When Does Bone Marrow Transplant Become Necessary

Bone marrow is a very important, soft and sponge-like tissue that is produced by the body inside our bones. It is the place where stem cells are stored. Stem cells are a type of blood cell that helps in making other important cells and these include red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. When a person undergoes a bone marrow transplant, he or she gets healthy stem cells to substitute damaged or diseased bone marrow cells in the body. The stem cells transplanted can come either from your own body or it could be through a donor. There is a growing demand for bone marrow transplant because it has a wide range of uses. As the population of the world grows, it is only natural that there will be growth in the number of people who fall ill or sick. In such situations, it would be the only natural to see the number of people joining the queue for bone marrow transplant.

 

What Is It Used For?

Bone marrow transplant is most commonly done on patients who suffer from certain types of blood cancer and other blood disorders. In many cases, the patients have to undergo chemotherapy to kill cancer cells either in their blood or on other parts of the body. While this high dosage and highly toxic drug may help in killing cancerous cells, they also damage healthy cells. Apart from this, these chemotherapy drugs also either partially or damage the bone marrow. Further, there could be some diseases that could either totally or partially damage the bone marrow.

 

In such situations, there is no other way but to go in for bone marrow transplantation. Through this process, healthy bone marrow is injected into the body either from the patient’s own body or through some donors. Bone marrow is very useful and could make the difference between life and death for patients suffering from leukemia, lymphoma, ALL or acute lymphocytic leukemia or CLL – chronic lymphocytic leukemia. It also may be necessary for patients suffering from aplastic anemia or multiple myeloma. Aplastic anemia is a condition where the body is unable to make the right amount of bone marrow in the body.

 

How Will Doctor Decide About The Candidature

Not all persons would require bone marrow or not all persons would be in a position to go in for bone marrow transplant. Your doctor is the only person who will decide whether you are the right candidate for a bone marrow transplant. The doctor will take into account as to how the transplant will work, and also factor other attributes such as your overall health, age. He or she will also check and find out the functioning of various organs of the body including the brain, kidney, lungs, heart, and liver. All these organs should be healthy enough to go through the process of bone marrow transplantation.

The Final Word

It would be pertinent to mention here that most patients who are below the age of seventy are considered good candidates for such transplants. However, this is more of a general rule and there could be many exceptions to the rule. Therefore, you must go only with the advice of your doctor and health care provider.

Contact US:

Gift of Life Marrow Registry
Address:  800 Yamato Rd suite 101  Boca Raton, FL
Phone: (800) 962-7769