All About Leukemia

Cancer in any form is a deadly disease. But when it affects the most vital components of the body then their fatality increases manifold. One such type of cancer is cancer of the blood, technically known as leukemia. Blood is the most important tissue of the body. It is the connective tissue which carries and supplies oxygen and other vital elements to the remotest parts of the body. The importance of blood can be understood by the fact that it is the most important of all the connective tissues which provide the nutrients and other vital elements to the body.

The most dangerous feature of leukemia is that it is related to the blood which has access to almost all body organs including the all important brain and heart. The incidence of cancerous cells being carried to the different parts of the body increases drastically due to this fact. Another striking aspect of the blood cancer is that it affects the leukocytes or the “white blood corpuscles” of the blood. These are the ones that protect the body from external infections. Thus the immunity of the body is seen to decrease drastically due to leukemia. The main effect of the disease is that the body starts producing infected and abnormal cells that hinder the function of blood i.e. carrying of oxygen.

A patient suffering from leukemia is seen to loose weight due to anemia. This happens because the cancerous cells are unable to carry the hemoglobin properly which is the chief source of iron to the body. And due to that the body looses all vitality. The situation of the patient becomes vulnerable because the brain also starts to dysfunction due to infected blood. Headache, night sweats etc. can be commonly seen to occur as an attachment to this deadly disease.

The people living in areas prone to radioactive waste disposal and activity are most common targets of leukemia. Overexposure to radioactivity causes the cells to mutate and function abnormally. The children who are diagnosed with Down syndrome have a high probability to develop leukemia. Over exposure to Benzene, the industrially important hydrocarbon is also a known cause of blood cancer. The abnormal cells are easily detected under the microscope. Thus the doctor suspicious of such a disease advises the patient for a bone marrow examination. The onset can be detected by the swollen lymph nodes of the body which are commonly found in armpits, around the neck and at the thigh.

Chemotherapy is the most effective but a very painful way of killing the cancerous cells. The patient is subjected to drugs orally. The patient undergoes tremendous pressure as he is injected with lot many chemicals at a time. Another treatment is through the radiation. It is also very treacherous way of getting treated. The patients are seen to loose hair and texture of skin.

Leukemia though very dangerous is still curable and the research in the field is also being done on an extensive basis. Proper treatment at the right time can prevent the reflux of this disease. Methods like bone marrow transplant, which may be required at a later stage, are also effective in treating the patient. Above all to over come with the disease a person needs to be loved and supported by all. Leukemia is fatal disease but life is mightier then it.

Feline Leukemia, known as FeLV is a viral disease. Young kittens and older cats exposed to diseased cats are the most susceptible. The disease is spread through bites, mother to offspring, or diseased cat to healthy cats. The saliva, urine, and feces of an infected cat can pass the virus. However, the disease does not live more than a couple hours outside of the cat’s body. Some people believe indoor cats can contract the disease if a person carries the virus on their hands or clothes. There is no known cure at this time, and the disease kills 80% of all infected cats within a three year period. The disease can cause an array of health issues; cancer, blood disorders, and secondary diseases such as respiratory infections and diabetes. In laymen’s terms, the bones shut down and anemia occurs, which eventually leads to death.

To prevent your pet from contract Feline Leukemia, do the following:

1. Keep your cat indoors. This will eliminate your cat’s exposure to FeLV.

2. If you have stray cats in your neighborhood and you pet them, wash your hands with anti-bacterial soap before you pet your indoor cat.

3. Before you merge your healthy cat with a new cat or kitten, have the new pet tested for FeLV. If it has FeLV, it needs to be kept away from healthy cats.

4. Consider having your healthy cat vaccinated against Feline Leukemia. Unlike the Feline Aids vaccine, the Feline Leukemia vaccine does not affect a veterinarian’s ability to test your pet for the disease at a later date. Please keep in mind that while the Feline Leukemia vaccine is highly effective, it will not prevent all cats from contracting the disease. This is why it’s best to keep your cat indoors and away from potentially infected cats.

If your cat contracts Feline Leukemia, you should do the following:

1. Test all other cats in the household.

2. Remove infected cats from healthy cats. Keep them in separate areas at all times.

3. If you spend time with infected cats, change your clothes and wash your hands with anti-bacterial soap before you pet your healthy cats.

4. Feed your infected cats a well balanced diet. Many individuals swear by herbal supplements.

5. Maintain separate areas, food dishes and litter pans for the infected cats. Do not share these pet accessories with your healthy cats.

