Bone marrow transplant is replacing defective, diseased or damaged bone marrow with blood stem cells that reach the bone marrow to replace dysfunctional stem cells.

Bone marrow transplant is done with blood stem cells either harvested from a patient's body, a donor or stem cell bank. These cells are injected with the help of a needle-shaped catheter in the upper right portion of the chest from where these stem cells directly reach the heart and are distributed to the whole body.

A bone marrow transplant surgery takes about 10 to 28 days to complete after the initial transplant or grafting.

Eating a diet rich in proteins, iron and vitamin B helps strengthen bone marrow and work efficiently.

Three months is the time for recovery from bone marrow transplant. However, in some cases, the symptoms may last for one year or more. The recovery time is dependent on a match with the donor, place of transplant treatment, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, etc.