Blood cancer universally known as leukemia. It’s cancer of blood or bone marrow and occurs due to production of blood cells by multiplication, usually the white blood cells. In broader term it covers spectrum of diseases. In fact, it is a part of hematological neoplasms.
Leukemia symptoms
o Bruising
o Excessive bleeding
o Developing pinprick bleeds
These symptoms occur because of the damage of bone marrow. The normal bone marrow cells get displaced with higher numbers of immature white blood cells and it leads to lack of blood platelets and further results in the blood clotting process.
Since the white blood cells are suppressed or becomes dysfunctional the fighting of pathogens are lowered. Hence, the immune system fails to fight against simple infection. The symptoms are as below:
o Infected tonsils
o Sores in the mouth
o Diarrhea
o Life-threatening pneumonia
o Opportunistic infection
The red blood cell deficiency results in anemia and which further results in dyspnea and pallor. Some people also may have sickness feeling such as fevers, chills, night sweats and some other flu-like symptoms. If leukemia attacks the central nervous system then notable headaches may occur.
Causes
The causes of leukemia are not known perfectly, but few of the known causes of leukemia are as mentioned below:
o Natural ionizing radiation
o Artificial ionizing radiation
o Viruses like Human T-lymphotropic virus
o Chemicals like benzene and alkylating chemotherapy agents for previous malignancies
o Tobacco uses also adds, though less
Classification
The below mentioned is the subdivision of leukemia:
o Acute leukemia – It is a rapid increase of immature blood cells. Treatment should be immediate due to rapid progression. It is more common among children.
o Chronic leukemia – It is excessive build up of mature white blood cells. It takes months and years to progress. It usually occurs in older people, but not limited to them only.
Treatment
Usually it can be treated with pharmaceutical medications. Some of them are treated with radiation therapy and few by bone marrow transplantation.
