ANIMATED REPRESENTATION OF APLASTIC ANEMIA

ESTIMATION OF FUTURE SURVIVAL RATES

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             (Prognosis of Aplastic anemia)

If the patients are left untreated then it may lead to death typically within six months or may be earlier in severe cases. But if the disease is diagnosed and treatment is started well in time then the survival rate is improved up to some extent.

Survival rates depends on several factors-

·        age of the patient

·        how well the bone marrow of the donor (mostly sibling) matches with that of the patient.

LIFE STYLE,HOME REMEDIES AND PRECAUTIONS

·        Even if the patient has Aplastic anemia at mild stage then also he/she needs to take care of himself/herself by taking proper rest and break after short periods of working hours.

·        The patient has to avoid sports involving any sort of  possibilities of injury since he/she has risk of excessive bleeding which will be difficult to stop due to low platelets count.

·        The patient has to develop proper hygiene habits to stay away from germs and other infections.

TEST AND DIAGNOSIS

The diagnosis can be done through bone marrow examination which is known as bone marrow biopsy and a number of blood tests.
To diagnose aplastic anemia :

• Blood tests. - Aplastic anemia can be suspected when all three  blood cell levels are very low.

• Bone marrow biopsy. This procedure is used for confirmation .In this ,a small sample of bone marrow is removed from a large bone in your body, such as your hipbone with the help of a needle. After that this bone marrow sample is examined for the diagnosis purpose.

Lets understand this deadly disease more closely with the help of this video.

HOW IS APLASTIC ANEMIA TREATED ?????

People who have mild or moderate aplastic anemia may not need treatment as long as the condition doesn't get worse. Now the treatments available for aplastic anemia may include  blood transfusions and medications for serious cases, and, in severe cases, bone marrow transplantation is must. Severe aplastic anemia, in which your blood cell counts are extremely low, is life-threatening and the patient has to be hospitalized so that the treatment can be started immediately.
Lets have a look at the treatment techniques :

·         Blood transfusions- This isn’t a cure but an alternative to raise the blood cells (red blood cells and platelets) which the bone marrow has failed to produce.There is no limitation on the no of transfusion that will be required.Some complications might arise due to continuous use of this technique.

·         Stem cell transplant- Also called bone marrow transplant which is possible only if the patient has a matching donor(mostly siblings).This method is avoided until there is no other option left i.e. in very severe cases only.In this method ,firstly the bone marrow of the patient is depleted using radiations then new bone marrow is injected into the bloodstream.This method has life-threatening complications since the body may reject the new blood cells.

·         Immunosuppressants- involve drugs that suppress the activity of immune system called immunosuppressants for e.g. cyclosporine and anti-thymocyte globulin . By the use of these drugs immune cells that are damaging the  bone marrow are suppressed. Thus the bone marrow may recover to generate new blood cells. This method is used in patients for whom transplantation cant be done.

·         Bone marrow stimulants- Drugs are used which stimulate the bone marrow to produce new blood cells.

·         Antibiotics, antivirals –Medicines are used to prevent infections.

Research is still going on to find more appropriate treatment techniques which less complications than the existing ones.

WHAT CAUSES APLASTIC ANEMIA ?????

Now there are certain possibilities such as -the patient has this disorder by birth or it is possible that he/she acquires or develop it through factors mentioned below or it is also possible that he/she inherits this gene from the parents.
Acquired aplastic anemia is more common, but the Inherited one is rare.

Factors:

• Can be a side effect of exposure to radiations. (For instance Marie Curie, famous for her great work in the field of radioactivity, died of aplastic anemia after working unprotected with radioactive materials)
• Radiations used in chemotherapy treatments of cancer.
• Exposure to toxic chemicals, such as some used in pesticides and insecticides,benzene etc.
• Due to intake of certain drugs used to cure some other illness .
• Due to adverse reaction of antibiotics taken.
• An autoimmune disorder, in which your immune system instead of providing immunity starts attacking healthy cells, including the stem cells in your bone marrow.
• Due to viruses involved in hepatitis, HIV etc.
• Chances of autoimmune disorder may arise during pregnancy.
• Unknown causes still prevail in which the doctors are unable to identify the cause of the problem.