The Life-saving Gift of Bone Marrow
November is National Marrow Awareness Month. A Duke expert encourages people to join the national marrow donor registry to help treat patients with life-threatening disease
Friday, November 14, 2003
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Durham, N.C. -- Since the late 1960s, tremendous strides have been made in the
field of stem cell and bone marrow transplantation. Today, these
procedures routinely help treat many people suffering from
life-threatening diseases such as leukemia. November is National
Marrow Awareness Month, and Dr. Keith Sullivan, from the Division
of Medical Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation at Duke
University Medical Center, says it's a good time to look into
becoming a donor.
"The need for individuals to be blood donors is real, ongoing and constant. If an individual also wanted to be considered to be a donor of either peripheral blood stem cells or bone marrow cells, contact the American Red Cross."
Sullivan says there are now 15 million names worldwide on the marrow donor registry, but there will always be a pressing need for donors.
"That is especially urgent for members of minorities - African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans. You just need a larger proportion of minority donors to have another donor for another minority individual."
To learn more about bone marrow diseases and how to donate bone marrow, visit the National Marrow Donor Program.
I'm Cabell Smith for MedMinute.
