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Bone Marrow Transplant To Beat Leukemia

There are thousands of people who are being diagnosed with leukemia every day and the only way to save them is by undergoing a leukemia marrow transplant. What is bone marrow? This is a soft tissue that is present within the bones. These have stem cells that are responsible for producing blood. When a person gets leukemia the production of blood drops within the body and causes health issues. Do you want to know more about bone marrow transplants? Here have a read.

How Does This Procedure Work

A sign of bone marrow malfunction is when the body cannot make healthy cells for blood and that is when a person is suspected of having leukemia. Failure of the bone marrow can lead to conditions such as too much bleeding, fatal health conditions, and fatigue.

In such a condition a doctor may recommend the patient to undergo a transplant of the bone marrow to address leukemia. The procedure involves the extraction of good cells from the bone marrow and then the patient is put through chemotherapy or radiation and then the healthy cells are introduced back into the body.

What Are The Different Types Of Transplants?

The whole purpose of a leukemia bone marrow transplant is to make sure that the condition goes into remission completely. Here are two kinds of transplants performed by doctors.

Allogeneic Transplant:  In this procedure, the cells are extracted from a donor who is a perfect match for the recipient.

Autologous Transplant: Here the stem cells are extracted from the patient’s body and then re-administered after the chemotherapy and radiation have been completed.

Things To Remember About The Procedure

This transplant procedure is not a surgical process, but it is complicated and has several stages. Here are some of the stages discussed below.

Testing Before Transplant

Before you go in for the transplant an oncologist will examine you and diagnose the extent of your leukemia. Your organs such as liver, lungs, and heart will be tested.

The Conditioning Stage

In this phase, the doctor preps you for the process. Here you will be put through a series of chemotherapy to eliminate leukemia cells from within the body. This is known as the conditioning phase. The patient usually has to go in for multiple chemotherapy sessions.

Infusion

Once your chemotherapy has stopped then the healthy cells are administered into the body. It is not painful.

The Recovery Stage

In this period the patients have to take medications and also turn up for several tests to check if leukemia has gone into remission. However, the patient will have to follow a strict lifestyle and diet as suggested by the doctor. The recovery process will take time for some it may take even years and so you have to be very patient.

Wrapping Up

So, this is all you need to know about the transplant procedure for acute myeloid leukemia bone marrow transplant. The best way to beat this disease is to get yourself tested and treated early. This will help your body heal faster and so you will be able to beat the disease.

Contact Us:

Gift of Life Marrow Registry

Address: 800 Yamato Rd suite 101 Boca Raton, FL 33487
Phone: (800) 962-7769