Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Leukemia

Leukemia is cancer of the blood or bone marrow (which produces blood cells). A person who has leukemia suffers from an abnormal production of blood cells, generally leukocytes (white blood cells). The DNA of immature blood cells, mainly white cells, becomes damaged in some way. This abnormality causes the blood cells to grow and divide chaotically. Normal blood cells die after a while and are replaced by new cells which are produced in the bone marrow. The abnormal blood cells do not die so easily, and accumulate, occupying more and more space. As more and more space is occupied by these faulty blood cells there is less and less space for the normal cells - and the sufferer becomes ill. Quite simply, the bad cells crowd out the good cells in the blood.

Symptoms: Blood clotting is poor, Affected immune system, Anemia, Patients may also experience nausea, fever, chills, night sweats, flu-like symptoms, and tiredness.








No comments:

Post a Comment