GUWAHATI, Nov 12 - A total of 30 children from the State suffering from several serious diseases like high-risk leukaemia, thalassaemia sickle cell disease and immunodeficiency were recently treated through Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) at Narayana Health City, Bengaluru.
The transplants were performed under the supervision of Dr Sunil Bhat, Director and Clinical Lead Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplantation of the Mazumdar Shaw Cancer Centre at Narayana Health City in Bengaluru.
BMT is the most effective cure for a number of diseases like leucaemia, thalassanaemia major and immunodeficiency disorders. Speaking about the treatment modality, Dr Bhat said here that BMT is the only potential cure for some ailments like high-risk leukaemia, thalassaemia, sickle cell disease and immunodeficiency. �With the support of the Assam government, we have been able to cure more than 30 children suffering from these life-threatening diseases. The transplants are usually done between related donors (siblings), matched unrelated donors (non-family members) or haplo-identical donors (parents),� he said.
Amongst the 30 children, majority of them were suffering from thalassanaemia, in which red blood cell production is less and destruction is more. If left untreated, more than 90 per cent of these patients die by age of two years. Such patients need lifelong blood transfusion every three to four weeks. Over a period of time, it may result in overload of iron in the blood due to repeated transfusion, affecting the liver and the heart, causing death.
