We need to talk about stem cells
What comes to your mind when someone says "stem cell donation"? Most people would imagine an incredibly painful process consisting of huge needles burrowing into their arms or spine, right down to the bone, and drawing up a substance the doctors call 'bone marrow'. However contrary to popular belief, only 10% of stem cell donations require needles going deep into the body and the other 90% of donations are carried out entirely differently to how people envision it in their minds. I want to shed some light on the stem cell donation procedures and encourage those of you reading this today to join the stem cell donation register.
So, what exactly are stem cells? Embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells are the two main types of stem cells. Embryonic stem cells are cells that can divide indefinitely and turn into any type of cell within the body. Say there were two different embryonic stem cells in an embryo, one could differentiate and become a heart cell, and the other could differentiate and become a brain cell. Adult stem cells can also differentiate into other types of cells, but the range of what they can turn into is significantly more limited than that of an embryonic stem cell. An adult stem cell found the brain, for example, couldn't turn into a heart cell because of its location and where it was created. There are laws preventing us from extracting embryonic stem cells from embryos so when someone is in need of stem cells for a particular part of their body, adult stem cells are extracted from that part of the body from someone else. People suffering from cancer, in particular blood cancer, are in dire need of blood stem cell donations to give them a fighting chance.
When the level of cancer in someone reaches a critical stage, chemo and radiotherapy are used to combat the cancer. However, there are side effects to these treatments. One side effect is damage to the bone marrow tissue. Bone marrow is the tissue in the centre of your bones that produces adult blood stem cells that turn into red and white blood cells, and platelets that are present in your blood. Damage to the bone marrow hinders or entirely ceases its ability to produce blood cells that the body needs for the immune system (white blood cells), to carry oxygen (red blood cells) and to prevent bleeding (platelets). This is a very serious side effect and can even be fatal if not treated in time. In these instances, cancer patients need stem cell donations so that their bone marrow can begin producing stem cells again to keep them alive - I will talk about the procedure and how stem cells help those who need them later in this article. People with blood cancer such as leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma can not survive without stem cell donations for very long because the bone marrow in their body is not producing the blood cells they need to keep the body alive. If cancer patients receive these donations from a match, then it could prolong their life indefinitely and in some cases even save their lives entirely.
But how are blood stem cells extracted exactly? Well, there are two ways that blood stem cells can be extracted: via peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT) and bone marrow transplantation (BMT). In the PBSCT process, blood is drawn from one arm and transported to an apheresis machine where it is centrifuged (spun at very high rpm). This separates the components of the blood (i.e. the red blood cells and blood plasma) and takes the adult blood stem cells that are present in the blood plasma. Once the blood has been centrifuged, it exits the apheresis machine and travels back to the body in a tube connected to a vein in the arm. Essentially, it comes out one arm and goes back into the other. For four days prior to the procedure of drawing blood and centrifuging, the donor is injected with growth hormones to stimulate the production of stem cells to increase the number that are found within the blood plasma, in order to increase the yield of stem cells from the procedure. This is the way 90% of the donations are carried about and it usually takes 4-6 hours for the whole procedure to be complete. In the other 10% if cases, the BMT procedure is performed and is performed when the stem cells being harvested are going to be donated to a child. The BMT procedure puts the donor to sleep under general anesthesia or is given regional anesthesia to numb the area where the needle is going to be inserted. A needle is inserted through the skin over the pelvic bone right into the centre of the bone. From here, bone marrow is extracted through the needle and then taken off to remove any bone and skin fragments present in the marrow. It is often mixed with preservatives so that it can be held for longer and then sent off to the patient who needs the transplant. Overall the procedure only lasts about an hour but it will take a while for the effects of the anesthesia to wear off completely, and of course, since there was a huge needle inserted into you near the bottom of your back, you are going to feel some soreness for a while. These uncomfortable feelings are temporary, and the donation may go on to save the life of a child who would otherwise have suffered for the first and last years of their lives, uncertain of why they're in such pain.
To conclude, I want to tell you why I am writing about stem cells and the donation procedure. A couple of weeks ago a representative of the charity organisation Anthony Noland (Click here to visit their page) came to our school to inform us about the nature of stem cell donations. He told us that there are an alarmingly low number of people on the donation register and this is decreasing the chances of cancer patients finding a match with a donor is compatible with them. For this reason he is going up an down the country, trying to get as many young people as he can to join the register and save someone's life. I want to help him and I want to help countless numbers of people who are waiting on the transplant list, hoping for a match so that they can live on, by informing you of the truth about it. It isn't a painful procedure that it may seem like in your minds, it's a simple and easy procedure that the only thing you need to be for, is present and patient. Being on the register doesn't mean that you'll be called up to donate every few months like blood, you will only be called when you are matched with someone who needs this transplant. Some people are on the register for years before they are called up, some people in their first few days. Some people are on the register their whole lives and are never called up. It's a case of whether you are willing to give up a few hours of your life, to save or vastly improve someone else's. If you are interested in joining the register, follow this link: https://www.anthonynolan.org/8-ways-you-could-save-life/donate-your-stem-cells
You may not know it, but you may already be a guardian angel to someone who doesn't deserve all the pain and suffering caused by cancer.
Thank you for reading, and if you do decide to join the register, I salute you.
This has been Timothy K. Bosse, have a good day.
