Causes Of Aplastic Anemia | Bone Marrow transplant Abroad
What is Aplastic anemia?
Aplastic anemia is a rare disorder in which the bone marrow fails to produce enough blood cells. This happens because the normal blood-forming cells (stem cells) are replaced by abnormal fat cells.Symptoms
- Aplastic anemia symptoms may include
- Fatigue
- Shortness of breath with exertion
- Rapid or irregular heart rate
- Pale skin
- Frequent or prolonged infections
- Unexplained or easy bruising
- Nosebleeds and bleeding gums
- Prolonged bleeding from cuts
- Skin rash
- Dizziness
- Headache
Causes
Aplastic anemia develops when damage occurs to your bone marrow, slowing or shutting down the production of new blood cells. Bone marrow is a red, spongy material inside your bones that produces stem cells, which give rise to other cells. Stem cells in the bone marrow produce blood cells — red cells, white cells, and platelets. In aplastic anemia, the bone marrow is described in medical terms as aplastic or hypoplastic — meaning that it's empty (aplastic) or contains very few blood cells (hypoplastic).- Radiation and chemotherapy treatments.
- Exposure to toxic chemicals.
- Use of certain drugs.
- Autoimmune disorders.
- A viral infection.
- Pregnancy.
- Unknown factors.
- Confusion with myelodysplastic syndrome
Aplastic anemia can be mistaken for a condition called myelodysplastic syndrome. In this group of disorders, the bone marrow produces new blood cells, but they're deformed and underdeveloped. The bone marrow in myelodysplastic syndrome is sometimes called hyperplastic — meaning that it's packed with blood cells. But some people with the myelodysplastic syndrome have an empty marrow that's difficult to distinguish from aplastic anemia.
Prevention
There's generally no prevention for most cases of aplastic anemia. Avoiding exposure to insecticides, herbicides, organic solvents, paint removers, and other toxic chemicals may lower your risk of the disease.Read More....
