Bone marrow is an important part of human life. It is a flexible tissue that is found in the hollow interior of bones. Bone marrow exists in two forms. There are red and yellow. Almost 100 percent of bone marrow at birth falls into the red bone marrow category. Red consists of myeloid tissue, red blood cells, platelets and white blood cells. Yellow consists of fat cells and some white blood cells can develop in yellow bone marrow. Both the red and yellow contain various capillaries and blood vessels.
The red converts itself to yellow over time. The red can be found in flat bones. Flat bones are found in the hip, the breast, the skull, the ribs, the shoulder blades and vertebrae. Yellow bone marrow is found in the hollow interior of the middle portion of bones. If there is ever a severe condition of blood loss; the body has the ability to convert the yellow back to red bone marrow to increase blood cell production.
There are a couple of different diseases involving one's bone marrow that anyone can develop. Diseases of the bone marrow can develop from an infection or a malignancy. A malignancy is also known as a cancer. One type of infection found to disease bone marrow is called tuberculosis. Tuberculosis leads to the decrease in production of blood cells and blood platelets. Cancer of the marrow in a human being is known as a leukemia. Other problems of the marrow are anemias, lymphomas and plasma cell disorders. To diagnose these diseases a doctor usually performs a bone marrow aspiration. This can also be known as a biopsy. The site of the aspiration is usually on the back of the hip bone. During the biopsy the doctors test the sample for different signs of cancer or any other infection of the bone marrow.
One treatment for leukemia is a transplant. This can be done if a donor matches a leukemia patient. Once the bone marrow from the donor is inserted into the body of the patient, if the match is successful, the newly infused cells will help with the production of blood cells. A transplant is usually only used when the situation is extremely severe for a leukemia patient. Some leukemia cases can be treated with chemotherapy and radiation techniques.
Marrow dot org is the website for bone marrow donors. If you wish to become a donor or learn more about donating your bone marrow to a foundation to help leukemia patients you should give this website a look. If you aren't looking to donate you can make a financial donation to the foundation to keep it up and running.
Bone marrow diseases and leukemia cannot be prevented. They are treatable but not preventable. They can be caused by the lack of blood cell production or the overproduction of one type of blood cell over the other.