Current Affairs Brain Booster for UPSC & State PCS Examination (Topic: India's First Plasma Bank)

Current Affairs Brain Booster for UPSC & State PCS Examination

India's First Plasma Bank

Delhi government has inaugurated, India’s first plasma bank at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) to ease access to plasma that is being used as a trial to treat COVID-19 patients. ( The bank will coordinate with patients who have recovered from COVID-19, and are eligible to donate plasma.
Delhi was one of the first states to give the go-ahead for plasma therapy in April.

Plasma therapy involves transfusion of plasma from a convalescent coronavirus patient (recovered Covid patient) to a critical patient.
The blood of a convalescent patient is rich in antibodies that are expected to help the critical patient recover.
Unlike blood donation, only the plasma is drawn from the blood.
The trials are trying to find out if the antibodies can help patients recover.

Those who had the disease, but have recovered at least 14 days before the donation can be considered — although doctors prefer a time of three weeks between recovery and donation.
Those aged between 18 and 60 years and weighing not less than 50 kg can also donate.
A person, who has diabetes or insulin, or is a cancer survivor is not eligible to donate.
If an individual's blood pressure is more than 140 and diastolic less than 60 or more than 90, he or she can't donate plasma.
Women who have given birth are not eligible, as the antibodies they produce during pregnancy (after being exposed to the blood of the foetus) can interfere with lung function.
500 ml of plasma can be donated every two weeks, while blood can be donated once in three months.

Blood contains several components, including red blood cells, platelets, white blood cells, and plasma.
During a whole blood donation, donors typically donate a pint (about a half litre) of blood.
In plasma donation, as opposed to blood donation, only plasma is extracted and the other components of blood are returned to the body.

It is a medical technology in which the blood of a person is passed through an apparatus that separates out one particular constituent and returns the remainder to the circulation.
The apheresis machine was invented by American medical technologist Herb Cullis in 1972.
Blood plasma is a 'yellowish liquid' component of blood that holds the blood cells of whole blood in suspension.
Plasmapheresis is a medical therapy that involves blood plasma extraction, treatment, and reintegration.
The main role of plasma is to take nutrients, hormones, and proteins to the parts of the body that need it. Cells also put their waste products into the plasma. The plasma then helps remove this waste from the body. Blood plasma also carries all parts of the blood through your circulatory system.
The proteins and antibodies in plasma are also used in therapies for rare chronic conditions. These include autoimmune disorders and hemophilia.