Aplastic anemia is a process in which a patient’s blood thins, as the bone marrow slows the production of blood cells. This leads to several diseases including heart disease, infection, wounds where the blood won’t clot and a variety of other diseases, depending on exactly which type of cells are affected.

Previously considered as a fatal disease, today with therapies that involve drugs and transplantation, Aplastic anemia is more manageable and accounts for fewer fatalities.

According to the US National Institutes of Health, an estimated 50,000 people in the United States develop Aplastic anemia and there 200,000 to 300,000 MDS cases (occurs when bone marrow starts producing immature blood cells). It is hard to determine the cause of damage to the stem cells. One theory is that stem cells get damaged when the immune system accidentally attacks its body’s own cells.

Aplastic anemia has also been associated with a patient’s exposure to toxins, infectious diseases, autoimmune diseases and rheumatoid arthritis and possibly even genetic disorders. 

Dr Ronald Paquette, who is with the Los Angeles Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center researching blood diseases, says that swift treatment must be undertaken in a specialized center as these locations tend to have a better outcome.

For patients aged 30 and under, stem cell transplantation is the best treatment option. Those having a sibling donor have a better chance of replacing worsening bone marrow with healthy cells. For those whom the transplantation does not work, immunosuppressive therapy is attempted. Blood transfusions are also given to supplement blood loss. 

Irrespective of finding a cure for this disease, the chances of survival and recovery have increased with the stem transplantation treatment options.