Bone Marrow Diseases

Bone marrow is the spongy tissue inside some of your bones, such as your hip and thigh bones. It contains stem cells. The stem cells can develop into the red blood cells that carry oxygen through your body, the white blood cells that fight infections, and the platelets that help with blood clotting.

With bone marrow disease, there are problems with the stem cells or how they develop:

In leukemia, a cancer of the blood, the bone marrow makes abnormal white blood cells
In aplastic anemia, the bone marrow doesn't make red blood cells
In myeloproliferative disorders, the bone marrow makes too many white blood cells
Other diseases, such as lymphoma, can spread into the bone marrow and affect the production of blood cells

Causes of bone marrow diseases include genetics and environmental factors. Tests for bone marrow diseases include blood and bone marrow tests. Treatments depend on the disorder and how severe it is. They might involve medicines, blood transfusions or a bone marrow transplant.

Symptoms of Bone Marrow Diseases

The following features are indicative of Bone Marrow Diseases:

pain or fullness below the ribs on the left side, due to an enlarged spleen
feeling tired, weak or short of breath
fever
easy bruising
easy bleeding
bone pain
excessive sweating during sleep

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Common Causes of Bone Marrow Diseases

The following are the most common causes of Bone Marrow Diseases:

genetic mutation in the Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) gene

Risk Factors for Bone Marrow Diseases

The following factors may increase the likelihood of Bone Marrow Diseases:

age more than 50 years
exposure to toxic chemicals such as toluene and benzene
exposure to high levels of radiation

Prevention of Bone Marrow Diseases

No, it is not possible to prevent Bone Marrow Diseases.

genetic mutations in multiple genes such as CEBPA gene

Occurrence of Bone Marrow Diseases

Number of Cases

The following are the number of Bone Marrow Diseases cases seen each year worldwide:

Rare between 10K - 50K cases

Common Age Group

Bone Marrow Diseases most commonly occurs in the following age group:

Aged > 50 years

Common Gender

Bone Marrow Diseases can occur in any gender.

Lab Tests and Procedures for Diagnosis of Bone Marrow Diseases

The following lab tests and procedures are used to detect Bone Marrow Diseases:

Physical Exam: To check the pulse and blood pressure
Blood Tests: To check abnormally low levels of the red blood cells
Imaging tests: X-rays and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tests are used to gather more information about the myelofibrosis
Bone marrow examination: To confirm diagnosis of myelofibrosis

Doctor for Diagnosis of Bone Marrow Diseases

Patients should visit the following specialists if they have symptoms of Bone Marrow Diseases:

Hematologist

Complications of Bone Marrow Diseases if untreated

Yes, Bone Marrow Diseases causes complications if it is not treated. Below is the list of complications and problems that may arise if Bone Marrow Diseases is left untreated:

abdominal pain
extramedullary hematopoiesis
back pain
bleeding complications
portal hypertension
thrombocytopenia
painful bones and joints
acute leukemia

Procedures for Treatment of Bone Marrow Diseases

The following procedures are used to treat Bone Marrow Diseases:

Chemotherapy: Reduce the size of an enlarged spleen and relieve disease related symptoms
Radiation therapy: Reduce the size of the spleen
Surgical removal of the spleen (splenectomy): Removes spleen
Allogeneic stem cell transplantation: Stem cell transplantation from a suitable donor to cure myelofibrosis

Patient Support for Treatment of Bone Marrow Diseases

The following actions may help Bone Marrow Diseases patients:

Friends and family support: They can provide you the practical support all that you need
Join support group: Provides useful information about the condition and helps in coping with the disease

Last updated date

This page was last updated on 2/04/2019.

This page provides information for Bone Marrow Diseases.

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