March 28, 2024

Donate blood, platelets ... how to do?

Blood donation
- Why ?
The donation of blood helps every year to save many people. A blood transfusion is vital for patients with leukemia, hemophilia, severe burns, bleeding in an accident or an operation.
- Who can give?
You must be between 18 and 65 years old. To be in a good health. Men can give 5 times a year and women 3 with an interval of 8 weeks between each.
There is no risk in giving blood. The sampling is done by a professional in a specific place.
- How is the sample taken?
You must bring a piece of identification. The sample will be preceded by a medical interview to see if you are fit to give and to make sure there is no contraindication. It is not necessary to be fasting.
After sampling, lasting 8 to 10 minutes, you will be welcomed in a space where you will be served a snack.
The gift is anonymous.
- Or ?
To know all the centers, you can consult the site on the donation of the blood, by clicking here.
//www.dondusang.net/
 
Donate platelets
- Why ?
Platelets are one of the components of blood, they allow the coagulation of blood to prevent or stop bleeding. Platelet transfusions are vital and vital for diseases such as leukemia or heavy treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
- Who can give?
You must be between 18 and 65 years old. To be in a good health. Five donations are allowed per year as long as they are four weeks apart.
- How is the sample taken?
You must bring a piece of identification. Again, the sample will be preceded by a medical interview to see if you are fit to give. The sampling is longer: 1 h 30. But plan more than two hours in all. Blood collected, we separate its various components (red blood cells, white ..), the platelets are collected and you are returned other components A snack is offered after.
Platelet donation is anonymous and can only be done by appointment.
The life of platelets is only 5 days hence the need to have many donors.
- Who can give?
You must be between 18 and 65 years old. To be in a good health. 5 donations are allowed per year provided that a 4 week interval is respected between each.
- Or ?
To know all the centers you can consult the site on the donation of the blood, by clicking here.
//www.dondusang.net/
 
Bone marrow donation
- Why ?
A bone marrow transplant today helps cure deadly diseases. Bone marrow is found in flat bones and is a real blood product factory: platelets that stop bleeding, red blood cells that carry oxygen and whites that protect against infections.
- Who can give?
You must be between 18 and 50 years old. To be in a good health. The potential donor must register in a voluntary donor registry that was established in 1987.
The chances of the patient finding a compatible donor are extremely rare. The most compatible donors remain brothers and sisters.
The donor must agree to be contacted within one month, one year, three years ...
- How is the sample taken?
At first the volunteer donor will just have to have a blood test to determine his genetic markers. It is then, only in case of compatibility with a patient that he will be summoned to the hospital to undergo at first medical examinations necessary for any anesthesia, because it is under general or epidural anesthesia that fifteen days more later, the donor will have bone marrow removed by puncture in the hip bones. The latter will be hospitalized two days. Everything is taken care of by Social Security. The marrow is then reinjected to the patient by simple transfusion.
- Or ?
You will find all the centers by clicking on the website of the Biomedicine Agency.
//www.agence-biomedecine.fr

Sperm donation and oocyte donation 
- Why ?
To allow men and women to become parents.
- How is the sample taken?
For men and women: make an appointment at a center for the study and conservation of eggs and human sperm (Cecos).Following an interview, the donor will undergo blood tests to verify the absence of communicable diseases (HIV, hepatitis B, genetic diseases ...).
For the man: the collection of sperm is done on the spot. After the various examinations if the semen is resistant to freezing, the man is asked to come back three or four times.
For women: the procedure is heavy for an egg donation, hence the few donors. Oocytes are collected by ovarian puncture under analgesia after stimulation of ovulation.
- Who can give?
For men: to be under 45, to be already father and to have the agreement of his spouse.
For women: to be under 38, to be already a mother and to have the consent of her spouse.
For both, accept the anonymity of the gift.
- Or ?
In the Cecos, find out in your city.

Organ donation
- Why ?
To save lives. Every year more than 11,000 people need an organ transplant to continue living or better living.
- How is the sample taken?
Organ removal is only possible in cases of brain death or brain death. That is to say, as soon as the final operation of the brain stops. It is a very rare condition, hence the lack of donors. The heart and breathing are kept artificially alive, only a few hours, to oxygenate organs that can be transplanted.
When the family has given its authorization for the sampling, it is done with the same care and attention as for a conventional surgical procedure. The organs removed are then allocated to patients waiting for transplants, in accordance with rules established by the Minister of Health and applied only by the Biomedicine Agency.
In France organ donation is anonymous, unlike other countries.
- Who can give?
If a person is totally against organ donation, they must register on the national refusal register (see website of the Biomedicine Agency below). If the deceased is not registered, the medical team must make sure with his relatives that he has never mentioned a total refusal during his lifetime. The best is to have a donor card in his papers. Hence the importance of approaching the subject with his family.
- Or ?
To learn more about organ donation, visit the website of the Biomedicine Agency by clicking here.
//www.agence-biomedecine.fr/
 



Platelets: The Ultimate Gift (March 2024)