If you have a cat that dies of Feline Leukemia, and you wish to adopt another cat, scrub everything in your house thoroughly. Most likely the Feline Leukemia virus will die within a few hours after your pet passes away, but since Feline Leukemia often carries secondary disease, you should scrub everything with an anti-bacterial soap.

I once rescued a very pitiful looking feral cat. He tested positive (and high) for both Feline Aids and Leukemia. Remarkably, once he was moved indoors, he lived another four years-my vet said this was remarkable. When my FeLV infected cat contracted liver cancer and started having difficulty walking and urinating, I made a “no-win” decision to euthanize him. He had already endured several steroid shots and I was concerned he was suffering. None of my other cats contracted the disease, but I was always careful to wash my hands and I kept the cat separated from my healthy cats.

Burkitt’s lymphoma is a rare kind of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) that originates in the B-lymphocytes, a particular type of cells in the immune system that produce antibodies. The disease was described for the first time in 1956 by Denis Parsons-Burkitt, a surgeon who was working in central Africa.

Burkitt’s lymphoma is an aggressive type of NHL that mainly occurs in children. There are primarily two distinct types of Burkitt’s lymphoma, and these are the sporadic type and the endemic type. Endemic Burkitt’s lymphoma is limited to equatorial Africa that has a very high incidence of this disease. The striking characteristics of endemic variety are large tumors that form in the jaw and abdominal regions. Sporadic variety of this disease occurs in other parts of world other than central Africa. This variety involves B-cells in the bone marrow and abdomen.

Often referred to as B-cell lymphoma or B-cell leukemia, this disease originates primarily due to B-cells getting infected with Epstein-Barr virus. Other factors that aid in the occurrence of the disease include inheritance patterns and chromosomal defects. Symptoms of this disease are dependant on the site of origin of this disease. Some common symptoms observed in this disease include painful swelling of the affected area, nausea, vomiting, fever and anemia. Since the malignancy grows rapidly, the health of child also deteriorates rapidly. Diagnosis of this disease is possible through bone marrow aspiration and biopsy of the affected region. Other diagnostic procedures include determining blood counts, microscopic examination of spinal fluid and CT scans.

Even though, Burkitt’s lymphoma is a highly invasive cancer, it is also one of the more curable forms of lymphoma. The most common therapeutic approach is chemotherapy. Some of the drugs that are used for treatment include doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, methotrexate, cytarabine, ifosfamide and etoposide. However, the success of the therapy depends on the stage at which the disease is diagnosed. Other therapeutic approaches include bone marrow transplantation (BMT), immunotherapy using monoclonal antibodies and radiation therapy.

A website provides a detailed list of the symptoms of leukemia. While most of these symptoms are common illnesses, awareness that these may lead to, or is already caused by leukemia might just save a life. Here are some of the symptoms:
- fever
- chills
- flu-like symptoms
- anemia
- bleeding easily
- bruising easily
- nosebleeds
- digestive bleeding
- frequent infections
- loss of appetite
- weight loss
- swollen or tender lymph nodes, liver and/or spleen
- tiny red spots under the skin
- swollen and/or bleeding gums
- night sweats
- bone pain
- joint pain
- headaches, seizures
- vomiting
- eye and/or skin sores

(source)

The method of killing the cancer cells present the whole body or in particular part by passing anti-cancer drugs into the blood stream is called chemotherapy. It is also employed to prevent the spreading of cancer from part to another. It proves to be more efficient when it is used in the metastasis condition. In this condition the cancer spreads to all parts from where it has originated.

Each every chemotherapy agent has specific role depending upon the treatment and characteristics of the drug used. Most of them intervene with the DNA synthesis. Based on their features and treatment they are classified as alkylating agents, anti-metabolits, anthracyclines, antitumor antibiotics, monoclonal antibodies, platinums, or plant alkaloids.

Alkylating agents are the widely used drugs in the chemotherapy treatment. These drugs are effective through all phases of cell cycle. The alkylate agent acts directly on the DNA strands, breaks the strands and forms abnormal pairing, thus prevents the cell division taking place, and cells die off as a result of it.

Anti-metabolits are found to be useful in treating chronic problems and some cases of leukemia and for various tumors.

Anthracyclines drugs are obtained from natural resources. They work by producing free oxygen radicals which acts with the DNA strands and prevents the cell division.

