Survival Rate and Prognosis of Aplastic Anemia: What to Expect

Aplastic Anemia: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment

What is Aplastic Anemia?

Aplastic anemia is a rare condition that occurs when your body can’t make enough new blood cells. People with aplastic anemia are more susceptible to bleeding, infections, and bruising. Without treatment, this condition can lead to severe complications.

Symptoms of Aplastic Anemia

The symptoms of aplastic anemia may include easy bleeding, easy bruising, heavy menstruation, shortness of breath, fatigue, and frequent infections. People with mild aplastic anemia may not experience any symptoms, or they can easily confuse them with signs of other conditions. Doctors sometimes discover aplastic anemia during a routine blood test.

Causes of Aplastic Anemia

Aplastic anemia occurs when stem cells inside your bone marrow don’t function properly. In 75% of cases, doctors can’t determine the cause of aplastic anemia. When this happens, the condition is called idiopathic aplastic anemia. Some of the common causes of this condition include autoimmune conditions, genes, toxic substances, cancer treatments, and viral infections.

Treatment of Aplastic Anemia

Depending on the severity of your condition, the doctor may suggest different types of treatments, including blood transfusions, medication, immunosuppressive medications, growth factors, and bone marrow transplant. Your healthcare provider will monitor your condition continuously to see how well the chosen treatment works. They may adjust it if it’s not showing the desired effect.

Aplastic Anemia Life Expectancy

With treatment for aplastic anemia, most people experience improvement in their symptoms. Without treatment, most people with aplastic anemia will likely die within a year. Aplastic anemia life expectancy can depend on several factors, including age of the patient, the underlying cause of the disease, the severity of the condition, how long it took to start treatment after symptoms were first noticed, and type of treatment.

The Prognosis for Aplastic Anemia

A person’s prognosis is the course doctors expect their disease to take. For each individual, the prognosis for aplastic anemia is different. With an early diagnosis and an appropriate treatment plan, there’s a good chance that you’ll be able to live a relatively normal life for many years. However, this condition can be fatal, especially if left untreated.