Scottsdale, Arizona-based physician Jonathan (Jon) Komar, MD, has been working in the healthcare industry for upwards of 20 years. Now in the field of electronic health record consulting, he guides OptiMed Solutions, which he founded. Dr. Jon Komar also finds biologics interesting, particularly the technology that makes stem cell harvesting from bone marrow possible.
A soft, spongy tissue, bone marrow produces hematopoietic stem cells. These develop into white blood cells, platelets, and red blood cells. Each of these components aids in normal body function. Red blood cells, for example, carry oxygen throughout the body, while platelets stop bleeding by forming clots. Patients with leukemia, lymphoma, and some other types of cancer do not have healthy blood cells, since they are either cancerous or damaged by cancer treatments. Stem cells replace these damaged cells in a patient's body. For this reason, some patients will undergo a bone marrow or stem cell transplant. This procedure takes healthy stem cells from the bone marrow of a donor and transplants them in the patient following chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Such transplants are also possible using the patient's own stem cells, as long as intensive cancer treatments do not damage them.
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AuthorJonathan Komar, MD, has involved himself as an active voice in the medical community throughout his career. Archives
March 2022
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