Benefits of bone marrow transplants

By Metro Creative

Bone marrow transplants or umbilical cord blood transplants can save lives.

Johns Hopkins Medicine says bone marrow transplants can be used to replace diseased, nonfunctioning bone marrow with healthy bone marrow to treat conditions like leukemia, aplastic anemia and sickle cell anemia.

Similar to receiving blood transfusions, those who require bone marrow need to be well-matched to improve their prognosis.

This means finding a donor with a human leukocyte antigen (HLA) tissue type that closely matches a patient’s.

Roughly 30% of patients will have a relative who matches and is able to donate, leaving the other 70% reliant on compatible donors, says HRSA Blood Stem Cell.

More blood marrow donors are needed, particularly among minority groups. A lack of minority marrow donors and others of diverse ethnicities means that people in these demographics can have trouble being matched.

Gift of Life warns that a shortage of diverse donors is costing lives, and urges more people to join the blood marrow donor pool.

— Metro Creative