Padma Bhushan singer Sharda Sinha, known as 'Bihar Kokila,' has been admitted to AIIMS Delhi and is on ventilator support. As per reports, the 72-year-old singer, who has sung many hit songs like 'Chhath ke Geet' and 'Taar Bijli' of Gangs of Wasseypur, has been on cancer treatment since 2017. The doctors of AIIMS said that she is 'hemodynamically stable,' which means her blood pressure and heart rate are normal and are under constant monitoring. The type of cancer that has affected her is called 'Multiple Myeloma,' which mainly affects bone marrow and blood cells. It is generally called a 'B cell malignancy,' as it mainly affects B cells, a white blood cell part of our immune system. The B cells produce antibodies or proteins that identify and neutralize foreign substances like viruses, toxins and bacteria.
What causes the disease?
The Mayo Clinic says that it's not clear yet what causes this time of cancer. However, it begins with a single plasma cell in the bone marrow. 'Something happens that turns the cell into a cancerous myeloma cell, and it begins to make more of such cells quickly,' says the clinic. While healthy cells in our body grow and die at a set pace, cancer cells don't. They create extra cells, which eventually overpower and kill healthy cells. In those affected by Multiple Myeloma, the cancer cells crowd out healthy blood cells, leading to patient fatigue. While the reasons for the cancer's development are not known, here are a few of the risk factors:
1) Old age, especially late sixties.
2) Family history of the disease
3) Being male
4) Being black
5) Having the condition called monoclonal gammopathy, in which the level of 'M' proteins in the blood is low.
Symptoms of Multiple Myeloma
1)Fatigue
2)Weight loss
3)Constipation
4)Nausea and vomiting
5)Mental fog or confusion
6)Severe chest, hips and spinal pain
Treatment of Multiple Myeloma
The disease is diagnosed through procedures like blood tests, urine tests, bone marrow tests and imaging. Interestingly, it's not given treatments right away as doctors often wait to identify the affected cells. Once identified, 'targeted therapy,' using medicines that attack the specific chemicals in the cancer cells, is initiated. This is followed by immunotherapy, CART-cell therapy, chemotherapy, corticosteroids, bone marrow transplant and radiation therapy. If a bone marrow transplant is not an option, treatments will be done using a mix of medicines. Sharda Sinha is trending on Google Trends with more than 50K search volume in 14 hours.