Over 400 People Peddle To Create Awareness About Stem Cell Donation

Aiming to create awareness about blood stem cell donation, the third edition of the DATRI Blood Stem Cell Donors Registry’s ‘Cycle to Gift a Life’ witnessed over 400 participants participating in a cycling rally. This cycle rally marks the celebration of World Marrow Donor Day. It started from Tricel Bio Park at Taramani at 5.30 a.m. It was held in three different categories, from 25 km to 100km, as per a press release. Triathlete Raghul Trekker and cyclist Anahita Sriprasad flagged the race. They also focused on the need to keep fit. 
  Upadhyagulla Sai, one of the participants, donated blood stem cells last week and cycled for 100 km to state that donating blood stem cells does not lead to weakness.
These blood stem cells are necessary for treating people who are suffering from blood disorders like leukemia and thalassemia.

The World Marrow Donor Day is a day celebrated to thank all the donors for their contribution. Over 2,76,000 volunteer donors are registered with DARTI.
This year’s event was supported by NIRMA. The Co-founder and CEO of DATRI Raghu Rajagopal also took part in the event. 

Donating blood stem cells may help in giving the victim a new life. If a person is willing to donate blood stem cells, the very first thing is to ensure that the donor is in good health and will not pose any risk of infections to the recipient. 

Once the donor is registered with DATRI, your cheek cell sample (buccal swab) is sent for HLA typing. If your sample matches with a recipient, you will be called for the further processes. A small sample is subjected to confirmatory typing which is followed by a Master Health check-up to ensure that you are healthy enough to donate. 
  After this, you will be injected with GCSF (Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor) for 5 days. This helps in releasing blood stem cells from the bone marrow into your peripheral blood flow. On the last day, the cells will be collected in a 4-5 hours procedure called Apheresis. Lastly, your blood stem cells are dispatched by DATRI to the transplant center. The transplant center doctor then transfuses your cells to the patient. 

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