Your body makes new ones every day, but do you really know what a stem cell is? Narcity recently quizzed Canadians on stem cells, and the results showed that not everyone knew what they are or how life-saving they can be.
There are over 1,000 patients in need of donated stem cells right now, and Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Registry is working hard to increase the chances that they'll find matching donors.
If you want to see how you fare on the stem cell quiz, give it a go below. Afterward, read on to find out more about what Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Registry does, and how you can get involved (even if you didn’t score so well on the quiz).
What Are Stem Cells?
While 75% of Narcity readers said they knew what stem cells were (thanks to Grey's Anatomy, probably), a quarter responded "no" when asked.
So here's the scoop: stem cells, specifically blood stem cells, are immature cells found in bone marrow, circulating blood and umbilical cord blood.
Blood stem cells can develop into three things: red blood cells that carry oxygen throughout your body, platelets that control and stop bleeding, and white blood cells that fight off infections.
While most Canadians can produce the blood stem cells they need to live healthy lives, there are hundreds every year who need a stem cell transplant to save their lives.
In fact, over 80 conditions can be treated with a stem cell transplant, including blood cancers (like leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma) and bone marrow deficiency diseases.
Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Registry exists to help patients find matching donors, which is harder than you might think. Less than 25% of patients in need of a transplant find a match in their own family, meaning the rest rely on unrelated volunteer donors to save their lives. This is where you come in.
Who Can Donate?
If you're aged 17-35, you can volunteer to join Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Registry. After filling out a health screening questionnaire on their website, you'll be sent a kit to take a cheek swab for DNA and a pre-paid envelope so you can return your samples.
Once your registration and swab kit is received, you'll be added to the Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Registry, where you could be matched to a patient requiring a stem cell transplant. However, you may not be called right way to donate. It could take weeks, months or even years before a potential stem cell donor gets selected as a match.
Why the age limit? Younger donors tend to mean better transplant outcomes for patients. Patients also have a better chance of finding a match with someone who shares their own racial or ethnic background.
While individuals from all backgrounds are welcome to sign up, Canadian Blood Service Stem Cell Registry particularly needs individuals from Indigenous, Asian, South Asian, Hispanic, mixed-race and diverse Black communities to join.
This is because the registry isn’t as racially diverse as the Canadian population, which makes it hard for patients from these backgrounds to find a match.
How Are Stem Cells Donated & What's Recovery Like?
If you don't know the answer to this question, you're not alone. Among Narcity readers, 44% didn't know where or how they could donate.
There are three ways that blood stem cells are collected in Canada, and the type of donation is determined by the need of the patient.
The most common method is a peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation, which is conducted at a specific collection hospital. Donors are administered a drug to increase the number of stem cells in their blood, and then they're hooked up to a machine that draws their blood and separates the stem cells before returning the blood to the donor’s body.
Recovery is pretty quick for the majority of donors, many of whom can get back to their normal routine the next day. Some have reported mild symptoms such as headaches, bone or muscle pain, nausea, insomnia and fatigue lasting between several days to a week following their donation.
How Are Donors & Patients Matched?
Every person has DNA markers called human leukocyte antigens (HLA) that they may have in common with other individuals.
The swab kit that you're sent when you register for Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Registry is used to identify your HLA markers, which then get added to the database of donors. Canadian Blood Services uses this database to find potential matches.
Patients are more likely to match with someone who shares their ethnic background, which is why it's so important for the registry to have a diversity of potential donors.
While patients and their unrelated volunteer donors undoubtedly share a special connection, it’s not considered standard practice for them to be introduced to each other.
If they do want to meet after the donation,
there are certain criteria that have to be met first that are in place to protect everyone’s privacy.
Why You Should Consider Registering
Over 1,000 Canadians are in need of stem cell transplants, and the majority of them are relying on a volunteer donor from outside their family. Your stem cells could save someone's life.
There's nothing more Canadian than helping out someone in need, and it can all start with signing up to Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Registry.
To learn more about stem cells, visit Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Registry's website, or check them out on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.
The information in this article is not intended and should not be construed as medical advice. Consult your health care provider before making any health care decisions or for guidance about a specific medical condition.
