What is bone marrow?
Bone marrow is the spongy tissue that fills the inside of some of your bones. Bone marrow is full of special cells called stem cells. These cells are very important to the body because they can develop into different kinds of cells depending on what your body needs. In bone marrow, stem cells usually develop into blood cells.
What does it do?
Bone marrow is the body’s manufacturing plant for blood. Stem cells inside the bone marrow develop into the different kinds of blood cells including red cells which carry oxygen, white cells that fight infections, and platelets that help with blood clotting. Blood cells normally work for a time then are replaced by the bone marrow as they wear out and die. If the bone marrow is not working correctly, the body does not have the ability to replace blood cells which causes the body to be weak and unhealthy.
Why do people need bone marrow donations?
There are a number of diseases that can cause the bone marrow to stop producing blood cells. Sometimes the stem cells in the marrow are faulty or are not able to develop into all the types of blood cells. Leukemia is a type of cancer that affects the bone marrow and causes it to produce abnormal white cells which are not able to fight infection correctly. Another disease called aplastic anemia prevents the bone marrow from producing red cells, which means the blood is not able to carry enough oxygen to keep body healthy.
Some people are born with bone marrow disorders and others develop problems with bone marrow later in life. Some of these conditions can be treated with medication. Sometimes people receive many blood transfusions to replace blood cells while doctors work to fix their overall condition. This is only a short-term solution because the bone marrow needs to be constantly producing new blood cells to replace cells in the blood.
Some treatments for cancer including chemotherapy and radiation can damage or even destroy the cells in the bone marrow. In this case, the only solution is to replace the marrow inside their bones. This is called a bone marrow transplant.
Who can donate bone marrow?
People who are going to have treatments for cancer that will damage their bone marrow sometimes donate their own marrow before the treatment so it can be placed back in their bones once the treatment is done. In most cases, bone marrow is donated by another person who may be a close relative or friend or may be a complete stranger.
Doctors decide who can donate blood for a particular patient by comparing stem cells from the two people. In order for a transplant to succeed, the cells must be a very good match. A close relative such as a brother or sister is usually the first choice for a donor, but matching donors can be found in people who are not related. The odds of finding a match are improved when the recipient and the donor have the same ethnic and racial backgrounds.
What happens if I donate bone marrow?
Removing bone marrow from a donor is called “harvesting”. If you volunteer to donate bone marrow, the doctors will give you anesthetic to numb the area, which is usually over the hip bone, although sometime marrow is also harvested from the breastbone. The doctor will insert a needle into the bone to remove some of the bone marrow. Harvested bone marrow can be frozen to preserve it until the recipient is ready to receive it.
There are no significant risks involved in donating bone marrow. The area where the marrow is removed may feel stiff and sore for a few days, and you may feel tired. Within a few weeks, your body will replace the marrow that you donated.
Are there costs involved in donating marrow?
Before you can donate, you will have to have a blood test so doctors can find out if you are a match to prospective recipients. Some donor centers cover the cost of this test while others may ask you to pay for the test, which typically costs less than $100.
How do I sign up to donate marrow?
In the U.S. you can find a hospital in your area that performs bone marrow transplants by visiting the National Marrow Donor Program Website.
Sources:
National Institutes of Health Medline Plus: Bone Marrow Diseases
National Institutes of Health Medline Plus: Bone Marrow Transplantation
OrganDonor.gov