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Sorts of Leukemia and the Warning Signs
by Dante Krebs
http://www.helpleukemia.com
Leukemia is a devastating type of cancer that affects the
blood cells and can be classified depending on which cells
it attacks and how rapidly it spreads. The warning signs
vary from person to person depending on how advanced the
Leukemia is and how healthy they are. Some people have
various symptoms; others just a couple and some display
none of the warning signs whatsoever.
In the first stages of leukemia, something happens to
negatively impact one blood cell and, soon, the body
begins to produce an abundance of this type of cell.
Although it can happen to more than one kind of cell, it
generally affects a white blood cell. In addition to
their abnormal behavior, these cells also appear to look
different from normal healthy cells when viewed by a
microscope. Since the body continues to produce this type
of abnormal cell in great proportion, there~s little room
for the survival of normal, healthy cells. As a result,
the symptoms of leukemia become apparent.
What types of Leukemia are there?
V~The most widespread form of Leukemia affects youngsters
but can sometimes be traced in adults too. This is known
as Acute Lymphocyte Leukemia.
V ~A type of this cancer known to be present in kids and
adults is Acute Myeloid Leukemia.
Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia which is an adult form of the
disease but can, in rare cases, take place in children.
V~People over fifty five, young adults and very
infrequently children can carry the version of Leukemia
known as Chronic Lymphotic Leukemia.
Regardless of the type of leukemia that someone may be
afflicted by, there are some very generic symptoms in the
first stages of the illness. Those may include weakness,
fatigue, bodily discomfort, weight loss, infection, fever,
diminished exercise tolerance, excessive bruising,
abnormal bleeding, bone or joint pain, abdominal pain or a
feeling of ~fullness~ and the enlargement of the spleen,
liver and lymph nodes.
If you look closely at chronic Leukemia, this is very
difficult to detect and unless the person is given a blood
test it may not display itself for years. Amazingly only
one fifth of diagnosed sufferers have any warning signs at
all when they find out they have this disease. The easiest
way to detect acute Leukemia detect is by looking for
depletion in the standard blood cells caused by the rapid
spread of Leukemia carrying cells which clog up the bone
marrow.
The blood tests help to illustrate whether or not a
patient has chronic leukemia by checking the following: If
the patient is anemic this is because their red blood cell
count has been diminished; if the patient has leukopenia
their white blood cell count has been depleted and they
can easily pick up infections; if they have a lack of
blood cells that are used to fight off bacteria they will
have neutrophenia; if there~s a lack of platelets that are
used to stop bleeding and thicken the blood this is known
as thrombocytopenia and the patient may bruise easily or
bleed excessively from the nose or gums; if they have far
too many platelets this is called thrombocytosis.
Other things which are still symptomatic of Leukemia but
are less prevalent and attributable to certain types of
the disease are headaches, fits, bad vision, sickness,
imbalance, problems with gums, rash-like spots on the
body, tumorous cells in flesh or internal organs and
gasping for breath which can result in asphyxiation.
Of course such warning signs do not necessarily mean that
you have Leukemia but you should tell your doctor straight
away if any of these appear and will not go away. They can
conduct Leukemia tests and arrange treatment if it turns
out that you do have this disease.
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