Your Plasma Can Help Someone Breathe Easier: Alpha-1
Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, sometimes called Alpha-1, is an inherited form of emphysema caused by a deficiency in a protein that keeps lung tissue elastic. That deficient protein can be extracted from your plasma and used to make medicine. Because of the tiny amounts of the protein in each donation, it takes roughly 900 plasma donations each year to make enough medication for just one patient.