Marrowkidz

Information and advice for children affected by aplastic anaemia

Welcome to MarrowKidz from The Aplastic Anaemia Trust. Here you can find resources for children affected by aplastic anaemia.

Whether you have been diagnosed with aplastic anaemia yourself, or someone in your family or a friend has been diagnosed, this is where you'll find expert information about what's happening, and advice from other children who have been through aplastic anaemia too!



A note for adults and teens: We've moved some things around! You'll now find treatment information, resources for parents, schools and teenagers on our main website. 

Aplastic anaemia

An introduction to aplastic anaemia, signs you might notice,
and how to make someone with aplastic anaemia feel better

What is aplastic anaemia?

Aplastic anaemia is a strange-sounding name for a blood disease that can make people feel poorly . 

In the middle of your big bones is something called bone marrow. This is where your blood cells are made. 

If someone’s bone marrow isn’t working properly, their body doesn’t have enough of the blood cells it needs to stay healthy.

Bone marrow and blood cells

Let’s talk about how your blood usually works. Your blood is mostly made up of four things: red blood cells, white blood cells, other cells called platelets and a liquid called plasma, which the blood cells and platelets move in.


Bone marrow

Bone marrow is the spongy part inside your big bones. It is a bit like a cell-making factory where new blood cells are made. When they are first made by the bone marrow they are called stem cells. These stem cells grow into red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. 

You need your bone marrow to make lots of these stem cells to grow into healthy blood cells. If a person’s bone marrow can’t make enough stem cells, they have ‘aplastic anaemia’. 

Red blood cells

carry oxygen around your body. They are the reason your blood is red. 

White blood cells

help you fight infections and germs. 

Platelets

stop you from bruising and bleeding easily. 

What signs will I notice?

It can be hard for doctors to work out that someone has aplastic anaemia because some of the things happening to their body are the same as other illnesses. The person might not even feel that there is anything wrong with their health at all! Let’s look at some of the things that might be happening.

Feeling tired

Without enough red blood cells, the person might feel tired or out of breath and look pale.

Infection

Without enough white blood cells, they might get lots of infections and this might make them feel poorly a lot more than usual.

Bruising

Without enough platelets, they might bleed more than they would normally do when they get a cut or a graze, or they might bruise easily.

Why is this happening?

For many children, nobody knows why this happens.

Your body’s immune system is there to keep you healthy and to fight off infections. Sometimes the immune system thinks that the body’s own cells are a problem, so it starts to work against them. When this happens, the bone marrow starts to slow down making the cells. This means there aren’t enough cells being made to keep the person healthy. 

If you or someone you know has aplastic anaemia, you may never know why. But it is important for you to know that having aplastic anaemia is not your fault.

What will make aplastic anaemia get better?


Medicines

Treatment can help to stop or control infections, or to help bone marrow to get better again. 

This might mean taking some medicines for quite some time. 

You can learn more about medicines for aplastic anaemia by clicking on one here.


Blood transfusions

People with aplastic anaemia might need some blood transfusions. 

This is where healthy blood, donated by a kind person, is added to their body.

Learn more about blood transfusions


Bone marrow donation (also known as a stem cell transplant)

For some people (but not everyone), the bone marrow might need to be replaced by healthy bone marrow, which has been donated by a different kind person.

For this to work well, the donated bone marrow has to be a good match with the person’s own body. 

Learn more about having a stem cell transplant


Talking to somebody

Having aplastic anaemia yourself, or worrying about a friend or family member, can be difficult. If you have any questions or worries, please talk to somebody about this.

If you have any questions or worries, please talk to somebody about this.

Your family, your friends and the doctors are all here to help you as much as they can. 




Would you like this as a book?

You can also order this information as a free printed booklet, or ask a parent to order one for you here:

Order one now

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