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A blood cell disorder resulted in extensive tests being carried out.

The bone marrow is inside bone. The blood cells are formed in the bone marrow of some of the bones. There are 3 different types of blood cell: red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Red blood cells are important for carrying oxygen in the blood. White blood cells are part of the body’s immune system. They fight pathogens. Platelets are important for clotting blood. The blood cells are formed from cells known as precursor cells. Throughout one’s life, these precursor cells may undergo changes. This can cause the precursor cells to multiply uncontrollably and displace healthy blood cells. These changes can cause diseases in which various blood cells do not fulfill their function properly.

Stem cells are cells that can develop into different types of cells. For example, blood cells can develop from stem cells. Stem cells are found in the blood and inside some bones. With a blood cell disorder, it may be necessary to obtain stem cells from another person. This is also known as stem cell transplantation. For this it is important that the cells of the donor are as similar as possible to those of the person who is ill. This reduces the risk of the body’s own immune system fighting and rejecting the donated cells. To examine the similarity of the cells, certain characteristics on the white blood cells are looked at. For this purpose, blood was taken from one or more of your relatives.