Essay on Bone Marrow Transplants

I’ve gone through days of chemotherapy to kill my unhealthy bone marrow and I feel awful. I’ve been stuck in a heavily quarantined area so I don’t get sick since the treatments required before the transplant deplete my immune system. So today is my transplant. And yeah… and I’m not ready for it. I guess I should be thankful they found a donor so fast. The doctor who is performing the procedure came in, introduced himself as Dr. Williams; told me he was a bone marrow transplant specialist, and gave me details on what he is going to. Dr. Williams began by explaining the exact procedure bone marrow transplant. He explained that during the procedure they will begin by giving the donor special shots that move stem cells into the bloodstream and then white blood cells with stem cells are sorted out through a machine. Then he went on to the part that scared me the most: a special catheter needle will be implanted on my chest to allow the direct flow of the donor's blood to my heart for a total of a few days. He went on further to tell me some of the risks. He said that there’s a possibility that my body will reject the donor cells, my organs could become damaged, there could be nausea or vomiting, fever, and a headache. These symptoms are more common in older people and he told me that there odds of these risks are slim, so this made me feel a lot better.

In the article “Wanted, Dead or Alive? Kidney Transplants in Inmates Awaiting Execution”, Jacob M. Appel argues that, despite the criminal justice system’s view that death-row inmates deserve to die, they should be given the same opportunity to extend their life as anyone else. “The United States Supreme Court has held since 1976 that prison inmates are entitled to the same medical treatment as the free public” (645).

Bone marrow transplants save a lot lives every year, a suitable donor is regrettably not always available. Since organs are routinely harvested from cadaveric organ donors, Scientists decided to assess such a possibility for bone marrow. They analyzed the functional properties and the phenotypic markers of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPC) from cadaveric bone marrow. Fresh bone marrow was capable of growing and developing in cell suspension for 2

The procedure that is designed to offer a permanent cure is bone marrow transplantation by replacing

Bone Marrow Transplant is when a surgeon removes a bone marrow stem cells and starts to replace the faulty parts of the genetic code with a new healthy

Autologous transplant is when your own hematopoietic stem cells are removed before a high dose of

When a patient is faced with a terminal illness or is told that they will never walk again, it may be difficult to find hope of any kind. Stem Cells provide a faint glimmer of hope, with all the amazing things they, in theory, are able to do and cure. What kind of stem cells are we talking about though? Embryonic, Adult, or Cord Blood? All these possess the ability to replicate themselves as well as become any type of cell (Harvard Gazette). As with any incredible feat there is more often than not a “catch.” Many questions arise when we think about the sacrifices, risks and benefits. It is a matter of where we owe our obligations, to the embryo or to the thousands of people who are suffering and dying with incurable diseases. A diverse

For a bone marrow transplant to work at it’s best you need to be a match with the person, which is usually a relative, who is donating the bone marrow, however some people do a bone marrow transplant with only 50% compatibility rate, but may result in GVHD/Graft Versus Host Disease. This means that the person is not a perfect match, also mostly known as a mismatch. You will need to have anti-rejection shots to prevent it getting worse. There is no set time when it can happen, as some happen shortly after, while others don’t have it for months after the transplant. It causes diarrhea, rashes and liver complications. It can be severe and could be life threatening. If it’s mild GVHD it’s completely a bad thing, as it removes any leftover

In 1995, Timothy Ray Brown, more commonly known as the Berlin patient, was diagnosed with the HI Virus and like many patients, he began using HAART and expected a more normal life. However, in 2006 he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, which is treated in Europe with a stem cell transplant. In 2008, Mr. Brown agreed to a risky stem cell transplant, knowing that only %50 of patients survives. With the odds against him, he also agreed to a special treatment that would inject stem cells from a donor that had a natural immunity to the HI Virus, in an attempt to cure both the cancer and the virus at one time. Against all odds Mr. Brown survived the treatment, and both ailments were cured. Regardless of how extraordinary this cure was to find, it is not a broad case cure. The ability to match donor’s chromosomes for stem cell transplants is currently a daunting task; trying to find donors that contain the mutated gene that has a natural ability to resist the HI Virus would match less than .01% of the infected population. Although we have found this small victory, we must continue the search for a

