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According to the American Heritage Dictionary, their aplastic anemia definition is given as:

“A form of anemia in which the capacity of the bone marrow to generate red blood cells, is defective. This anemia may be caused by bone marrow disease or exposure to toxic agents, such as radiation, chemicals, or drugs.”

Aplastic, also called hypoplastic is a term meaning “empty” and is used to identify the specific anemia where the bones are literally empty of blood. There are different groups of people that develop aplastic anemia and generally about 2 million to 4 million people suffer from it each year. The three age groups affected the most are from 2-5 years old, from 20-25 years old, and between 55 and 60 years old. There are many causes of this disease that prevent the bone marrow from producing the correct amounts of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.

The aplastic anemia definition was termed in 1904 after various studies into the concept had been made after a pregnant woman died from bone marrow failure in 1888. This rare disease has many known causes, but also many that are unknown to doctors even after the patient has been diagnosed. The only way to make an accurate diagnosis is to perform a biopsy of the bone marrow in which the following will be tested:

· B12 count (iron count in the blood)

· Serum folate

· Drug screen

· CBC (complete blood count) with platelets and a pap smear

· Viral serologies

These biopsy results will show the causes (in most cases) of the aplastic anemia as well as how advanced the disease is. The causes that are known include exposure to drugs or chemicals like benzene, pregnancy, radiation, destruction of stem cells due to infections or medication, autoimmune disorders, and some inherited cases. Looking for the symptoms of aplastic anemia you will look for excessive bruising and hemorrhaging which indicates a low platelet count, pale skin or malaise, indicating a low red blood cell count, and severe infections, due to a low white blood cell count. In the early stages of aplastic anemia, blood transfusions and various other treatments can be used, but in severe cases a bone marrow transplant is necessary. This is a dangerous transplant, and with an exact sibling donor match has a 60 to 70 percent success rate.