NHS needs more plasma donors from Thames Valley
The Reading donor centre is looking for more than a thousand new people
NHS Blood and Transplant needs around 1,050 people from the Thames Valley register as plasma donors to help treat more than 50 rare diseases.
Plasma is made into a medicine called immunoglobulin which is used to treat immune system disorders.
There are currently 2,250 donors at the area’s donor centre in King’s Road in Reading but another 1,050 are needed to collect the target level to improve future supplies.
Each year, around 750 people from the Thames Valley and around 3,700 people from the South receive medicines made from immunoglobulin.
Case study
Emma Stone, aged 37, of Lower Earley in Reading, said immunoglobulin medicine was ‘like a miracle’ after she began treatment for a rare disease.
She developed the rare autoimmune disease chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP).
Over around six months, she went from experiencing pins and needles in her hands to often needing a wheelchair to leave the house.
Her immune system was attacking the nerves that send signals to her muscles.
Emma, a mum of two, said: “It was scary and it was very traumatic for my children to see. The treatment has given my kids their mum back again.”
She started to notice weakness in her hands and legs in December 2020, followed by pins and needles. Her nerves became numb - she stopped being able to feel hot water.
By summer 2021, she could only walk small distances at home. Her limbs became almost paralysed. She often needed a wheelchair to go outside. Her mobility kept deteriorating through the year.
Emma, a beautician, said: “I basically couldn’t do anything. There was no way I could cut up my own food, dress myself or wash my own hair. On better days, I could just about sit in a chair out with friends.”
CIPD is progressive. If it’s not caught early, people can suffer permanent loss of mobility in their arms and legs, including the need for a wheelchair.
Emma was diagnosed in January 2022 and had intensive treatment with immunoglobulin soon afterwards.
Emma said: “The effect was like a miracle. Within about four weeks it had made a huge difference and I could move almost normally again. It was amazing.”
To maintain her health, every three weeks, Emma goes into Royal Berkshire Hospital to have three infusions of immunoglobulin over three days.
“Immunoglobulin has just changed my life completely. It’s enabled me to work again, to be a mum again. It allows me to have my life back. I’d got quite depressed when I couldn’t do normal stuff with my kids, like pushing them on a swing, picking them up when they fell, carrying them to bed and turning the pages on the book at night time story.”
“I’d just say to all the wonderful people donating, thank you, you are giving my kids a mum back, and saving my family.”
Donating Plasma
Plasma is part of your blood. It’s the liquid which carries everything around the body. When donated, it is a yellow colour. Plasma contains antibodies, which are made into the immunoglobulin medicine. The antibodies strengthen or stabilise the patient’s immune system.
During donation, a machine gradually separates out up to 700mls of plasma from blood. Donation takes about 35 minutes and the whole visit – including questionnaires and snacks - takes around one hour 15 minutes.
England relied on imported immunoglobulin for more than 20 years as a precaution against vCJD but the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said in 2021 that plasma from UK donors can again be used for immunoglobulin.
Donations taken in Reading will bolster availability of the medicine in England, giving patients more protection from international shortages.
Visit www.blood.co.uk/plasma or search ‘donate plasma’.