India – Is Bone Marrow A Cure For Blood Disorders?

The word has been out on the power of stem cells for quite some time. A report out of India is echoing the same statements in regard to the success rate of bone marrow transplants as a type of cure for some genetic blood disorders.

“The bone marrow transplant has emerged as an effective cure for cancerous and genetic blood diseases through transfusion of its stem cells from a healthy donor to an affected patient,” Narayana Health City consultant hematologist Sharat Damodar told The Times of India.

Bone marrow is collected from a parent, sibling or unrelated donor.  As is the case in many places, donors can be hard to come by. “As it is a challenge to find donors in India, there is need for greater awareness to donate bone marrow to needy patients,” said Damodar. Bone marrow has been shown to work with a higher success rate in two cases of blood disorders: thalassemia and aplastic anemia.  Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder which makes less hemoglobin and plastic anemia occurs when the quantity of each of the three blood cell types is much lower than normal.

With the largest bone marrow transplant facility, Narayana Health gets about 30%  of overseas patients for the treatment of blood disorders. With the development of procedures, like the bone marrow transplant, the hope that better treatments and possible cures remains in India.

Photo Credit – Google Images

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