Antitumor antibiotics are obtained from soil fungus streptomyces. It employs the free oxygen radicals for breaking the DNA strands and preventing cell division. Bleomycin is a commonly used antitumor antibiotic

Monoclonal antibodies, they are attach themselves with the tumor specific antigens and thus block the growth of the cell.

Platinums, they are also used to provide the DNA impairing and to stop the cell growth. But the setback is they can injure the kidneys as they are toxic.

Plant alkaloids, according to the name they are derived from plants. And they are used in cell specific cycles.

Leukemia is cancer of the white blood cells. The bone marrow produces uncharacteristic white blood cells that do not function properly. These white blood cells eventually crowd out normal white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. One blood cell of a person suffering from leukemia goes awry and the body produces large numbers of this cell. In most cases the cell that goes awry is the white blood cell. There are four main types of leukemia. These vary on the type of white blood cell affected and the speed of progression. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) are the four main types. Life expectancy of a patient suffering from leukemia varies from one type to another.

The medical fraternity’s understanding of and ability to treat leukemia has developed considerably in recent decades. In 1960, the 5-year survival rate for all types of leukemia was about 14%. It has now increased to about 50%. Children suffering from leukemia have a higher life expectancy rate, while people over the age of sixty have a comparatively lower life expectancy rate. The two main forms in which leukemia can be broadly termed are chronic and acute. Acute leukemia means that the disease grows rapidly and the usually life expectancy without treatment varies from a few weeks to a few months. Chronic leukemia, however, progresses gradually and with the appropriate cure, life expectancy can be up to 20 years or more after the onset of sickness.

Life expectancy of patients depends on the different factors such as health, age of the patient, severity of the disease, and treatment provided. While the life expectancy amongst ALL and AML is short due to its rapidly progressing nature, life expectancy amongst CLL and CML extend from three years to twenty years.

Over the years statistics have shown that life expectancy among people suffering from leukemia has grown considerably. This increase can be attributed to advanced studies and research. Innovation and invention of new and effective treatment procedures have also contributed to such an increase.

Stem Cell Transplantation
The conventional ways of treating cancer, such as chemotherapy and radiation, damage healthy cells and have many undesirable side effects. Doctors found a way around this problem by stem cell transplantation (SCT). Stem cells are blood-forming cells found in the bone marrow. In the course of cancer therapy, these stem cells are damaged.

In SCT, stem cells are harvested and preserved. In a nutshell, the patient’s (or closest kin’s, preferably a sibling) stem cells are harvested and preserved. The doctors can then give maximum doses of chemotherapy or radiation therapy to eliminate the leukemia cells.

Meanwhile, the patient’s stem cells are frozen and preserved until the chemotherapy course is over. The stems cells are then thawed and returned to the patient through transfusion.

Though truly amazing and brilliant, SCT is not without adverse effects. Long-term effects include sterility in men and women who have had high exposures to TBI (total body irradiation), endocrine malfunction, eye cataracts, and bone marrow toxicity.

(Source)

No human is alike another on this planet. Because of the this the way that the disease leukemia affects people is also very different. Some patients may experience severe or acute symptoms, while in others the action of the symptoms may be so mild that a long time passes till the disease is actually found and diagnosed; this can go on for years or even decades. All of us know that leukemia is the worst cancer that exist in this days and that affects people. Properly diagnosing this disorder can prove quite tricky some times, the fact being that many of its symptoms do resemble the symptoms of other very common and not life threatening illnesses.

Some of the most usual symptoms found in leukemia patients are fever, chills or other symptoms that resemble the ones of flu; weakness or fatigue may also appear in patients. Because of the heavy tole that the disease has on the body the patient may experience loss of appetite and normally after this, the weight might severely drop. Severe sweating may also be present, especially during sleep, at night time. Swollen or bleeding gums may be some of that symptoms to show us that the disease is getting serious and taking a heavy tole on the patient. Because of the lack of oxygen and nutrients that the body is receiving, bone or joint pain may also make them selves felt. Because the fact that the brain is also affected, headache, paralysis, seizures may sometimes trouble the patient with different intensities. In men the case might also include the swelling of the testicles, witch is a very nasty thing. Skin symptoms may also appear like rashes, loss of hair.

