Many people suffer from leukemia these days. A large number of cases of
cancer are identified to be leukemia. Leukemia is a sort of cancer of
the blood and marrow. The disease is characterized through the
overproducing of immature blood cells (stem cells) that aren’t able to
fully develop and to carry out the activities of normal blood cells.
According to their functions and structure, there are three different
types of cells within the normal blood: red blood cells, white blood
cells and platelets. Through the process of hematopoiesis, these three
types of blood cells are developed from a distinctive type of blood
cell called stem cell. Stem cells divide and go through several stages
of development to finally form a mature blood cell of a particular
type, with a certain, distinctive function in the body. The process
through which a stem cell morphs into a mature blood cell takes place
within the bone marrow.
According to the speed of development and the persistence of the
disorder, there are two types of leukemia: acute leukemia and chronic
leukemia. Acute leukemia is known to develop very rapidly, while
chronic leukemia is developed slowly. According to the types of blood
cells affected by the disease, leukemia can either be lymphocytic or
myelogenous.
Lymphocytic and myelogenous types of leukemia are developed from
different types of cells: the lymphocytic type of leukemia develops
from cells called lymphoblasts or lymphocytes in the spongious tissue
of the bones, while the myelogenous type of leukemia (sometimes refered
to as myeloid and myelocytic leukemia) develops from myeloid cells.
In the case of acute forms of leukemia, the abnormal cells come from
early, immature cells. Such forms of the disorder have a very fast rate
of development, due to the fact that normal stem cells tend to multiply
frequently. Leukemia cells usually don’t divide faster and more
frequently than normal stem cells, they simply don’t stop their process
of division when they should. Sometimes the numbers of white blood
cells are very high, while in other cases they can be normal or low.
Chronic leukemia, apart from its slow development, is different from
acute leukemia by the level of maturation that the diseased cells are
able to reach. Stem cells affected by chronic leukemia reach a higher
level of maturation but they present abnormalities and they can’t act
as healthy white blood cells do. Unlike acute leukemia, in the chronic
form of the disease the unhealthy cells have much longer periods of
life and they tend to accumulate in different parts of the body.
Leukemia affects people of all age groups. While children usually
respond better to the treatment for leukemia and sometimes deal well
with the disease, adults difficultly cope with this form of cancer.
Regardless of age and sex, many people are diagnosed with forms of
leukemia. Children tend to respond better to some types of leukemia,
while adults difficultly cope with the disease. The cases of acute
leukemia exceed those of chronic leukemia by approximately 10 percent.
Older adults seem to be affected the most by acute leukemia. Around two
thirds of acute leukemia cases seem to occur after the age of 60.
