Dolly Dholakia

Kirron Kher, actress, and BJP MP has recently been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer and is going through treatment for the same in Mumbai. Her husband informed this in a Twitter post saying, “Just so that rumours don’t get the better of a situation Sikandar and I would like to inform everyone that Kirron has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer. She is currently undergoing treatment and we are sure she will come out of this stronger than before. We are very blessed that she is being looked after by a phenomenal set of doctors. She’s always been a fighter and takes things head-on. She’s all heart and that’s why she has so many people that love her. So keep sending your love to her, in your prayers and in your hearts.”

What is Multiple Myeloma Disease?

Multiple myeloma, also known as Kahler's disease, begins in the bone marrow when plasma cells (a type of blood cell) begin to proliferate out of control. As the cells multiply, they weaken the immune system and affect the formation and function of white and red blood cells, resulting in bone disease, organ damage, and anemia, among other issues. Unexplained fever for more than three weeks, inexplicable weight loss, swelling in the neck or belly, bone pain, intense thirst, and unexplained gum bleeding or profuse bleeding are all common warning signs.

If you receive a diagnosis of multiple myeloma, the first step is to not panic. The second? To educate yourself as much as possible. The standard care and induction therapy for myeloma But then targeted therapies were discovered such as Velcade, which is a proteasome inhibitor. Stem cell transplant in this an acute process for approximately six to eight weeks, and then it becomes more of a chronic kind of evaluation for three months. You get high-dose growth factors to help those stem cells really come out, grow in your bone marrow and then come into your blood. And then, similar to a dialysis session, they use a machine to take those stem cells out. So, it’s not a surgery; it’s a procedure.

The biggest fear for many patients when they hear that they have myeloma is that it’s not curable. However, this is not the case, myeloma is very much curable and year by year, the number of survivals is increasing.