To be sure of the diagnose he makes, the doctor will most certainly run a wide variety of tests to rule out any other disease that is suspected to cause trouble to the patient. As long with physical test the doctor will also take blood samples to be more shore of the diagnose that he makes. High white blood cell count would most certainly indicate an over production of the bone marrow, but this does not necessarily mean the person has leukemia. A further more thorough test will actually include the extraction of some bone marrow for a bone marrow biopsy. If in this case a problem is discovered than the patient is in for some bed news. Still these test are extremely painful, often making patients to think again about taking them.

Leukemia is one of the most dangerous types of cancer because it affects the blood, which has a number of very important functions such as transporting oxygen to the different organs to the body. Given this, there has been considerable research on the disease, which includes research in formulating treatments and in the early detection of symptoms.

The current literature on leukemia presents a number of symptoms that can be detected on initial examination and symptoms that can be seen after more thorough tests. Presented below is some of the literature with regard to these symptoms.

Initial signs and symptoms

Medical research has characterized the initial signs and symptoms of leukemia as nonspecific and vague. This is because some symptoms can be found in non-cancer patients as well. However, researchers have identified some general features among the symptoms of people with leukemia: abnormal bleeding, weight loss, fatigue, malaise (nonspecific feeling of bodily discomfort), excessive bruising (hematoma), weakness, bone or joint pain, abdominal pain, infections and fever, enlarged spleen lymph nodes and liver, and a reduced tolerance for exercise. However, there are cases wherein people with leukemia exhibit no symptoms or are asymptomatic until the disease becomes chronic. The other symptoms of leukemia also include the symptoms that different organs may exhibit as a result of the cancer cells being deposited in the organ due to the leukemia.

Further testing

Once leukemia is suspected, physicians often recommend further testing for confirmation purposes. For leukemia, the most common test is a blood test, wherein any abnormalities related to leukemia can be seen. One of these abnormalities is anemia, which means that the blood has very low levels of erythrocytes or red blood cells; unusual paleness of the patient and a certain level of respiratory difficulty often characterize this condition. Another abnormality is Leukopenia, which means that the blood has very low levels of leukocytes or white blood cells, which increases the risk of infection in the patient. Other abnormalities include Neutropenia, Thrombocytopenia, and Thrombocytosis.

There has been considerable research on leukemia because it is considered one of the most dangerous forms of cancer. Given this, a huge body of literature on its treatment and its symptoms has been created. As a result of this, people can now get more information on its symptoms, which can help them detect these symptoms early, which is the key to effectively treating cancers such as leukemia.

Leukemia is the blood cancer form and originates in a malfunctioning bone marrow that tends to produce abnormal red and white cells in an increased rate. The most important four types of Leukemia are the acute and chronic myelogenous leukemia and the acute and chronic lymphocytic Leukemia. The name of the condition stands for the cell type involved.

The acute type of leukemia develops with an increased production of abnormal white cells making the body unable to fight infections; red blood cells and platelets are insufficient and the organism suffers from bruising, bleedings and anemia. Chronic forms of Leukemia are not as aggressive as they give the normal cells time to regenerate.

About 25000 new equal cases of acute and chronic Leukemia appear every ear. Most cases appear in adults and persons over 60 years but the acute lymphocytic Leukemia has an increased rate in children. Annually, about 10000 cases in adults are diagnosed as acute myelogenic Leukemia, 8000 are chronic lymphocytic Leukemia, 500 are chronic myelogenous forms and about 3500 are acute forms of lymphocytic Leukemia. The rest of the cases are unclassified blood cancer types.

All types of Leukemia are most commonly encountered in men than in women. Men subjects cover about 56% of all Leukemia new cases in a year. Americans with European descent seem to be more affected by cancer than those with African origins; about 131000 new cases of cancer are detected in African Americans every year but most of them are not related to blood cancers.

Americans with Indian or Hispanic origins are far more affected by Leukemia than African Americans and about 50% of the cases are encountered in male subjects. Elderly persons are most highly affected inside all populations.
Minority groups like Caucasians are more affected by Leukemia forms than other ethnic groups like Chinese, Japanese and Koreans. European descent children show increased rate of susceptibility compared to African American children.

Most of the new occurred cases of cancer in children below 15 are of Leukemia. About 2500 new cases of acute forms of lymphocytic leukemia are identified in the USA annually and it tends to be the most encountered form of cancer in children. High percents of the cases occur in children aged 3-4 and less in infants or 19 years old patients. In the last 25 years the chance of cure in specialized centers has increased due to new therapy methods.

People over 40 and older persons are more touched by acute myelogenous Leukemia and the secondary Leukemia type found in adults is chronic lymphocytic leukemia.