All You Need To Know About Bone Marrow Transplantation

Posted by Shaurya on April 2nd, 2018

Bone marrow transplantation is a medical treatment that replaces the damaged bone marrow. In the treatment, blood stem cells are transplanted into the body which then goes to the bone marrow and creates new blood cells thereby enabling a new bone marrow to grow.

What is a bone marrow?

Bone marrow is a tissue that lies inside the bones. It creates the red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. The task of RBCs is to carry oxygen and nutrients to the body, WBCs combats infections while platelets form blood clots. The bone marrow also contains hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) that creates new blood cells during the lifespan. Thus, in case of any damage to bone marrow, the body will get deficient in WBCs, RBCs, platelets, HSCs and prone to infections, anemia, and a plethora of bleeding disorders.

Who needs bone marrow transplantation?

All those individuals whose bone marrow is damaged and functions improperly would require bone marrow transplantation. The bone marrow may get destroyed due to diseases, infections, or chemotherapy. Apart from this, there are several other disorders that can be treated using the transplant. These include:

  • Cancer that affects bone marrow including multiple myeloma, lymphoma, and leukemia
  • Aplastic anemia that prevents the marrow from creating new blood cells
  • Congenital neutropenia that leads to frequent infections
  • Thalassemia, a blood disorder that enables the body to create atypical hemoglobin

Different types of Bone Marrow Transplant

Autologous Transplants

In this type of transplantation, the individual’s own stem cells are used. It involves harvesting the cells prior to going for any therapy that damages the cells including radiation and chemotherapy. Soon after the therapy, the individual’s cells are transplanted back to the body. This kind of treatment is seldom used as it is only used for that individual who have healthy bone marrow.

Allogeneic Transplants

This is the most common type of transplant which involves taking the cells from a donor. Generally, donors are chosen from the family as a genetically matching donor is required. However, the genetic match can also be found by referring to the donor registry. The success rate of bone marrow transplant is dependent on cell match of patient and donor.

Pre-requisites of Bone Marrow Transplant

The patients are required to undergo several medical tests prior to the transplant to determine the kind of bone marrow cells that the patients need. Additionally, the patients may even undergo chemotherapy or radiation in order to kill all the cancer cells before transplanting the new stem cells.

How Bone Marrow Transplantation takes place?

Bone marrow cells are harvested from donor’s body two-three days prior to the procedure. A needle is then inserted on the upper right side of the chest. This needle facilitates the fluid that contains stem cells to flow into the heart. The stem cell is then transported throughout the body and into the bone marrow. The needle is left for several and after multiple sessions, stem cells integrate into the body.

If you’re looking for the best bone marrow transplant, then choose India as the success rate of bone marrow transplant in India is quite high. Furthermore, the bone marrow transplantation cost in India is quite affordable. Choose Healing Touristry as your medical tourism partner and get access to our avant-garde medical centers that are known for holistic healing.

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Shaurya

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Shaurya
Joined: April 2nd, 2018
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