What are the criteria to become a living bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell donor?
• You must be between the ages of 18 and 60 • You must be in general good health • You must not have HIV or AIDS or be at risk for HIV or AIDS • You must never have had a serious illness or disease like cancer, heart or lung disease, Type 1 diabetes, active asthma, liver disease, etc. • You must have good clotting ability. If you have had a bleeding disorder or issue. • You must not have had piercings, tattoos or blood transfusions in the last 12 months as this may increase your chances of having the HIV virus. HIV can remain dormant and not show up on your test if you have contracted it in the last 12 months. • You must not have ever taken human growth hormone or etretinate (Tegison), a drug taken for the treatment of psoriasis. Taking HGH increases the chances of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Studies show that etretinate, suspected of causing severe birth defects in infants of women who have taken it, may be detectable in blood for long periods of time after the drug has been discontinu