Acute Graft-versus-host disease is the form that occurs within 100 days of the allogeneic transplant, and is a major obstacle to be overcome for the transplant to be a success and the patient to survive. Acute Graft-versus-host disease causes damage to the liver, skin, mucous membranes, and GI tract. The bone marrow, thymus, and lungs can also be affected. Symptoms of the acute form are abdominal pain, nausea and diarrhea, dry eyes, jaundice, and skin rashes. The second category of Graft-versus-host disease is the chronic form. Chronic Graft-versus-host disease begins more than 100 days after a transplant, and can affect a patient for their entire lifetime. The chronic form targets the same organs as the acute form; however, damage to connective tissue and exocrine gland can also be seen. Symptoms of chronic Graft-versus-host disease can include dry eyes and mouth, fatigue and chronic weakness and pain, skin rash, shortness of breath, and weight

Stem cell transplant combined with chemotherapy in high doses is a form of treatment, which gives a human body infected with multiple myeloma a chance at remission, which will last a longer time than other remissions. High doses of chemotherapy are very effective in killing the multiple myeloma cells. However, a side effect of chemotherapy is the destruction of hematopoetic stem cells. Stem cell transplant is to replace these cells, which are very important in the human body. There are two types of stem cell transplants. Allogenic stem cell transplant and autogous stem cell transplant is advisable for patients who chose to undergo this form of treatment to have their stem cells harvested prior to the treatment. This will ensure that after the destruction of the hematopoetic stem cells due to the chemotherapy, the patient has available stem cells that doctors transplant into their body when the need arises. Chemotherapy comes with some side effects some severe and others minor. The slight side effects are nausea and vomiting. The worst-case scenario side effects are organ damage (Jones,

When you ask most people, stem cell research and transplants don’t mean anything to them, and some don’t even know what stem cells are. Are you one of those people? Are you somebody who is completely blind to the hope this wonderful thing can bring? Stem cells are special cells your body creates that have specific purposes. As said perfectly by the Mayo Clinic staff, “Stem cells are the body's raw materials — cells from which all other cells with specialized functions are generated“(1). These cells can be used for so many different things. Stem cell research (SCR) and transplants (SCT) can cure diseases or lessen them, and use stem cells in an effective and ethical way.

Kidney disease has become more prevalent over the years, one in nine Americans has chronic kidney disease, resulting in the need for a kidney transplant. Kidney failure is caused by variety of factors resulting in damage of the nephrons, which are the most important functioning unit of the kidneys. Kidney failure can be broken down into three groups: acute, chronic, end-stage. Once kidney failure is irreversible, dialysis or transplantation is the only method of survival. To avoid a kidney transplant, one needs to be aware of the pre-disposing factors, signs and symptoms, available treatments, and proper diet.

In February 2003, 17-year-old Jesica Santillan received a heart-lung transplant at Duke University Hospital that went badly awry because, by mistake, doctors used donor organs from a patient with a different blood type. The botched operation and subsequent unsuccessful retransplant opened a discussion in the media, in internet chat rooms, and in ethicists' circles regarding how we, in the United States, allocate the scarce commodity of organs for transplant. How do we go about allocating a future for people who will die without a transplant? How do we go about denying it? When so many are waiting for their shot at a life worth living, is it fair to grant multiple organs or multiple

Organ transplantation is a medical act which involves the surgical operating by transferring or removing of an organ from one person to the other, or placing the organ of a donor into the body of a recipient for the replacement of the recipients damaged or failed organ which resulted from impairment of normal physiological function affecting part or all of an organism or an act that causes someone to receive physical damage.