Heroes needed
The easiest test youíll ever take
Thousands of new cases of anemia and bone disease are diagnosed in the United States every year. In some cases, people in North Dakota, Minnesota and other Midwestern states are directly affected. Their only hope is to find a matching donor. This can be a long and painstaking process.
On April 10, a bone marrow drive will be held for a 13-year-old boy in Kenmare, N.D., from 2 p.m. until 7 p.m. While most local college students won’t be able to make the trip, there are things many students can do to help find more matches.
But it’s a little more complicated than finding a matching blood type. The odds of finding a bone marrow match are one in 20,000 in a general population, according to information from the Federal Citizen Information Center.
It is disheartening that only one in four patients on the national donor list find a match.
One of the advantages of bone marrow testing is that it is easy, relatively painless and takes very little time. A typical bone marrow test lasts about 15 minutes and consists of a blood test. In the event that a match is found, a needle is injected into the donor’s bone and a sample of marrow is taken.
One method students have to help is to register with the National Marrow Donor Program. This program tests potential donors and stores their information in a database that can be used to compare with patients throughout the country.
Currently, there isn’t a NMDP site in North Dakota. The closest two locations are in St. Paul and Minneapolis, according to the Web site marrow.org.
Registration at both locations is free, but the process takes a little longer. Potential donors should also be aware of the risks of donating.
A second step for students is to educate themselves about bone marrow donation. Local MeritCare hospitals provide a great deal of information about bone marrow donation and diseases that require donors.
A final method for students to help is signing up at local bone marrow drives. There is strength in numbers. The more people who sign up increases the odds of finding a match.
The odds of being the person who has the “golden ticket,” as far as lifesaving bone marrow, is a long shot. But to children and people with anemia, a long shot is better than not searching at all.
Columnists' opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of The Spectrum