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- Bone Marrow Transplantation
-
- James 0. Armitage, MD
- Adapted for the Canadian edition by Hans Messner, MD, PhD
-
- Bone marrow contains immature (or stem)
- cells that are capable of continuously
- producing new cells . This is what helps make
- bone marrow the "factory" for normal blood
- cells—the red cells that carry oxygen, the
- white cells that fight infections and the
- platelets that help blood clotting.
- Bone marrow can sometimes be
- defective—for example, not producing
- enough normal blood cells . Red cells,
- white cells and platelets are necessary
- for life, so this is obviously a serious
- situation. Doctors long ago realized that