A Closer Look at Myelodysplastic Syndrome Treatment

Blood is made up of platelets, red blood cells, and white blood cells. Your platelets help in blood clots, red blood cells supply oxygen throughout your body tissues, and white blood cells are part of your immune system. When either of these three components is not enough or behaves abnormally, you are at high risk of contracting cancer in your bone marrow or blood. If you are battling Flemington myelodysplastic syndrome, there is help at HUNTERDON HEMATOLOGY ONCOLOGY, LLC.

Symptoms of myelodysplastic syndrome

When you realize the following symptoms, you should seek medical attention earlier to prevent severe complications.

• Shortness of breath, tiredness, pale skin, and dizziness
• Severe bleeding from your nose or gums and easy bruising
• Severe or frequent infections
• Pain in your bones
• Fever
• Loss of weight and appetite

How are myelodysplastic syndromes diagnosed?

When you go for diagnoses, your doctor will go through your medical history to overview your health, previous illnesses, and treatment offered. To check your overall health signs, your doctor will conduct a physical examination.

For a more detailed diagnosis, your doctor may recommend the following treatments and tests.

Bone marrow aspiration and biopsy

Your doctor will conduct this test to check the number of platelets, white and red blood cells in your bone marrow, and any cancer signs by removing a small amount of fluid and solid tissue through a needle and analyzing it.

Complete blood count

A complete blood count with differential may also be carried out by taking a sample of your blood to examine the type and quantity of your white blood cells and red blood cells, and the volume of your red hemoglobin in your red blood cells.

Cytogenetic analysis

Your doctor may recommend cytogenetic analysis to check any structural changes and the number of your chromosomes in your lymphocytes. The test is done using a microscope to view cells present in either your bone marrow or blood sample.

Peripheral blood smear

This procedure will help determine if you have blast cells. It will also show the number of platelets, percentage, and kinds of white blood cells and any structural changes in your blood cells.

Myelodysplastic syndrome treatment

Your doctor may recommend various treatment options depending on your myelodysplastic syndrome subtype. These treatments include:

Chemotherapy

Your doctor may recommend you undergo chemotherapy to lessen cancer cells’ spread to other parts of your body by killing or shrinking the affected cells through anticancer drugs.

Transfusion therapy

Cancer treatments and blood disease destroy your blood cells; therefore, your doctor may recommend getting red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets to restore them.

Stem cell transplant

Your doctor may recommend you do a stem cell transplant to aid in your bone marrow recovery and cause it to continue producing healthy blood cells, which involves replacing the destroyed blood-forming cells.

Supportive care

Your doctor may recommend taking antibiotics or giving you transfusion drugs to help relieve pain, treat some infections, and reduce any discomfort generated by cancer treatment.

If you are experiencing any of the myelodysplastic symptoms, call or book an appointment online with HUNTERDON HEMATOLOGY ONCOLOGY, LLC.

Paul Petersen