Leukaemia destroys the growth of healthy blood cells
One of the most frequently occurring bone marrow disorders is blood cancer or leukaemia. Leukaemia is a disease that results in our blood containing too few healthy blood cells. Nowadays, a large fraction of leukaemia patients can be helped by donors who voluntarily donate their stem cells or by a cord blood unit transplantation.
What is leukaemia?
Cancer of the blood or leukaemia involves the uncontrolled growth of immature blood cells in the bone marrow. These immature cells are no longer able to mature into normal white and red blood cells and blood platelets. This can result in having too few normal cells in the blood and lead to:
- Too few red blood cells (anaemia).
Patients are unable to carry sufficient oxygen through their body, resulting in them feeling tired and listless.
- Too few white blood cells.
This results in an increased susceptibility to infection.
- Too few blood platelets results in an increased chance of bruising on the skin and bleeding (haemorrhaging).