What harm does donating bone marrow do to people

Many diseases in the human body are caused by bone marrow abnormalities, among which the most common disease caused by bone marrow abnormalities is leukemia. In order for the patient to recover, a bone marrow transplant is required. Generally speaking, bone marrow transplantation has no health impact on the donor, so bone marrow donors do not need to worry too much that donating bone marrow will affect their physical health.

1. Donation Procedures

Generally speaking, they include: ① physical and laboratory examinations; ② those who pass the physical examination fill out the relevant forms and sign the donation volunteer form; ③ the staff draws 5 ml of venous blood for tissue compatibility antigen (HLA) typing examination, and enters the examination data into the hematopoietic stem cell database; ④ when a patient needs hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, a matching donor is found in the hematopoietic stem cell database. If your information is the same as the patient's, then you can realize your wish to donate hematopoietic stem cells.

2. Donation Process

(Pay attention to the third point, the collection method and process: Modern hematopoietic stem cell transplantation uses hematopoietic stem cells collected from peripheral blood. In other words, current technology no longer requires bone marrow collection, and donors do not need surgery, just need to go through a blood separator. The process is similar to the current platelet collection machine at blood stations)

1. The patient searches the Chinese Hematopoietic Stem Cell Donor Database. After the initial match is successful, you will be notified to undergo a physical examination and high-resolution analysis. If the high-resolution results match, then the next step will be entered; if they do not match, then the donation cannot be made.

2. After high-resolution matching, according to the patient's schedule, go to the hospital five days before the collection date for a simple physical examination and receive an intravenous injection of a mobilizing agent every day for four days (for instructions on mobilizing agents, please see the post on basic knowledge of hematopoietic stem cells).

That is, admission on day 0, injection of mobilization agent on days 1 to 4, and collection on day 5.

3. Collection method and process: Modern hematopoietic stem cell transplantation involves collecting hematopoietic stem cells from peripheral blood. Scientific methods are used to mobilize a large number of hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow blood into the peripheral blood. Whole blood is collected from the donor's arm vein, and the hematopoietic stem cells are extracted through a blood cell separator. At the same time, other blood components are returned to the donor's body. Since the entire collection process is carried out in a closed environment that meets medical safety requirements, it is extremely safe. After the collection is complete, there will be some minor pain and discomfort which will disappear quickly.

A total of approximately 10 grams of hematopoietic stem cells were collected. Contains some blood components, usually 50~100 ml. It is less than the amount of blood donated in one whole blood donation. Moreover, the human body has a strong regenerative ability for hematopoietic stem cells. Under normal circumstances, various cells in the human body are constantly metabolizing every day, undergoing a cycle of generation, aging, and death. After blood loss or donation of hematopoietic stem cells, the bone marrow can be stimulated to accelerate hematopoiesis, and within 1-2 weeks, various blood cells in the blood return to their original levels. Therefore, donating hematopoietic stem cells will not affect your health.

III. Impact of Donation

Donating hematopoietic stem cells will not have any adverse effects on the donor's health. Many different types of blood cells in our body come from the same ancestor - the multipotent hematopoietic stem cell. Not only can it continuously differentiate into offspring, but it can also replicate cells that are exactly the same as itself. This ensures that our hematopoietic function continues uninterrupted. When old blood cells die, new ones grow to replace them; when some hematopoietic stem cells are damaged, healthy stem cells are quickly born to compensate. There are not many pluripotent stem cells, which are distributed throughout the bone marrow. When donating bone marrow, only a small part of the human body's bone marrow is extracted, and only a part of the pluripotent stem cells is lost. The remaining pluripotent stem cells will replicate rapidly, and the hematopoietic function will be completely restored to normal in a short period of time. Therefore, donating hematopoietic stem cells will not affect a person's hematopoietic function.