Leukemia Leukemia is a group of blood diseases characterized by cancer of the blood forming tissues. It was discovered in Europe during the XIX century when a group of doctors directed by John Hughes Bennett tested their patients and discovered their elevated number of white blood cells. It was then called “white blood” and later was named leukemia from the words greek words “leukos” (white) and “hemia” (blood).
Leukemia is a disfunction of the bone marrow stem that over
…show more content…
* Acute myelogenous leukemia occurs in adults and children.
* Chronic lymphocytic leukemia onlye presented in adults of 50 years and older.
There are no scientific proves of what causes leukemia in human beings however studies have detected that it might be produced by mutations of the DNA, radiation or cancerigenous substances. Since the cause is unknown there is no prevention method against leukemia therefore if symptoms are presented the patient should elaborate medical tests immediately because as all types of cancer leukemia is only treatable when diagnosed in its early stages. The main treatments for leukemia are :
* Chemotherapy – is a treatment in which large dosis of chemical substances are taken regularly by the patient in order to stop the production of white blood cells and to make the immune system more eficient against infections and diseases. Most chemotherapy enters the body intravenously which increases the chances of survival and defeating of the disease because the drugs enter the stream blood in a faster and more direct way. Some doctors even recomend a portable machine that introduces the drugs through a small surgically inserted cannulae. The main reason why a patient would avoid chemotherapy are the various side affects it represents such as hair loss, nausea and vomiting, anemia and
Prophylaxis simply means prevention. Leukemia cells can be in the mind and spine. Chemotherapy in a vein cannot break to run them. In this way, chemotherapy is introduced into the fluid that runs around the mind and spine (The cerebrospinal fluid, CSF). The chemotherapy medication is generally methotrexate.
Chemotherapy is the administration of chemicals into the body in an attempt to cure/lessen the severity of cancer in living organisms. Chemotherapy is always given with a curative intent, but that cannot always be promised to the patient, so sometimes it is given to relieve symptoms that the patients are experiencing or to improve their overall quality of life.1 While chemotherapy is used as an agent to try to rid individuals of their cancer, it is essentially slowly killing them. The chemicals used for the treatment are toxic to the human body and while they are giving them in small amounts, those small amounts accumulate over time to large amounts in the body. The body is affected by the treatment in various different ways and every body
“Myelodysplastic syndromes are a group of disorders caused by poorly formed or dysfunctional blood cells.” (Mayo Clinic 2015) Myelodysplastic syndromes, also known as bone marrow failure syndromes, occur when the bone marrow is not doing its job of providing enough functional, healthy blood cells. These syndromes generally occur with geriatric patients, and are responsible for a host of issues such as abnormal bleeding, infection, bruising, and anemia. People with these syndromes generally present with some form of cytopenia, whether it be anemia, neutropenia, or thrombocytopenia. MDS causes the cells produced to usually have shorter life spans, resulting in less mature blood cells making it out into the circulatory system. These cells tend to have abnormal shapes and appearances in addition to their failure to function correctly. MDS is a progressive disease, and generally is not considered terminal, although some patients will progress into acute myeloid leukemia as a result of the disease. Unlike some other syndromes, MDS is not inherited, and there are many risk factors that will be discussed later that can exacerbate this illness.
“You have cancer” are three words that no one wants to hear. In an instant, someone’s life was changed forever. Multiple myeloma is one of those scary forms of cancer. It is defined as a type of cancer that affects a certain kind of white blood cells called plasma cells (Multiple Myeloma Pamphlet 4). It may seem scary, but fortunately, there are many different kinds of treatment to either treat the disease itself, or to treat the symptoms. Some of the symptoms can be minor, but there are also some major symptoms that can lead to serious problems. Before a doctor can treat a patient with any kind of medications or remedies, he must perform many tests to assure an accurate diagnosis. He would go through the patient 's medical history and
The age-adjusted incidence of acute myeloid leukemia is 3.6 per 100000 persons per year, with a median age of 66 years at diagnosis. Whereas the outcome for patients with AML who are less than 60 years of age has improved over the past several decades, the major reasons for failure are primary refractoriness of the disease to initial chemotherapy or failure to maintain the complete state of remission.. Some patients have residual leukemic cells in their marrow even after intensive treatment. This is referred to as “refractory leukemia.” There are other patients who have a return of leukemia cells in the marrow and a decrease in normal blood cells after achieving a remission. This is referred to as “relapsed leukemia.” (Leukemia and Lymphoma Society 2011)
As Leukemia cells build up in the marrow, they can crowd out the normal blood cell-making cells. The Leukemia cells might also invade other areas of the body, which can also cause symptoms. A few symptoms of Leukemia are tiredness, coldness, weakness, feeling dizzy or lightheaded, headaches, and shortness of breath and pale skin. If you have low blood plate counts you could also have bone or joint pain, swelling of the abdomen, loss of appetite or weight loss, swollen lymph nodes, coughing or trouble breathing, swelling of the face or arms, headache, seizures or vomiting, rashes, gum problems, extreme fatigue, and weakness. Children who receive therapy for all types of Leukemia may also experience their own symptoms, which may include late adverse effects, which are central nervous system (CNS) impairment, slowing of growth, infertility, cataracts, and an increased risk for other cancers. These effects vary on the person’s age during the treatment, and the type of therapies that they
Get the reader’s attention. Set the scene. Who is involved? When and where did the event take place? Parents Sara and Brian Fitzgerald have a daughter Kate who at the age of two was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of leukemia.
