Acute leukemia occurs when immature blood cells begin to rapidly increase and begins to crowd the bone marrow, preventing it from making more healthy blood cells. Thus, problems occur in the body as it is unable to fight off diseases and harmful attacks and immediate treatment is needed to combat this disease. Usually this occurs most often and frequently in children over adults and can be caught and treated.
Chronic leukemia occurs when mature and abnormal white blood cells are produced very fast and at alarming rates causing really abnormal white blood cells to be present in the body’s blood stream. This is usually found in older people as the cells are usually mature already and sometimes immediate treatment is postponed as the entire chronic condition is monitored and the best case treatment is considered before any action is taken on the matter.
There are many signs of this disease, particular damage to the bone marrow causing a lack of blood platelets which are extremely important for the blood clotting process. So, people with this disease are often ones who get hurt easily and bruise for little things and bleed at alarming excesses. That is one way to know that one might have leukemia, to be aware of whether or not they bleed a lot for little injuries that should not have caused so much bleeding. Also, because the white blood cells are otherwise occupied, the patient’s immune system is always shot and unable to fight off sicknesses. They will even start attacking other body cells and people might get infections frequently or have infected sores in the mouth, tonsils, or even diarrhea or bouts of pneumonia that can be almost fatal in the extent of it.
Patients are often pale and weak as they might suffer from anemia, or low blood counts, and that might cause them to lack energy and strength. Sometimes patients feel sick, have night chills and sweats and fevers and many symptoms that could be mistaken for ones related to the flu. If you feel nausea or always feel very bloated or full, that might all be due to swollen organs like the liver or spleen that will cause weight loss and fatigue. Finally, it is possible to experience headaches, as well, as the disease can interfere with the nervous system.
To diagnose this disease, you will have to undergo medical tests that usually examine the bone marrow and do blood counts to see what the situation is. Also a lymph node biopsy is performed, as well, to see whether you have it in certain situations. The damage to the organs is also determined from the blood tests and sometimes doctors will perform X-Rays and MRIS or other kinds of screening tests. Usually this is treated with medications that are combined with chemotherapy radiation and sometimes radiation therapy.
Also, some patients benefit immensely from a bone marrow transplant, as well. It is important to get the proper tests because left untreated, leukemia can be a deadly and fatal disease. But, there are treatment options and ways to beat it.
Source: Article
