The blood cancer called leukemia, begins in the bone marrow and the
lymph system, the two organs that make blood.In leukemia,these two
organs produce abnormal and immature white blood cells,which are called
leukocytes.
At some people the two organs produce a lot of leukocytes that make the
blood to have a whitish tinge. In that case the production of normal
cells and the ability to fight infection decreases.
When the leukemic cells accumulate the production of oxygen-carrying
red blood cells,blood-clotting cells and normal leukocytes lessen,which
make the ability to fight infection lower.If this is not treated the
leukemic cells can destroy the bone marrow,can enter in the
bloodstream,and than can invade other parts of the body like the lymph
nodes,spleen,liver,the brain and the spinal cord.
Four types of leukemia exist:acute,chronic,lymphocytic and
myelogenous.There is a difference between acute and chronic leukemia
because the acute leukemia progress very rapidly and the chronic
leukemia progress slowly.The acute leukemia is frequently met at the
children.
The leukemia has many symptoms but there are not the same to
everyone.These are the symptoms:weakness or chronic fatigue,fever of
unknown origin,weight loss that is not due to dieting or
exercise,frequent bacterial or viral infections,headaches,skin
rash,nonspecific bone pain,easy bruising,bleeding from gums or
nose,blood in urine or stools,enlarged lymph nodes or spleen and
abdominal fullness.
The presence of leukemia can be determinate only by doctors through
blood tests and examinations of bone marrow.It is known that leukemia
occurs in males more often than in females and in white people more
often than in black people, but it is unknown the cause of leukemia and
why this appears to a person, and to another one.
The several types of leukemia are grouped in two ways, the one depends
on how quickly the disease develops and gets worse, and the other is
the type of the blood cells affected.Leukemia can be: acute or chronic,
lymphocytic or myelogenous.
In the case of acute leukemia abnormal blood cells remain very immature
and cannot carry out their normal functions;for this reason the disease
increase rapidly.Acute leukemia may present different types.There are
some blast cells in chronic leukemia which are generally mature and
they can carry out some of their normal functions.
A buildup of certain kinds of white blood cells allows themselves a
long term.The number of blasts is smaller than in acute leukemia,so
chronic leukemia worsens step by step.Lymphocytic and myelogenous deals
with two different types of cells from which leukemias
start.Lymphocytes are developped in the bone marrow which are
lymphocytic leukemias.The myelocytic leukemia develops from either
granulocyte white blood cells or monocyte white blood cells.
Leukemia means "white blood" and occurs when there is an excess of abnormal white blood cells in the blood.
