Cancer and Healthy

Leukemia is also known as blood cancer. However, this term is a misnomer, because instead of causing cancer in the blood, the cancer is caused in the bone marrow, and it affects the white blood cells. These cells are responsible for fighting infections, bacteria and viruses in our body. Once the white blood cells are affected, our body is weakened and exposed to infections.

There are several types of leukemia and the treatment varies depending on the type. However, the two main forms of leukemia are acute leukemia and chronic leukemia. Chronic leukemia is considered to be milder, in other words not all white blood cells are defective and the progress of the disease is much slower than acute leukemia.

Acute leukemia advances and soon the white blood cells are not normal. However, in some cases it is easier to treat than chronic leukemia.

In the United States each year thousands of people have been diagnosed with acute leukemia. There is, however, noted that a large number of children, usually about 4 years old, suffering increasingly from acute leukemia. The good news is that more and more cases are restored and there is constant research into new medicines and treatments.

The cause of acute leukemia is unknown. The only thing one can say for certain is that some people run a higher risk of getting the disease than others. People who are exposed to radiation or certain chemical substances have the highest chance of contracting the disease. There is also the hereditary factor. It was seen that children have the defective gene from their mother and this gene may lead to acute leukemia.

People who have leukemia tend to be easy bruising or easily bleeding from the nose and gums. In addition to weak immune system, there is a general feeling of fatigue and unexplained weight loss. The disease itself has no specific symptoms.