed exactly how the procedure will be carried out. The doctor will also notify you that certain side effects may occur. If you are concerned about certain symptoms, it is worth consulting a specialist.
Worth knowing: He changed the fate of patients with leukemia. Interview with prof. Jerzy Hołowiecki on the 20th anniversary of the historic transplant
Many misconceptions have become established in human consciousness for many years about the donation of bone marrowthat effectively reject you from becoming a donor. One such belief is that bone marrow is collected from a donor from the spinal cord. Of course, it comes down to thinking that the whole procedure is very painful.
However, this has nothing to do with the truth because, first, the bone marrow is collected from the peripheral blood or from the iliac plate.
In the latter case, the entire process takes place under complete anesthesia. When donating bone marrow, we are not harmed, however, it is worth knowing that after administration of anesthesia, or rather after waking up from it, we may experience, for example, dizziness, temporary fainting or nausea. However, this type of situation does not always occur, and the body regenerates very quickly.
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