The idea that the human body could contribute to certain medications might sound like an odd idea. If you think about it, though, what more plentiful and easily accessible resource is there than humans themselves?

With the help of modern research and technologies, scientists are now able to create medicines that use properties of the human body to treat serious illnesses. Here are a few examples of such life-saving medications.

Immunoglobulin Therapy

Patients who suffer from primary immunodeficiency diseases have severely compromised immune systems, which means they cannot fight off infection by themselves. Public places and exposure to other people can be very dangerous to someone whose immune system cannot create antibodies.

Immunoglobin therapy is one treatment option for people suffering from this type of disease. Researchers have found that they can use purified human blood plasma to create a therapy that boosts the immune system, allowing patients to live more normal lives.

"There are literally millions of different antibodies in every normal person," according to PrimaryImmune.org. "The best way to ensure that the Ig [immunoglobin] will contain a wide variety of antibodies is to combine or 'pool' the plasma from many individuals." To get a good mix, pharmaceutical companies combine the blood plasma from as many as 10,000 to 50,000 carefully screened individuals to create their therapy.

Albumin

The human serum albumin is the most abundant protein in human plasma. Albumin replaces lost blood volume and essential blood protein following trauma, shock and severe burns.

Albumin was the first plasma treatment ever produced and was first used during World War II. For more than 50 years now Albumin has been used to treat tens of millions of patients worldwide.

More facts: Immediately after the September 11 attacks when all air traffic was stopped, the Federal Aviation Administration gave special clearance for a jet carrying Albumin from a plasma protein therapy manufacturer to land in New York.

Hyperimmune globulin

Hyperimmune globulins are specific immune globulins (antibodies) — prepared from blood plasma — that provides rapid immune coverage in potentially life-threatening situations, including exposure to rabies, tetanus, hepatitis A or hepatitis B.

These therapies provide great protection to the patients in these high-risk situations if vaccines are given enough time to work.

Another type of hyper immune is used to prevent maternal-fetal Rho(D), which occurs when the mother is Rh-negative (-) and is carrying Rh-positive (+) baby. This blood type incompatibility causes the mother's body to create antibodies against the baby that can complicate the pregnancy.

Therapy for Genetic Emphysema

Some diseases can't be cured entirely, but their effects can be slowed with therapy. Genetic emphysema, or alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, is a type of lung disease that causes shortness of breath, coughing, fatigue, and rapid heartbeat. It cannot be prevented or cured right now, though its symptoms tend to be exacerbated by smoking and poor physical fitness.

It can, however, be treated with a augmentation therapy, which is made from pooled, purified human blood plasma protein concentrate. It acts as a replacement enzyme for improving lung function, according to Medscape.com, who also reported that a National Institutes of Health report found "an overall death rate 1.5 times higher for those who did not receive augmentation therapy."

Grifols Plasma estimates it takes about 900 blood plasma donations to treat one patient with genetic emphysema for an entire year.

As you consider the good that comes from human derived medications don't forget the impact you can have by getting involved. You can help save lives by choosing to donate blood and blood plasma among other things.

For more information on how to donate, click here.

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