Importance of Bone Marrow Transfer Therapy for Quick Recovery

You will need a bone marrow or stem cell transplant when your original cells have undergone damage. This damage might occur through treatment for diseases like cancer or it might happen because the person becomes infected by disease.

Good medical facility in India

The bone marrow transplant cost in India is low compared to that of USA or UK. Added to this, the hospital infrastructural is superb in India. You have efficient nursing and hospital administration backup. The pharmacy network functions efficiently at all the time.

Five stages of stem cell transplant

The process of stem cell or bone cell transplant involves five stages. These are tests and examination stage. Here they assess how healthy you are and whether you can undergo surgery. The second stage is harvesting. This we do either from you or from a donor.

Following these two stages, the body undergoes conditioning. This means that you prepare the body to face the surgery. Next, we see the actual transfer of stem cells. Then, you must stay in the hospital at least for a few weeks.

Initial testing

The preliminary investigation to determine the status of the health will involve a couple of tests. These include the following:

  • ECG: First is the Electrocardiogram test to check the heart rhythm and the associated electrical activity.
  • Blood tests: They will check the level of the blood cells to find out if your liver and kidney are working well.
  • Echocardiogram: This we conduct to find out how well your heart is working.
  • X-ray and Computerised Tomography scan: This we perform to find out the condition of the lungs and liver.

The price of bone marrow transplant in India is 7-8 lakh INR while the same costs 512 lakh INR in America. The high rates compel the people to seek treatment in India.

To get the best match you must check for a donor. This is when your own blood is too damaged to suit the purpose of transfer. The donor must preferably be a relative such as your mother or sister, father or brother. Then, the chances of a match are more.

Types of transplants  

There are three kinds of bone marrow transplants. The first is the autologous bone marrow transplant where the bone marrow we take from the patient itself. This we do only when the patient produces enough amounts of healthy bone marrow cells.

The second type is the allogeneic transplant. This is the most common method where the family member of the patient gives the bone marrow. This is successful when the match is 100% but this may not always occur. They do the testing to see if the relative has a good matching type of cells or not. Then, they will proceed with the transfer.
The third type is the umbilical cord blood transplant.  In this, the stem cells we removed from the umbilical cord of a newborn baby right after birth. These we freeze and store for use when needed.

You need to do a bone marrow transplant right after chemotherapy. The stem cells undergo transfer through a tube known as the central venous catheter.

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About the Author: Jake