Get answers to your orthopaedics questions from UM Orthopaedics experts.
Secondary aplastic anemia is a failure of the bone marrow to make enough blood cells. All blood cell types are affected.
Secondary aplastic anemia results from injury to blood stem cells. Normal blood stem cells divide and differentiate into all blood cell types. Thus, when blood stem cells are injured, there is a reduction in red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.
This condition can be caused by chemotherapy, drug therapy to suppress the immune system, radiation therapy, toxins such as benzene or arsenic, drugs, pregnancy, and disorders present birth. When the cause is unknown, it is then referred to as idiopathic aplastic anemia .
The disease may be acute or chronic and usually gets worse unless the cause is removed.
|
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org). URAC's accreditation program is the first of its kind, requiring compliance with 53 standards of quality and accountability, verified by independent audit. A.D.A.M. is among the first to achieve this important distinction for online health information and services. Learn more about A.D.A.M.'s editorial process . A.D.A.M. is also a founding member of Hi-Ethics (www.hiethics.com) and subscribes to the principles of the Health on the Net Foundation (www.hon.ch). |