Question 1

what are the risks and benefits of bone marrow transplants?

Accepted Answer

Life saving.: Benefit is not dying from the disease being treated with transplant.  Risks are death from infection, or organ damage from treatment.  Later on, risk is graft vs host disease (gvhd) where the new immune system attacks the recipient.  Common sites are skin, mucus membranes, GI tract, liver.  Infection also more likely with gvhd.  Drugs can damage joints, esp. Hips and shoulders.  Varies how severe.

Question 2

what are the risks for donors and how is bone marrow collected?

Accepted Answer

Soe risk?but many: We want to assure donor safety, but no medical procedure is risk-free. The majority (more than 98.5%) of donors from the be the match registry feel completely recovered within a few weeks. A small percentage (1.34%) of donors experience a serious complication due to anesthesia or damage to bone, nerve or muscle in their hip region.The risk of side effects of anesthesia  is well known.

Question 3

how is bone marrow donated?

Accepted Answer

Under gen anesthesia: Donating bone marrow for transplantation entails a procedure called bone marrow harvesting. The donor is placed under general anesthesia and turned over to lie on his/her belly to expose the hip bones on the back. Multiple aspirations of bone marrow are collected (average about 1 liter) at adjacent sites on the hip bone on both sides until a particular number of cells are reached.

Question 4

can you tell me the risks for a person to donate 'bone marrow' to a patient?

Accepted Answer

PB vs BM: Most (but not all) stem cells for allogeneic stem cell transplants are donated from the peripheral blood. The risks of the "collection" are similar to any blood product donation. There may be risks of the drugs used before collection including potential chemotherapy or growth factor drugs. That is more detail than 400 characters allows. A bone marrow harvest requires multiple bone marrow biopsies.

Question 5

how often can i donate bone marrow?

Accepted Answer

No set time: Donating bone marrow is different from donating blood or plasma, it is a surgical procedure, and you need to be matched to the recipient.

Question 6

what are risks of bone marrow donation?

Accepted Answer

Bone Marrow Harvest: Bone marrow harvesting for donating bone marrow is performed under general anesthesia and subjects the donor to the same risks of general anesthesia. After the procedure, the donor could experience any of the following: blood loss anemia, pain at the hips, bleeding, infection, hematomas, low blood pressure, fatigue, etc. Majority of healthy donors recover quickly and can be fine within a few days.

Question 7

how old should you be to donate bone marrow?

Accepted Answer

Over 18 years: They prefer to take it from young adults up to the age of 45 years because the quality of stem cells is best in this age range. This can be extended up to 60 years among family members of the needy patient under special circumstances.

Question 8

is it illegal to donate bone marrow under 18?

Accepted Answer

No: This would be the norm in a child with a brother or sister match. To be a volunteer donor you do need to be 18 years.

Question 9

could you still donate bone marrow if you smoke?

Accepted Answer

Yes: You do not have to be a nonsmoker to be a bone marrow donor. I would recommend quitting for many other reasons, but certainly still consider donating bone marrow even if you are still smoking.

Question 10

how likely would i be matched to donate bone marrow?

Accepted Answer

HLA typing: Your HLA type has 4 components and is unique to you, and possibly other family members, but since there are 7 billion other humans on earth, there is a good chance you can match an unrelated recipient by 3 or 4 HLA loci, making you a good to excellent donor. You can have your blood analyzed and checked against  a national or international data registry to see if there are matches available for you

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What are the risks of donating bone marrow

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What are the risks and benefits of bone marrow transplants?

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What are the risks for donors and how is bone marrow collected?

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How is bone marrow donated?

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Can you tell me the risks for a person to donate 'bone marrow' to a patient?

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How often can i donate bone marrow?

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What are risks of bone marrow donation?

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How old should you be to donate bone marrow?

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Is it illegal to donate bone marrow under 18?

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Could you still donate bone marrow if you smoke?

A member asked:

How likely would i be matched to donate bone marrow?

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