Aplastic Anemia Causes

Aplastic anemia is a type of anemia where the body's bone marrow does not produce enough of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. This condition can occur due to some kind of problem either specifically in the bone marrow or it may also occur due to systemic disease that is affecting the bone marrow. Unlike other types of anemia, like iron deficiency anemia, this condition is not caused due to any kind of vitamin or mineral deficiency, hence, is a bit more difficult to diagnose and treat. Plus, the symptoms of aplastic anemia are similar to those of other types of anemia, which further adds to the problem of diagnosing this condition. Given below are different aplastic anemia causes.

Poisoning and Toxicity: One of the causes is exposure to toxic substances that cause poisoning in the body. These include benzene, pesticide components, arsenic, etc.

Drugs and Medications: Certain drugs and medications have also been implicated as aplastic anemia causes. This may occur as a result of interaction with other drugs, or due to a direct adverse effect on the bone marrow. Such drugs include chloramphenicol, phenytoin, quinine, phenylbutazone, felbamate, carbamazepine etc. Although these and many other drugs are associated with aplastic anemia, the probability of these drugs alone causing aplastic anemia is very low. For example, only 1 in 40,000 people undergoing treatment using chloramphenicol has a chance of developing aplastic anemia.

Systemic Diseases: There a few diseases and disorders that adversely affect the bone marrow. Like aplastic anemia may develop in cases of acute viral hepatitis. Also other viral infections, like infections caused by cytomegalovirus, parvovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, HIV, etc. can be causes of aplastic anemia. Certain autoimmune diseases, like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis also lead to aplastic anemia, as in autoimmune disorders, white blood cells attack the bone marrow hampering the process of red blood cell production.

Chemotherapy and Radiation: One of the most dangerous causes is chemotherapy and radiation therapy, especially if it is being administered over a long period of time. In fact, blood and bone are one of the first organs to get affected by radiation and the disastrous adverse effects that radiations can have on these organs are very grave indeed. The sudden onset of aplastic anemia is one of the radiation poisoning symptoms.

Bone Marrow Cancer: Bone marrow cancer is one of the main causes. Often, resulting from radiation poisoning, bone marrow cancer severely affects the functioning of the bone marrow, leading to very low output of red blood cells. Besides radiation, bone marrow cancer may also result from metastasis of other types of cancer.

Other Diseases: Certain other rare inherited disorders may also lead to aplastic anemia, like Fanconi's anemia, dyskeratosis congenita, Shwachman-Diamond syndrome, etc. In such cases, the treatment mostly involves repeated blood transfusions or in severe cases, bone marrow transplant.

Certain people had initially even said that aplastic anemia may run in families, thus, maybe hereditary in nature. But this theory has not yet been validated. However, it is important to note that all the causes given above are suspected causes of aplastic anemia. Although a peripheral blood smear may help in diagnosing the condition, the treatment plan is difficult to chalk out as finding and pin-pointing the exact cause is not an easy task. In fact, many researchers still claim that the exact cause of aplastic anemia is unknown. With the help of meticulous tests and repeated visits to the doctor, we can only hope that this disease is properly diagnosed so that it can be fully treated and the person can go back to living a normal and healthy life.