Symptoms of Leukemia: Spotting Them Before It's Too Late

Leukemia is a type of cancer that is very common nowadays. It does not choose who it attacks: men, women, children, adults, Caucasian, African-American, Asian, Hispanic - we are all at risk. According to the latest survey conducted, almost 44,000 people will be diagnosed with leukemia by 2010. It is now 2011. However, with developments that we have had in the aspect of health and medicine, the outcome of leukemia is looking bright. There is now a significant increase in the survival rate - a little over 50 per cent. That might not be a very big number for you, but compared to the 1970s when they only had a 14 per cent chance of survival, 50 per cent is almost like being disease-free. Won't you agree?

Surviving leukemia would largely depend on the severity of the disease by the time it gets diagnosed. As you could deduce, an earlier diagnosis of leukemia would give a better prognosis as compared to a late detection. Knowing which symptoms to look out for would be a great help in getting the earliest treatment possible. The following would be the most common symptoms of leukemia:

• Fever and recurrent infections. The reason behind this is that in leukemia, you do not have mature white blood cells to combat foreign bodies. You do not have a good defense system to protect you from invading viruses.

• Fatigue. Leukemia is a condition where there is a massive production of abnormal white blood cells. These cells would take up a lot of space, thus impeding the production of other types of cells. Since the production of red blood cells is decreased in the process, oxygen delivery to your various systems would also be decreased. This is what's causing fatigue.

• Bleeding and/or easy bruising. Bleeding, when associated with cancer, is painless. The same goes with bruising. A normal bruise would be tender when touched. Bruising, as related to leukemia, does not have any pain at all. Platelets, the ones responsible for clotting, are decreased in leukemia. This causes the bleeding and the bruising.

• Petechiae. They are tiny, rash-like spots found on the skin. Unlike rashes, though, petechiae are not itchy. This is caused by the rupture of capillaries and a decrease in platelet count.

• Pain. All types of cancer have pain. In the case of leukemia, it is bone or joint pain. This should not be confused with symptoms of bone cancer, though. The pain in bone cancer is caused by the compression of nerves due to tumor growth. In leukemia, the pain is caused by the overcrowding of blood cells in the bone marrow.

There are many other symptoms of leukemia, but the aforementioned would be the most common of the lot. If you experience any of those mentioned above, consult with your doctor immediately. If you get treatment early in the disease, there is a chance that the cancer cells might be eradicated and you would be one of the few survivors who would live to tell your story about battling with death.

For more information on Different Types of Diseases, Symptoms and Diagnoses, Please visit: Symptoms of Bone Cancer and Symptoms of Leukemia.

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Acute Leukemia Symptoms And What To Look For

Acute leukemia is a form of cancer that affects the white blood cells. It can present in many forms such as Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL), which is very common in children, especially 2-5 years of age; Acute Myelogenic Leukemia (AML), and Acute Non-Lymphatic Leukemia (ANLL). This article shares a brief overview of the symptoms to look for as well as the causes, diagnosis and treatment options associated with this disease.

Acute Leukemia

Symptoms - A man, woman or child with this condition may experience a constant tired feeling that can be accompanied with a low fever, anemia, pale skin, general ill feeling, easily bruised skin, and/or frequent nose bleeds or bleeding gums. Other possible symptoms include abdominal pain with an enlarged spleen, and infections with sores in the mouth.

Causes - The cause of this form of cancer is unknown, but risk of contracting the disease increases with a family history, Down Syndrome, or other congenital disorders, identical twins, or exposure to toxic chemicals.

Diagnosis - The first indication of a problem is typically an observation of the aforementioned symptoms. A physical exam with studies of the blood, bone marrow, or cerebral spinal fluid should follow to confirm the diagnosis. In some cases certain x-rays or CT scans may also be used to confirm the diagnosis.

Treatment - Proper treatment of acute leukemia may include blood or platelet transfusions, anticancer medication and radiation treatments. A bone marrow transplant may be necessary in some cases. A physician may also prescribe cortisone drugs and pain relievers (except aspirin) to help a patient deal with symptoms.

Acute leukemia is cancer of the white blood cells that can affect children and adults depending on the type of cancer. If treatment is successful and a patient goes into remission, there will be an ongoing need for check-ups to be certain it does not return.

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Click this link to visit SymptomSpy.com and learn more about Acute Leukemia

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Myeloid Leukemia Definitions, Classifications And Symptoms

Myeloid leukemia is a group of diseases whose characteristic changes are seen in the bone marrow and blood, where tumor cells infiltrate the blood system; sometimes these cells even spill into the circulating blood other tissues. The concept of myeloid leukemia is from the action of immature white blood cells being produced in excess and therefore inhibiting the production of the normal blood cells. These cells are called myeloid cells; they by their action in the blood disturb the function of the blood cells.

This leukemia has both tumors which are kept untreated to those that are diagnosed and treated immediately, ranging from rapid fatality to those which are slow in growing. Therefore on the basis of their treatment course they are divided into acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).

AML is seen more in men than in women and more prevalent in people older than 65 than in people of younger age. CML is also greater in men than in women but its incidence always increase slowing and the people's age increases and gets to the peak of occurrence in mid forties from where there is rapid rise in CML occurrence. Anyway the incidence of CML decreased slightly in the past two decades.

The etiology of myeloid leukemia is depended on the type, AML is related with risk factors such as hereditary (other resident blood disease in the family history; DIC) exposure to occupational chemicals, intense exposure to radiation which may be as a result of therapeutic reasons and even some drugs, but there is nothing relating the cause of ML to viral infection in any way.

While the etiology of chronic myeloid leukemia has no distinct relation with cytotoxic drug effect and there is also no evidence connecting it with any viral infection, but cigarette smoking by studies has shown to increase its progress into severe crisis, therefore living with Chronic myeloid leukemia and smoking becomes dangerous. Only large dosage of radiation has any adverse effect for CML formation.

The symptoms of ML are also depending on the type, whether it is AML or CML. For AML patients are presented with some nonspecific symptoms which begin either slowly or abruptly and the symptoms are leucopenia or leucocytosis, thrombocytopenia. These symptoms are usually due to anemia in such patients. Other symptoms of are fatigue, anorexia and weight loss and easily getting bruised with excessive bleeding.

While in CML the symptoms are at first insidious therefore it is difficult to diagnose a patient based but symptoms, such patients are usually diagnosed during normal medical checkup, or others come to the hospital with complaints fatigue, weight loss, symptoms relating to splenomegaly such as early satisfaction during eating, left upper quadrant pain, infections, thrombosis or sometimes bleeding.

When chronic myeloid leukemia progresses symptoms worsened with bone and joint pain, significant loss of weight which will require increasing the dose of the drugs used for treatment. Chemotherapy is used as treatment of myeloid leukemia but when this fails bone transplant is done.

Dave has been involved in all different areas of the health field for many years now, and prides himself on offering all kinds of different resources for all kinds of different diseases and conditions. For more information on this topic you can checkout either of his websites; the first being myeloid leukemia prognosis [http://www.myeloidleukemiaprognosis.com] and the second being acute myeloid leukemia prognosis.

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