The biomedicine agency is taking advantage of World Bone Marrow Donor Day to reassure potential donors.
“There are bruises that hurt two minutes, and bruises that save lives.” The slogan of the biomedicine agency reminds us that bone marrow donation is not as painful a procedure as people imagine. With their #unbleu and a film uploaded to Youtube, it intends to raise awareness and inform about the importance of taking the step, and of making a donation. Its target: those under 40.
Why the #unbleu? In donors who have had a bone harvest, discomfort may last for a few days. And it often manifests itself as a little bruise. Far from the image of unbearable pain that most French people have in mind. With this hashtag, donors will be able to share their experience on social networks.
30 million donors worldwide
In 2016, 20,571 bone marrow transplants were performed worldwide. But to arrive at this figure, the number of donors must be much larger. The chance of finding a compatible donor outside the family is indeed only one in a million.
The French biomedicine agency and its foreign counterparts have therefore created an international register, which today brings together millions of donors. “Each new entry in the French register counts,” the agency recalls in a press release. For the moment, it has more than 260,000 registered, which is still little.
“Bone marrow transplants are based on international cooperation between donor registries,” emphasizes Dr. Évelyne Marry, director of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation at the Biomedicine Agency. Today, more than 30 million donors can be mobilized around the world. Thus, a donor registered in the register in France will be able to donate to a patient who lives nearby or hundreds or even thousands of kilometers away. »Nearly 1,000 transplants performed in France in 2016 came from donations from abroad.
Where are the men ?
And men are invited, more than women, to donate their marrow. On the French register, they represent barely more than a third of the donors registered, but two thirds of the donors withdrawn. They are indeed more sought after: their bone marrow is devoid of the antibodies developed by women during pregnancy. It will therefore be better accepted by the recipient.
To be a donor, you must meet three conditions: be in perfect health, be between 18 and 50 years old, and undergo a medical interview. A blood test will be taken during the final registration. One website was created especially to inform and guide potential donors.
The donation is not always painful, or even restrictive. In 75% of cases, it is done by a simple blood sample, recalls the biomedicine agency. For the remaining 25%, it consists of a simple surgical procedure at the level of the pelvic bone. The donation does not affect the health of the donor: in a few days, the cells collected are regenerated.
It should not be forgotten: a bone marrow donation can save a life. It can treat patients with fatal diseases such as leukemia, but also lymphomas, or aplastic anemia.
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