You must have heard of people getting bone marrow transplants, but do you know what it stands for or what the transplant is needed for, its risks, the procedures, etc.? As you read this article, you will know all about it. 

Let us first start by understanding the very basics of bone marrow transplants. The main reason a BMT, aka Bone Marrow Transplant, takes place is so that good and better ones can replace the cells in our body that are not good or unhealthy. Bone Marrow is a very soft fluid-like substance that one can find inside the linings of the bones of every human body. The bone marrow itself contains the blood stem cells, which later grow or develop into cells that we know as red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. When they grow or develop entirely into these cells and platelets, they leave the marrow and sink in with the blood. Some of the above cells might be bad and can carry diseases, so chemotherapy can often be done to remove and eliminate them from the marrow before they move into the bloodstream. Chemotherapy and radiation can be used to solve this issue before the transplant takes place. This way, you get better and healthier cells that are good for your body and are not harmful. If you are worried about BMT because you think it is surgery and can be problematic and painful to you and your body, then you are wrong. BMT involves no surgical procedures or anything even remotely close to it. A tube-like object injects the new cells into your bloodstream, much like when you donate blood; if you have ever done that, you’d know. After this, the cells then go inside the bone marrow. After you get a bone marrow transplant, you will sometimes take a little time to recover, say a few months to a year. Bone Marrow Transplants will largely help people who have issues and deficiencies. 

The concept of Bone Marrow Transplant hence is very simple to understand. It is all about taking the impure stem cells out of the body, purifying them, and putting them back into the bloodstream of the person they were originally extracted from or to someone else who needs it. After a person’s own diseased and poor bone marrow has been treated to eradicate the aberrant cells, the ultimate goal of BMT is to incorporate normal cells from the bone marrow into that individual.

Why Do People Get BMT?

There are many different reasons why people get a Bone Marrow Transplant. As simple as this process might seem, it can be very tedious and can cure diseases as complicated as cancer (https://www.balcomedicalcentre.com/). A bone marrow transplant may be necessary when the chemotherapy or radiation the amount necessary to treat cancer is so excessive and intense that the patient’s bone marrow stem cells may be permanently impaired or destroyed by the course of therapy. Additionally, suppose any disease or illness has permanently destroyed the bone marrow in a person’s body. In that case, that is when a Bone Marrow Transplant can prove to be extremely beneficial.

Here are some other reasons why a Bone Marrow Transplant can help someone. If someone has leukemia and anemia, a successful BMT can replace the damaged or unhealthy bone marrow with a better one. This can also lead to the restructuring of someone’s immune system, which can help fight some diseases that chemotherapy and other processes have not been able to eradicate. Lastly, it can help replace someone’s genetically unhealthy bone marrow with a healthy one, preventing further chances of getting harmful diseases. 

There are many different types of BMT, starting from Autologous Bone Marrow Transplant, Allogenic Bone Marrow Transplant, Umbilical Cord Blood Transplant, etc. All these types have their level of advantages and risks, which all patients are mostly briefed about in detail before the procedure takes place. 

Survival Rates and Success Of BMT

We can proudly say that it has gotten significantly better than what it was. However, it does need some level of hard work and efficiency. The match between who gets the cells and who donates them must be made carefully and precisely. Other than that, proper antibiotics must be used to avoid dangerous infections. It also needs very rigorous and time-to-time post-transplant care of the patient for them to receive fast and in the best way possible. The donor you take the bone marrow from must be healthy and have compatible genes for this process to prove effective. To make it possible for the human system to preserve appropriate amounts of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets, the donor marrow should ideally replenish and substitute sick cells. Survival chances can be increased if unnecessary viruses and infections are avoided. 

India has seen numerous advances in science, medicine, and healthcare technology. The country has come up with unusual and imaginative approaches to treatment in the past few decades. India has a proportionally significant amount of bone marrow transplant facilities. Modern technology, sophisticated infrastructure, and innovative medical facilities are all available at these educational facilities. A bone marrow transplant should be performed in ideal and clean circumstances to reduce contamination risk. There is no space for mistakes during the entire procedure. 

So, this was all about Bone Marrow transplants and how successful they are. I hope this was beneficial to you.