Aplastic Anemia

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One day I was reading an online book, it was quite interesting if I’m honest, and the topic of diseases came up, and one of them mentioned was Aplastic Anemia. Being me, I wanted to research more about it, and I thought that it would be an excellent topic for this week’s blog.

Aplastic Anemia is a condition that happens when your body stops producing enough new blood cells. This condition can leave you tired, fatigued and you are more vulnerable to infections. When having this disease, you have uncontrolled bleeding.

This is extremely rare and is a tremendously serious condition, as it can develop at any age and can be exceptionally severe. Sometimes it occurs suddenly, but it can come slowly, and worsen very quickly over time.

There, however, is a cure or a treatment for Aplastic Anemia, which includes medications, blood transfection, or a bone marrow transplant.

Symptoms

Sometimes Aplastic Anemia can have some or no, symptoms. But when present, these symptoms include:

- Fatigue

- Shortness of breath

- Rapid or irregular heart rate

- Pale skin

- Frequent or prolonged infections

- Unexplained or easy bruising

- Nosebleed and bleeding gums

- Prolonged bleeding from cuts

- Skin rash

- Dizziness

- Headache

- Fever

Aplastic anemia can be short-lived, or it can be long-lasting. It could be severe or even fatal.

Blood consists of blood cells in the plasma. Plasma includes salts, proteins, hormones, minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients and chemicals your body needs.

Aplastic Anemia is caused by the destruction of blood-forming stem cells in the bone marrow. These stem cells, usually, develop into 3 types of blood cells: red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets:

Red blood cells (RBCs) are also called erythrocytes. They make up almost half of blood. Red blood cells are filled with the protein hemoglobin that picks up oxygen in the lungs and brings it to cells all around the body.

White blood cells (WBCs) are also called leukocytes. They fight disease and infection by attacking and killing germs that get into the body. There are several kinds of white blood cells, each of which fights a different kind of germ.

Platelets are also called thrombocytes. They are small pieces of cells that help blood clot and stop bleeding.

The only known cure for this disease is a bone marrow transplant, and it must be a 100% match.

Thank you for reading.

Written By: Twarita Verma