MORE ABOUT STEM CELL THERAPY
In the past. Stem cells were taken from bone marrow by puncturing the pelvic bone under aneathesia.
Nowadays we use machines called cell separators to take stem cells from the blood itself. So giving stem cells is almost like blood donation, only it takes a few hours to procure the stem cells.
There are two types of stem cell therapy, Autologous, where we use patients own stem cells for the treatment and Allogenic, where we use a donor for getting stem cells.
The donor and patient should have complete tissue matching(HLA) which is crucial.
Nowadays we use stem cells from the placenta, taken during the childbirth process. They also should match the patients tissues.
The other option is to have stem cell donor registry which are very popular in western countries.
In our country, only now, there is more awareness about these registries by which, even if a patient does not have blood relatives, you may be able to locate an unrelated but matching donor.
In blood diseases, Aplastic Anemia, Thalassemia, Myeloma and Lymphoma stand good chances of being cured by stem cell treatment. In other cases the success rates are lower.
ABOUT Dr.K.RAGHU
Dr.K.RAGHU is one of India's senior HAEMATOLOGISTS,
in practice for the past 36 years.
He sees outpatients in Arunodhaya Medical Center, Coimbatore.
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