Treatments | Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation Return to top.
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Treatments

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People who have mild or moderate aplastic anemia may not need treatment as long as the condition doesn't get worse. People who have severe aplastic anemia need medical treatment right away to prevent complications.

People who have very severe aplastic anemia need emergency medical care in a hospital. Very severe aplastic anemia can be fatal if it's not treated right away.  Removing a known cause of aplastic anemia, such as exposure to a toxin, may cure the condition.

Caring for Yourself

We help you cope with your battle against bone marrow failure disease. The information we provide teaches patients and families how to be proactive members of your health care team. Patients just like you have also learned how to develop their inner strength by connecting with our community and taking advantage of our resources.

Therapies

Antibiotics

Many aplastic anemia patients get infections easily and have trouble getting rid of them. That’s because they don’t have enough white blood cells (neutrophils) to fight infection, a condition called neutropenia. Antibiotics will help, but they must be started quickly for patients with low neutrophil counts and fevers.

If you have aplastic anemia and you get a fever, contact your doctor right away or go to the emergency room.

Blood Transfusions

A blood transfusion is a safe and common procedure. Most people who have a bone marrow failure disease like aplastic anemia, MDS or PNH will receive at least one blood transfusion. When you receive a blood transfusion, parts of blood from a donor are put into your bloodstream. This can help some patients with low blood counts.

Growth Factors

Growth factors are naturally occurring hormones in your body that signal your bone marrow to make more of certain types of blood cells. Man-made growth factors may be given to some people with bone marrow failure diseases to help increase red blood cell, white blood cell or platelet counts.

Immunosuppressive Therapy

Immunosuppressive drug therapy lowers your body's immune response. This prevents your immune system from attacking your bone marrow, allowing bone marrow stem cells to grow, which raises blood counts.

Iron Chelation

Iron chelation therapy is the main treatment used when you have a condition called iron overload. Iron overload means you have too much iron in your body. This can be a problem for people who get lots of red blood cell transfusions.

Bone Marrow Transplant

A bone marrow transplant (BMT) is also called a stem cell transplant (SCT) or hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT).The procedure replaces unhealthy blood-forming stem cells with healthy ones and offers some patients the possibility of a cure. But for many patients, a BMT is not an option due to the risks and potential long-term side effects as an "imperfect cure".

Clinical Trials

Clinical research is at the heart of all medical advances, identifying new ways to prevent, detect or treat disease. If you have a bone marrow failure disease, you may want to consider taking part in a clinical trial, also called a research study.

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