Side Effects of Bone Marrow Transplants

Also known as stem cell transplant, a bone marrow transplant is considered to be an effective option for handling certain types of cancers. It could certainly make a difference between life and death for patients who are suffering from leukemia and various other types of cancer and blood disorders. While it could mean the difference between life and death, there are also some dangers and risks associated with a bone marrow transplant. It does come with the risk of side effects and the same has to be addressed properly without which the whole exercise of bone marrow transplant might become irrelevant and meaningless. While some side effects may subside and resolve within a period, some side effects can be permanent. Hence, before going in for a bone marrow transplant, you must discuss with your health care team and get to know more about the possible side effects. These include short-term effects that could last for a few weeks or months. Further, there are some long term side effects also and these could take years to resolve or could become a life-long phenomenon. The side effects could range from anemia. This is a vital aspect of cancer care and treatment. Handling side effects is often referred to as supportive care or palliative care. You must frankly discuss the symptoms with the healthcare team so that the right solution could be found.

 Some Side Effects of Auto Transplant

 Before a transplant of the bone marrow is done, patients often receive a combination of radiation therapy or chemotherapy. In many cases, it could be either one of the two. Many side effects of auto stem cell transplant are the same that are associated with the treatment of various forms of cancer and other such terminal diseases. The risk of infections is one of the most dangerous or frightening. This is essentially caused because of a big reduction in the number of white blood cells in the body.

 Chemotherapy tends to weaken the immune system of our body. Patients might be at a much higher risk of infections caused by viruses, germs, and bacteria. The risk is the highest after the first few weeks of infection. While certain drugs can fight the infection, for many patients the immune system gets damaged after chemotherapy and it remains that way permanently. There are many instances where patients who have undergone chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant are put on antibacterial and antiviral drugs for as long as one year or even more.

 A Few More Side Effects

 Apart from the increasing risk of reduced immune power, the patients may also suffer from other problems. These could vary from one person to another and could range from fatigue, mouth sores, vomiting and nausea, low platelet count, reduction in red blood cells and much more. These could lead to a reduction of the ability of the blood to clot and could also lead to anemia. Some people also complain of diarrhea

 There also could be long term effects such as cataracts, infertility, an early setting of menopause, bone or lung damage, and risk of new forms of cancers amongst various other problems.

Contact US:

Gift of Life Marrow Registry
Address:  800 Yamato Rd suite 101  Boca Raton, FL
Phone: (800) 962-7769

Risks And Challenges In Bone Marrow Transplant

Though BMT or bone marrow transplant could become essential and unavoidable, there are some issues that need to be addressed. We have to bear in mind that they are highly complex treatments and they do carry quite a bit of risk or serious complications. Therefore, there is a need to carefully weigh the pros and cons associated with BMT and the same should be evaluated before the treatment actually begins. While your doctor would be the right person to advise you regarding the procedure, it would be a good idea to have a basic idea about the various possible challenges and risks associated with Bone Marrow Transplant. As a general rule, people who are young and who are reasonably healthy without any serious medical conditions are the ones who are considered to be the best candidates for leukemia bone marrow transplant. Further, patients who receive a transplant of their own stem cells are less likely to have problems as far as side effects are concerned.

The Main Side Effects

GvHD or gross versus host disease is one of the most common problems associated with a bone marrow transplant. This happens when the transplanted cells identify the recipient cells as foreign and start attacking them. This problem could be serious and it generally happens within a few months of the transplant. In a few cases, the problem could happen within a year or even after 2 years or more. This condition when diagnosed early is mild but at times it also could be life-threatening. The symptoms of GvHD could range from feeling sick, diarrhea, itchy rashes, dry eyes and skin, joint pain and shortness of breath.

Reduction In Number Of Blood Cells

Before going in for a bone marrow transplant, there is a need to have chemotherapy done. This will destroy the diseased blood cells. Once this has been done the new stem cells will start replacing the damaged ones and the process of producing healthy red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets will begin. Till such time, your body is able to produce healthy blood cells you could be at the risk of anemia, and also a higher risk of infection. If the platelet count is insufficient, the patients could also face a problem with regard to clotting even from a small cut. Gum bleeding leading to anemia is also a problem that is encountered by people who go in for bone marrow transplantation.

Side Effects Caused By Chemotherapy

Many people could also suffer from side effects caused by chemotherapy. Here are a few of them. Diarrhea, loss of appetite, being sick, tiredness, mouth ulcers, rashes, and hair loss are a few of the possible side-effects caused by high-dose chemotherapy.

Go By Your Doctor’s Advice

Your doctor and the team associated with him or her are the right persons to decide if a person is suitable for bone marrow transplant or not. They will look at the overall health profile of the patient, weigh the risks versus benefits and then decide whether it would be prudent to go in for such transplants. However, in spite of the best assessment, BMT by its nature is quite risky and there are possible side-effects that have to be handled.

Contact US:

Gift of Life Marrow Registry
Address:  800 Yamato Rd suite 101  Boca Raton, FL
Phone: (800) 962-7769