Leukemia - this is the cancer that is established in blood-forming tissue such as bone marrow. This causes numerous abnormal blood cells to be produced and enter the blood.
Henry Wagner successful carried out the first PET scan of a neuroreceptor (membrane receptor protein that gets activated by a neurotransmitter) on himself.
Chemotherapy has rapidly changed throughout the years. In today’s society more treatment options have risen and created better survival rates than chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is a process in which chemicals are injected into the body intravenously for the treatment of cancer. The history of chemotherapy is quite interesting and surprisingly, the drug first used (mustard gas) was not intended to treat cancer. It was used in World War I and was studied more closely during World War II. “ During a military operation in World War II, a group of people were accidentally exposed to mustard gas and were later found to have very low white blood cell counts. It was reasoned that an agent that damaged the rapidly growing white blood cells might have a
No one knows the exact cause of leukemia; no one knows the cure for it either. Doctors have several things that they treat patients with. One of the treatments is radiation. Radiation is used to try and kill the cells of cancer. Target therapy is also used. Target therapy is the use of drugs to damage the bad cells without hurting the good ones. Chemotherapy is next. It is similar to target therapy. It's primary goal is to stop the growth of cancerous cells. Some use biological therapy with which they transport good cells to the cancerous area to help fight bacteria. Another option is surgery. Since some white blood cells are produced in the spleen, another option is to remove it. These are the ways doctors treat
I was motivated to write about leukemia because of my Soldiers was just recently diagnosed with this condition. Leukemia is best defined as a form of cancer in the blood cells. His blood cells do not operate as normal blood cells do and sometimes have trouble functioning the proper way. Unfortunately the leukemia cells will continue to grow and divide until treated. Ultimately his body will not be able to function as it once did. Controlling ones bleeding may become a difficult task, their body will have a hard time fighting infections, and trouble with breathing problems may be the result of leukemia. Although those could be very
Leukemia cancer in the patient will make bone marrow to produce excessive amount of cells. Among those cells, white blood cells will be in excessive amount. Most of the cells do not get mature properly which lead to reproduction of few more immature cells. Healthy cells reproduce when there is enough space for them to fit in the blood. The immunity system of body can regulate the reproduction of normal cells by sending some signals. Whereas coming to immature cells doesn't respond to signals and reproduce in excess amount with in short period of time.
This paper is going about leukemia and if it is deadly or not. Leukemia is the existence of a tumor that is based on certain types of cells in the blood especially the white blood cells. The number of red blood cells decreases while the number of white blood cells strongly increases. Because of this, they disrupt the normal composition of the blood .The seriousness of blood cancer is dependent on the two types. The first type is acute leukemia, in acute leukemia the blood cells do not ripen out, so they are immature. Then we have chronic leukemia, in chronic leukemia the cells mature still pretty good but slows down. The bone marrow is responsible for the production of these blood cells. The bone marrow is the factory of blood cells.
Over the years, cancer has proved to be a menace and a threat to livelihood. It is a class of diseases that have given doctors a hard time to manage. Cancer is characterized by cell growth that is out of control. The disease manifests itself in over 100 types, and each type is recognized with the type of cell it affected initially. The ugly aspect of cancer is that it causes wreckage to the body when cells divide uncontrollably when damaged and forms tumors (lumps of tissue). The case of leukemia is a bit different since cancer prohibits blood from functioning normally by anomalous cell division. When tumors grow, they can alter the functioning of the circulatory and nervous systems and even instigate abnormal release of hormones that can make the body function differently. This paper examines the diagnosis and staging of cancer and discusses the complications and side effects of treatment of the disease. The paper will also explore the various methods of lessening physical and psychological effects of cancer.