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Aplastic anemia and MDS: when the bone marrow makes too few healthy blood cells, the signs, who gets them, the tests, transfusions, a stem-cell transplant and other treatment, and food
For anyone told they have, or might have, aplastic anemia or myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), for anyone tired, pale and bruising easily whose blood count came back low, and for the people who love and care for them. It passes on, by name, what the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK, part of the NIH) says: what the two disorders are and their signs; who is more likely to get them, the causes and the complications; how doctors find them; treatment, from blood transfusions and medicines to a stem-cell transplant; and food when the white blood cells are low. It builds the questions to ask and prints a card. Nothing is saved.
Right now
- A fever, or bleeding that won’t stop? NIDDK says to contact your health care professional right away: severe aplastic anemia and higher-risk MDS can be life threatening if not treated right away.
- Bleeding that will not stop with pressure, trouble breathing, chest pain, fainting or confusion? Call 911 (ours).
- At the end of your rope, or having thoughts of suicide? Call or text 988, any hour, free (ours).
More help
- The blood on this site: Anemia · Hemochromatosis (too much iron) · Heart, blood and hormones: find the right page.
- Around it: When it is cancer · Hepatitis · Food poisoning · Caring for someone.
- For you: My medicines · Low-cost health care · Get ready for your appointment. In an emergency: Help right now (988, 911). All our free tools.
Your heart, blood pressure, blood sugar, thyroid or blood, and not sure this is the right page? The pages on this site for a heart attack or stroke, blood pressure, AFib, heart failure, cholesterol, diabetes and prediabetes, the thyroid, anemia, sickle cell and menopause, on one list.
Other guides on this site that go with this page
Free to read. We chose these ourselves; no professional did. Each guide was written with AI and has not been reviewed by a professional. They are general information, not advice.
- When it’s sickle cell: sickle cell disease and sickle cell trait: the symptoms that are emergencies, a pain crisis, testing, the treatments, and pregnancy.
- Anemia in chronic kidney disease: the symptoms, the causes, the tests, iron, ESA medicines, and food: anemia in kidney disease: why damaged kidneys cause it, the symptoms, when to call 911, the blood tests, iron, ESA medicines, transfusions, and food.
- Porphyria: attacks of belly pain and weakness, or skin that blisters and burns in the sun, the types, what sets off an attack, the tests, treatment, and food: porphyria: attacks of belly pain and weakness or skin that blisters in the sun, what sets off an attack, the tests, treatment, and food.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). No doctor or nurse has reviewed it. The facts were read on October 22, 2026 on NIDDK’s (NIH) page Aplastic Anemia & Myelodysplastic Syndromes, all five sections, last reviewed in August 2020. Ours: the 911 and 988 lines; asking before you stop or change a medicine; keeping the blood counts, the dates of transfusions and one list of medicines and chemicals; when to call the care team soon; the questions to ask; the card; the links to our other pages; and the order of the steps. What we left out: its section on clinical trials, its references, its drawings and video, and the other pages it links to, which we did not read. Nothing you tick or type here is saved or sent.