Leukopaks Can Do Many Things



A leukopak is a unit of enriched blood. The blood can be enriched in several different ways. One way is that the donor takes special medications so that when their blood is drawn, there are more of the necessary blood cells. The medication boosts the bone marrow which is what makes the blood cells. Depending on how long the donor takes the medication, the amount of additional blood cells can vary. Another way to enrich the blood is to take several samples given by donors, combine them, and run them through a centrifuge. Doing that allows the blood to separate out into its various components. These various blood products are then separated out for different uses, including packing together a lot of leukocytes in one unit of blood, which means that the person who receives that blood will get more of the necessary blood parts. There are a lot of reasons to do this. 

Boosted Healing

Because the leukopak has more of the various leukocytes in it, when it is given to someone who has been injured or who needs blood, they may get boosted healing, at least for a while, since there are going to be more clotting factors and other cells which promote healing. The leukopaks can be given to patients who are in surgery or have had some kind of injury which causes a lot of blood loss because the additional clotting factors can help to slow down any bleeding. 


Doing research using blood is important to do things like find cures for various cancers. However, that doesn't mean that it's easy to get that blood. Leukopaks give the researchers more of the things they are looking for in the blood so that they can do their research.

Leukopaks are important for so many reasons. They can help keep people alive in the moment and help scientists figure out ways to keep more people alive by finding ways to fight cancer or other illnesses that might affect the blood.