Bone marrow, the soft spongy tissue that lies within the hollow interior of long bones is mainly of two types- red bone marrow and yellow bone marrow. It forms around 4% of total body weight (around 2.6 kg in a healthy adult).The main role of bone marrow is to produce red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, fat cells, granulocytes and lymphocytes. When the bone marrow stops functioning, it produces various diseases which are classified into two major categories: acquired bone marrow failure and inherited bone marrow failure. Acquired bone marrow failure may be caused by a variety of factors including exposure to certain chemicals, environmental toxins, viruses, or by autoimmune responses. Acquired bone marrow failure diseases include aplastic anemia, myelodysplasia, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria and pure red cell aplasia. Inherited forms of bone marrow failure arise from specific alterations or abnormalities of genes which include Fanconi anemia, dyskeratosis congenita, Shwachman-Diamond syndrome, and Diamond-Blackfan anemia. For the examination of certain diseases like leukemia, multiple myeloma, myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), myeloproliferative disorders (MPD), pancytopenia, anemia etc. bone marrow tissue is required. Although symptoms of bone marrow diseases vary but the treatments depend on the disorder which involve medicines, blood transfusions or a bone marrow transplant. With advent of medical science it is possible now to transplant the bone marrow in diseased individuals. This process has shown success in a number of cancer patients.
Gupta B.M, Bone Marrow Research in India: A Scientometric Study, 2003-12
Last date updated on September, 2024
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