Citations:
https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/types/stem-cell-transplant
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Bone-marrow-transplant/Pages/Introduction.aspx
https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/types/stem-cell-transplant/stem-cell-fact-sheet
http://www.cancer.net/navigating-cancer-care/how-cancer-treated/bone-marrowstem-cell-transplantation/what-stem-cell-transplant-bone-marrow-transplant
https://www.anthonynolan.org/facts-and-stats
http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/statistics-by-cancer-type/leukaemia
https://www.verywell.com/peripheral-blood-stem-cell-transplant-2252169
So, what exactly are stem cells? Embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells are the two main types of stem cells. Embryonic stem cells are cells that can divide indefinitely and turn into any type of cell within the body. Say there were two different embryonic stem cells in an embryo, one could differentiate and become a heart cell, and the other could differentiate and become a brain cell. Adult stem cells can also differentiate into other types of cells, but the range of what they can turn into is significantly more limited than that of an embryonic stem cell. An adult stem cell found the brain, for example, couldn't turn into a heart cell because of its location and where it was created. There are laws preventing us from extracting embryonic stem cells from embryos so when someone is in need of stem cells for a particular part of their body, adult stem cells are extracted from that part of the body from someone else. People suffering from cancer, in particular blood cancer, are in dire need of blood stem cell donations to give them a fighting chance.
When the level of cancer in someone reaches a critical stage, chemo and radiotherapy are used to combat the cancer. However, there are side effects to these treatments. One side effect is damage to the bone marrow tissue. Bone marrow is the tissue in the centre of your bones that produces adult blood stem cells that turn into red and white blood cells, and platelets that are present in your blood. Damage to the bone marrow hinders or entirely ceases its ability to produce blood cells that the body needs for the immune system (white blood cells), to carry oxygen (red blood cells) and to prevent bleeding (platelets). This is a very serious side effect and can even be fatal if not treated in time. In these instances, cancer patients need stem cell donations so that their bone marrow can begin producing stem cells again to keep them alive - I will talk about the procedure and how stem cells help those who need them later in this article. People with blood cancer such as leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma can not survive without stem cell donations for very long because the bone marrow in their body is not producing the blood cells they need to keep the body alive. If cancer patients receive these donations from a match, then it could prolong their life indefinitely and in some cases even save their lives entirely.
But how are blood stem cells extracted exactly? Well, there are two ways that blood stem cells can be extracted: via peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT) and bone marrow transplantation (BMT). In the PBSCT process, blood is drawn from one arm and transported to an apheresis machine where it is centrifuged (spun at very high rpm). This separates the components of the blood (i.e. the red blood cells and blood plasma) and takes the adult blood stem cells that are present in the blood plasma. Once the blood has been centrifuged, it exits the apheresis machine and travels back to the body in a tube connected to a vein in the arm. Essentially, it comes out one arm and goes back into the other. For four days prior to the procedure of drawing blood and centrifuging, the donor is injected with growth hormones to stimulate the production of stem cells to increase the number that are found within the blood plasma, in order to increase the yield of stem cells from the procedure. This is the way 90% of the donations are carried about and it usually takes 4-6 hours for the whole procedure to be complete. In the other 10% if cases, the BMT procedure is performed and is performed when the stem cells being harvested are going to be donated to a child. The BMT procedure puts the donor to sleep under general anesthesia or is given regional anesthesia to numb the area where the needle is going to be inserted. A needle is inserted through the skin over the pelvic bone right into the centre of the bone. From here, bone marrow is extracted through the needle and then taken off to remove any bone and skin fragments present in the marrow. It is often mixed with preservatives so that it can be held for longer and then sent off to the patient who needs the transplant. Overall the procedure only lasts about an hour but it will take a while for the effects of the anesthesia to wear off completely, and of course, since there was a huge needle inserted into you near the bottom of your back, you are going to feel some soreness for a while. These uncomfortable feelings are temporary, and the donation may go on to save the life of a child who would otherwise have suffered for the first and last years of their lives, uncertain of why they're in such pain.
To conclude, I want to tell you why I am writing about stem cells and the donation procedure. A couple of weeks ago a representative of the charity organisation Anthony Noland (Click here to visit their page) came to our school to inform us about the nature of stem cell donations. He told us that there are an alarmingly low number of people on the donation register and this is decreasing the chances of cancer patients finding a match with a donor is compatible with them. For this reason he is going up an down the country, trying to get as many young people as he can to join the register and save someone's life. I want to help him and I want to help countless numbers of people who are waiting on the transplant list, hoping for a match so that they can live on, by informing you of the truth about it. It isn't a painful procedure that it may seem like in your minds, it's a simple and easy procedure that the only thing you need to be for, is present and patient. Being on the register doesn't mean that you'll be called up to donate every few months like blood, you will only be called when you are matched with someone who needs this transplant. Some people are on the register for years before they are called up, some people in their first few days. Some people are on the register their whole lives and are never called up. It's a case of whether you are willing to give up a few hours of your life, to save or vastly improve someone else's. If you are interested in joining the register, follow this link: https://www.anthonynolan.org/8-ways-you-could-save-life/donate-your-stem-cells
You may not know it, but you may already be a guardian angel to someone who doesn't deserve all the pain and suffering caused by cancer.
Thank you for reading, and if you do decide to join the register, I salute you.
This has been Timothy K. Bosse, have a good day.
Citations:
https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/types/stem-cell-transplant
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Bone-marrow-transplant/Pages/Introduction.aspx
https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/types/stem-cell-transplant/stem-cell-fact-sheet
http://www.cancer.net/navigating-cancer-care/how-cancer-treated/bone-marrowstem-cell-transplantation/what-stem-cell-transplant-bone-marrow-transplant
https://www.anthonynolan.org/facts-and-stats
http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/statistics-by-cancer-type/leukaemia
https://www.verywell.com/peripheral-blood-stem-cell-transplant-2252169
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