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Everything You Need to Know About Aplastic Anemia
Dealing with a critical illness poses various challenges in one’s life. Specialized healthcare and constant medical support becomes a necessity. This may result in high expenses that can be stressful for a family. Thus, opting for a critical illness health insurance policy plays a big role in minimizing the financial burden.
Aplastic anemia is among the many critical illnesses that has affected the normal lives of many individuals, across the world. Thanks to advancements in healthcare in India, quality treatment is now possible.
What is Aplastic Anemia?
It is a critical medical condition wherein the body is unable to produce new blood cells. There are three types of blood cells in the human body namely red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. A low platelet count increases the risks of infections and bleeding. This disease can be mild, severe and also fatal.
What are the Symptoms?
A person suffering from this disease shows the following symptoms:
- Tiredness
- Dizziness
- Pale Skin
- Rapid Heart Rate
- Shortness of Breath
- Headache
- Bleeding Gums
- Nosebleeds
- Frequent Infections
What are the Causes?
The stem cells, present in the bone marrow, are responsible for producing the blood cells. This critical disease occurs when there is damage to the stem cells in the body. Usually, it happens due to an autoimmune disorder wherein the body’s immune system begins to attack healthy cells including stem cells in the bone marrow.
It can also occur as a side effect of cancer treatment procedures like radiation and chemotherapy. Moreover, heredity, use of certain kind of medication, exposure to ionizing radiation or poisonous chemicals and viral infections are some other major aplastic anemia causes. In a majority of patients suffering from this ailment, there are some unknown factors that cause this medical condition.
How is the Disease Diagnosed and Treated?
The disease is detected through various tests including a bone marrow biopsy and a blood test for assessing the count of the blood cells. Other tests like chest x-ray may also be recommended to detect infections.
Based on the severity of the disease, appropriate treatment is suggested. The age of the patient is also a key factor that is considered when offering treatment. Medications and blood transfusions may be required for treating the condition. Furthermore, bone marrow transplantation may also be necessary. It is usually done for younger patients below 40 years of age when there is a right donor available such as a sibling or close relative. Even after the transplant, the patient may be given suitable medication to ensure the body does not reject the donor stem cells.
>> Also read: 7 things that you should know before buying a critical illness policy.
Conclusion
There is no clear prevention method for this critical condition. However, it is better to avoid the risk factors.
Also, for patients suffering from this serious illness, it is extremely essential to take proper health care and make certain lifestyle changes. Since the disease causes fatigue, they should take adequate rest and not exert themselves by doing heavy work. Moreover, suitable steps must be taken to avoid the risk of infections or injury. Opting for a health insurance policy is also advisable as the treatment is expensive.
Choose Critical illness insurance policy by Care Health Insurance which cover 32 major diseases including Aplastic Anemia. Avail the best treatment at any of the 21700+ cashless healthcare providers in India.
Disclaimer: Underwriting of claims for Aplastic Anemia is subject to policy terms and conditions.
