Leukemia: Early signs, Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment

Leukaemia is bone marrow or blood cancer. Bone marrow does the work of producing blood cells. When there is some complication in production of blood cells, there is a huge possibility that leukaemia can arise. It mainly concerns WBCs (white-blood cells), or the leukocytes. It majorly affects the age groups below 15 and the ones above 55. 

There are two kinds of leukaemia- 
Acute leukaemia, which advances fast and worsens quickly.
Chronic leukaemia, which gets worse with time.

Cause of Leukaemia
Leukaemia occurs when the DNA of immature WBCs get damaged in some way. This roots the blood cells to grow and divide insignificantly. They grow in such a large amount that the healthy cells die being replaced by the unhealthy cells which do not die when they should leading to consuming more space than they should. More and more cancer cells grow and restrict the healthy WBCs from growing & functioning normally. 



Risk Factors of Leukaemia
  • Smoking
  • Hair dyes
  • Viruses like HIV
  • Petrochemicals like benzene
  • Family history of leukaemia
  • Early Signs of Leukaemia
  • Weight loss
  • Having chills or fevers
  • Catching various infections frequently
  • Excessive Tiredness


Treatments of Leukaemia
Treatment of Leukaemia depends upon some factors like age and overall health of an individual. The major type of blood cancer treatment is chemotherapy, which is usually altered according to the kind of leukaemia it is. The types of treatments include:-
  • Interferon therapy
  • Targeted therapy
  • Chemotherapy 
  • Radiation therapy
  • Stem-cell transplant
  • Surgery


While targeted therapy concerns a specific portion of the cancer cell, chemotherapy affects the entire   body of the person. 

For a kind of leukaemia, named chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), a bone marrow transplant might prove to be efficient. Young patients usually tend to adapt well and succeed at the transplant. 
Some kinds of chronic leukaemia do not even require any treatment in the early stages, but it is necessary to keep any eye on it. Also, visiting doctor time-to-time is essential.

If you have been diagnosed with leukaemia, you should consult a cancer specialist in India immediately. 


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