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Bone Marrow Aspiration And Biopsy

What is bone marrow?

The soft material in the center of bones is the bone marrow. In some bones, the bone marrow consists only of fat. Other bones contain what is termed cellular marrow. The cellular marrow has different types of cells that give rise to red cells, white cells and platelets for our blood. The marrow may also contain abnormal cells, proteins, or inflammatory processed that are not normally present, such as cancer cells. Since the production of red cells requires iron, the marrow is one of the places in the body that normally stores a supply of iron.




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Bone Marrow Aspiration And Biopsy

Anemia »

What is anemia?

Anemia is a medical condition in which the red blood cell count or hemoglobin is less than normal. The normal level of hemoglobin is generally different in males and females. For men, anemia is typically defined as hemoglobin level of less than 13.5 gram/100ml and in women as hemoglobin of less than 12.0 gram/100ml. These definitions may vary slightly depending on the source and the laboratory reference used.

What causes anemia?

Any process that can disrupt the normal life span of a red blood cell may cause anemia. Normal life span of a red blood cell is typically around 120 days. Red blood cells are made in the bone marrow.

Anemia is caused essentially through two basic pathways. Anemia is either caused:

  1. by a decrease in production of red blood cell or hemoglobin, or
  2. by a loss or destruction of blood.

As more common classifications of anemia (low hemoglo...

Read the Anemia article »




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