Our body is a wonderful machine and each part of our body has some special function attached to it. We have often believed that our bones give the basic structure to our bodies. While this is true, our bones also have another important job to perform. The hollows of our bones are where the bone marrow is produced. Bone marrow is a sponge and soft tissue like substance. It produces blood stem cells and they are essential for supplying red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets to the entire body. Hence, they play a very critical and vital role in keeping our body healthy, strong and free from diseases. While red blood cells help in transporting oxygen to the various parts of the body, white blood cells improve the immunity of our body. Platelets are important because they help the blood to clot in case of injuries, cuts, nicks and other such problems.
When Could Problems Happen
However, there could be problems with our bone marrow because of some reason. Certain types of blood cancers like leukemia often lead to a situation where the bone marrow match is destroyed. This may lead to a reduced supply of RBCs, WBCs, and platelets. On the other hand, when a person is treated with high dose chemotherapy and radiotherapy it could lead to the partial or complete destruction of the bone marrow. This could be a serious situation and if it is not corrected, it could lead to the collapse of the patient and even possible death. In such situations, the only option is to go in for a bone marrow transplant. We will learn something more about it over the next few lines.
What Is Bone Marrow Transplant All About
Bone marrow transplant procedure is about transplanting the body with healthy bone marrow. The healthy bone marrow could be either from the patient or from external sources. In the case of impending chemotherapy, the healthy bone marrow of the patients is taken out and they are cultivated and kept in very safe and healthy conditions. Once the chemotherapy or radiotherapy is over, the healthy bone marrow is transplanted into the body of the patient. It is done mostly in the spinal cord area and the healthy bone marrow travels and finds a home for itself. This leads to increased production of RBC, WBC and platelets and the patient slowly recovers from the deficiency over some time.
In some cases, the bone marrow has to be sourced from others whose genetics are matching. The bone marrow is then injected into the body and the patient gets a chance to recover from mild to a severe shortage of bone marrow. This process is complicated and it could take some time. There are also increased chances of infection, and even rejection of the bone marrow stem cells. This could lead to problems. In many cases, the patients are given immunosuppressive drugs so that the new bone marrow stem cells are not invaded and destroyed by the immune function of the body. This could put patients at a higher risk of infections.
Contact US:
Gift of Life Marrow Registry Address: 800 Yamato Rd suite 101 Boca Raton, FL Phone: (800) 962-7769
