Stem Cells For Life
Blood stem cell transplants save lives!
These transplants can treat people of all ages who are dealing with more than 80 diseases and disorders.
Multiple timeframes and locations are being offered to make access easeful for students, staff and faculty interested in participating.
Wed. Sept. 25 & Thurs. Sept 26 | Nipissing University Campus | Main building outside the campus bookstore | 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Wed. Sept. 25 | Nipissing University Athletic Centre foyer | 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Thurs. Sept. 26 | Canadore College Commerce Court Campus outside the cafeteria | 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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• Siblings can be a match; however, most stem cell transplants are achieved using matched unrelated donors
• It takes many thousands of people to register as a potential donor to help find a match
• Registration is easy: attend a Swab In event or register online at blood.ca/rotary
• Registration criteria is focused on persons who are 17 - 35 years old who required completing a brief medical questionnaire
• Members of the LGBTQIA+ community CAN join the registry and donate. You won’t be asked about your sexual orientation when registering because it doesn’t factor into choosing the best possible match for a patient
• Ethnicity is a key to finding a match; so, it’s really important to have representation on the registry that mirrors Canada’s diversity; international students are most welcome to register
• Thankfully, blood stem cell registries in countries around the globe are linked in order to provide the best chance to match a donor with a recipient
• Finding a match is like finding a needle in a haystack; while successful transplants can be achieved less than a perfect match, depending on your ethnic background, “the chance of finding an exact match with an unrelated donor is about one in 100,000"
• If you are a match, you will most likely donate from peripheral blood (like a regular blood or plasma donation) using a process called apheresis where your stem cells are taken from your blood and the remaining blood is returned to you directly; or, in less that 10% of situations, the blood stem cells are taken from the bone marrow in your pelvic bone under general anesthetic
• More registered donors mean a better chance of a match … there are always patients waiting for a match and the opportunity for a healthy life!
Diseases and conditions treated by a blood stem cell transplant:
• Stem cell transplants can treat over 80 diseases and disorders, including:
• Various types of blood cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma.
• Bone marrow deficiency diseases such as thalassemia or sickle cell disease.
• Aplastic anemia (the lack of normal blood cell production).
• Inherited immune system and metabolic disorders.
• Our bodies constantly manufacture stem cells because without them, the consequences can be life-threatening.
Contact: Colin Vickers, colin.b.vickers@gmail.com or 705-845-8909