What are Blood Cell Disorders?
Disorders that affect blood cells or proteins in the blood systems are called blood disorders or hematological disorders. Blood disorders can result from changes in the number or effectiveness of specific blood cell types. Some examples of blood disorders include anemia (reduced red blood cell count), leukemia (increased white blood cell count specifically in the bone marrow), and sickle cell anemia (abnormally shaped red blood cells). Leukemia is the main focus of the Blood Disorders research group at the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine. Leukemia Most mature blood cells have a short life span and therefore need to be constantly replaced throughout adult life. New blood cells are produced in the adult bone marrow from a specialized group of cells known as blood-forming or hematopoietic stem cells. The production of mature blood cells from these hematopoietic stem cells, a process known as hematopoiesis, occurs in a step-wise fashion involving the formation of intermediate popul
