A 24-year-old girl suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS) has been treated after undergoing a bone marrow transplant. The girl, Kanika Juneja, is the sister of Anmol Juneja, Delhi’s first multiple organ donor who was declared brain dead after an accident in 2012.
An autoimmune disease
Kanika was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a disorder where the body’s immune system starts attacking the protective sheet covering the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. After going through several rounds of treatments, she finally underwent a bone marrow transplant at Fortis Healthcare.
Dr. Rahul Bhargava, director (clinical hematology and bone marrow transplant) at Fortis Memorial Research Institute (FMRI) said: “In an autologous bone marrow transplant, healthy stem cells from the patient are taken out and preserved. Chemotherapy is then administered to reset the body’s immunity, after which the stem cells are injected back. After the surgery, the patient is kept in isolation for a few months to ensure he/she does not contract any infection.’’
Kanika is now actively involved in raising awareness about the disorder through social media. “I had just completed college when I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. I was lucky because I was diagnosed early and could avail treatment options faster,” she said.
At present, there are 2.3 million people living with multiple sclerosis worldwide.
