The short version:
* If you're between 18 and 60, you can register to donate bone marrow.
* You do it at http://www.marrow.org/, and it's very easy.
* It's just a registry, they don't take your bone marrow right away (and might never take it).
* It's especially important to get people who aren't white in the registry.
* If you're pregnant, you can donate umbilical cord blood during the birth, at some hospitals.
The long version:
Bone marrow donation requires a much more precise genetic match than blood donation. To help facilitate this, the National Marrow Donor Registry compiles a database of genetic markers from potential donors, and then contacts those people if a patient who matches their genetic makeup needs marrow. Currently the registry has about 13 million people, but most of these are people of Northern European ancestry. This means that while a white person has about a 70-80% chance of finding a good bone marrow match (still far from a sure thing!), people of color have much, much worse odds.
Joining the registry does not mean that you will be donating bone marrow at once. In fact, most people on the registry are never asked to donate bone marrow, while a few people may be asked to donate bone marrow more than once. (Being on the registry does not oblige you to donate marrow if asked, and if you are, for instance, pregnant, you might not even be able to donate if asked.)
The registry is open to people ages 18 to 60. If you go to www.marrow.org, there is an on-line sign-up procedure which feels a little like signing up for any other web service. This process takes about ten minutes. There are certain restrictions on whom can donate, which they list. They will then mail you a cheek swab kit (basically Q-tips) which you mail back in, and they will add you to the registry.
The web site implies that there is a fee to sign up, but that you are simultaneously credited with a promotional coupon. This seems to be a (rather confusing) gambit to encourage you to make a financial contribution along with signing up. But if you can't or don't want to do that, becoming registered is free and is much more important.
Should you, at some point, be contacted by the registry to donate bone marrow for someone, the new procedure is generally much easier and more comfortable than the old method of bone biopsies. It is a course of injections followed by a prolonged (4-6 hour) blood draw where they take out some of your blood, find the cells they want, and put the rest of your blood back.
Another form of donation, potentially even more useful, is umbilical cord blood, which can be donated just after a baby is born. The stem cells in umbilical cord blood are especially valuable because they have not yet “learned” a body, and can save someone's life even when they are not a perfect genetic match. Many hospitals are equipped to allow such donations, which do not interfere with the birth process in any way. Some hospitals are not.
* If you're between 18 and 60, you can register to donate bone marrow.
* You do it at http://www.marrow.org/, and it's very easy.
* It's just a registry, they don't take your bone marrow right away (and might never take it).
* It's especially important to get people who aren't white in the registry.
* If you're pregnant, you can donate umbilical cord blood during the birth, at some hospitals.
The long version:
Bone marrow donation requires a much more precise genetic match than blood donation. To help facilitate this, the National Marrow Donor Registry compiles a database of genetic markers from potential donors, and then contacts those people if a patient who matches their genetic makeup needs marrow. Currently the registry has about 13 million people, but most of these are people of Northern European ancestry. This means that while a white person has about a 70-80% chance of finding a good bone marrow match (still far from a sure thing!), people of color have much, much worse odds.
Joining the registry does not mean that you will be donating bone marrow at once. In fact, most people on the registry are never asked to donate bone marrow, while a few people may be asked to donate bone marrow more than once. (Being on the registry does not oblige you to donate marrow if asked, and if you are, for instance, pregnant, you might not even be able to donate if asked.)
The registry is open to people ages 18 to 60. If you go to www.marrow.org, there is an on-line sign-up procedure which feels a little like signing up for any other web service. This process takes about ten minutes. There are certain restrictions on whom can donate, which they list. They will then mail you a cheek swab kit (basically Q-tips) which you mail back in, and they will add you to the registry.
The web site implies that there is a fee to sign up, but that you are simultaneously credited with a promotional coupon. This seems to be a (rather confusing) gambit to encourage you to make a financial contribution along with signing up. But if you can't or don't want to do that, becoming registered is free and is much more important.
Should you, at some point, be contacted by the registry to donate bone marrow for someone, the new procedure is generally much easier and more comfortable than the old method of bone biopsies. It is a course of injections followed by a prolonged (4-6 hour) blood draw where they take out some of your blood, find the cells they want, and put the rest of your blood back.
Another form of donation, potentially even more useful, is umbilical cord blood, which can be donated just after a baby is born. The stem cells in umbilical cord blood are especially valuable because they have not yet “learned” a body, and can save someone's life even when they are not a perfect genetic match. Many hospitals are equipped to allow such donations, which do not interfere with the birth process in any way. Some hospitals are not.
No comments:
Post a Comment