Cancer is an abnormal growth of cells in the body and Leukemia is the most common type of cancer in children.
Human body is made of more than nine to ten trillion cells.
Why Kinds Get Leukemia?
As far as kids are concerned cancer is not a very disease. Cancer is quite rare among kids. But if they do get it, it can be cured with chemotherapy through an IV and giving powerful energy waves called radiation in regular language.
These treatments kill the cancer cells and control further growth. Doctors may recommend surgery also in case a tumor has been found in the body of a cancer affected kid.
In some types of cancer that kids can get like leukemia, stem cell transplant or a bone marrow might be done to help the kid lead a healthy and happy again as before.
They cannot be seen with naked eyes, only under a powerful microscope.
Since the growth or division of cells is abnormal, it causes illness. Sometimes this disorder interferes with the functioning of systems; giving feeling of un-wellness.
When cells grow abnormally it is called cancer and when a lump of cells start growing at one place it is called tumor. This mass sometimes may not be cancer. When such a lump is not cancer it is called benign and when it is cancerous it is called malignant.
Kids can be Affected with the Following Types of Cancer:
Leukemia As it has been mentioned earlier cancer is rare among kids, still the most common type of cancer kids can get is Leukemia.
It is related to blood and blood forming organs, bone marrow. Bone marrow is where the blood cells start forming. It’s starting point for the blood cells formation.
For kids with cancer, white blood cells start getting formed abnormally in the bone marrow. These white blood cells do not perform their regular function of fighting infection as they themselves are infected.
These infected and ever multiplying white blood cells starts affecting functioning of Red Blood Cells and platelets also. And above all these infected cells multiply and paralyze the entire system. These cancer cells can spread to other parts of the body like the bloodstream, liver, spleen, and lymph nodes.
Are All Leukemia’s the Same?
Contrary to popular perception, no, they are not. Leukemia is classified by the rate at which it progresses. Leukemia afflicts the cells that form blood, starting in the bone marrow.
This cancer is determined by an excess of white blood cells in the body. Any blood-forming cell in the bone marrow can turn into a cancer cell. Once this happens, the leukemia cell does not progress to the usual maturing process. The cells do not die and keep building up, ultimately getting into the bloodstream and then spreading to other parts of the body.
There are chronic leukemia and acute leukemia. Acute leukemia is when the cells of the bone marrow do not properly mature, and keep on reproducing, and accumulating. Known as blasts, these young cells keep dividing unlike the normal cells.
Patients with acute leukemia would not live beyond a few months if they are not properly treated.Again, in certain sub-types of acute leukemia the patient can be cured while for others the outcome is less favorable.
Chronic leukemia is when the cells are abnormal and mature, growing slowly, flourishing and reproducing to accumulate and overcome normal cells. They do not fight infection like normal white blood cells do.
Leukemia is also classified according to the type of bone marrow cells that are involved.
Granulocytes or monocytes being involved means the leukemia is myeloid leukemia, which can be chronic or acute. Lymphoblasts or lymphocytes in the blood marrow lead to lymphocytic leukemia, which also can be chronic or acute.
So The Four Main Types of Leukemia are:
- Acute myeloid leukemia
- Chronic myeloid leukemia
- Acute lymphocytic leukemia
- and chronic lymphocytic leukemia
Generally, with acute leukemia the cells will develop fast and can overrun the body within a few weeks or months, in contrast to chronic leukemia, which grows slowly and becomes increasingly worse over the years. Children develop acute forms of leukemia and these are treated differently from adult acute leukemia.
It is good to have an idea of the different types of leukemia rather than just clubbing them all together as leukemia.
Treatment will differ from one kind to another and from patient to patient especially from adults to children. Some kinds of leukemia require immediate attention as the risk is higher, while others can go through the normal course of treatment. So be aware of what kinds of leukemia there are and discuss it with your physician.
Is it Time to Visit Leukemia Specialist?
When you are feeling unwell in anyway and visit your doctor, the doc will prescribe a course of treatment and wait for you to respond positively to antibiotics. If you don’t and in the mean time your doctor notices certain other symptoms, he/she will refer you to a specialist.
Symptoms of Leukemia
The symptoms or causes that the doctor notices can be one or more from these;
(i) Tiredness, breathlessness, bleeding, repeated infections, bruises etc.
(ii) Doctor refers you to a specialist if you are above 65 and they notice similar symptoms. A person under 60 can also be affected with Acute Leukemia but most cases have been observed where the patient was above 60-65.
(iii) If you’ve had a history of radiation or chemotherapy and you are feeling or showing the symptoms, its time to visit Leukemia Specialist.
(iv) If you or your doctor notices a growth in lymph, armpit or neck it’s time to visit Leukemia Specialist.
(v) If you or your doctor notices an enlarged liver or spleen its time to visit Leukemia Specialist.
(vi) If your doctor observes repeated complaints about any of these symptoms he is likely prescribe medicine course, take tests and then suggest you to visit Leukemia Specialist. These are not alarming signs that need to be attended to immediately but if they persist then second level observations should start.
Diagnose of Leukemia
Prescribing medicines and waiting for the antibiotic to respond is the first normal stage. Second stage is advising blood tests, scans and X-Rays.
Symptoms like fatigue, weight loss, sweating at night, itching sensation in the body, breathlessness, pain the stomach, bleeding, growth of glands, swellings are symptoms which doctors look for before suggesting specialist advice.
You should always keep in mind that existence of above symptoms individually or in combination of others doesn’t necessarily lead to only Leukemia. You may be suffering from everyday simpler ailments also. But if you feel that your doctor is not paying attention that he should you should seek 2nd opinion.
It’s our body and even if we are not able to explain the exact situation we are the best guards of our body. We know when something is wrong. If not then we should learn to develop this awareness in our body. It’s very important for every individual to learn to be aware of one’s body.
Can Your Environment Cause Acute Leukemia?
Leukemia is a type of cancer that affects bone marrow. As a result of being affected with leukemia, the bone marrow starts forming while blood cells that are not normal.
These cells start circulating in the body and weaken immune system. These abnormal white blood cells may start building up in lymph nodes and spleen and can cause swelling. Liver, spinal cord or brain can also be adversely affected by Leukemia.
Leukemia is of two types, Acute Leukemia and Chronic Leukemia. In Acute Leukemia cells divide and spread faster than Chronic Leukemia.
Again Acute Leukemia of two types.
Acute myeloid leukemia: In Acute Leukemia lump of cells may get collected outside the bone marrow and it’s called granulocytic sarcoma. These cells can form in any part of patient’s body.
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia: In this type of Acute Leukemia mass (lump) of leukemia cells form in the middle of the chest, this area is called mediastinum.
Causes of Acute Leukemia
If in your workplace or residential environment you are exposed to benzene for a long period of time you are likely to develop the risk of Acute Leukemia.
1- Smoking – as researchers have found can double your risk of getting Acute Leukemia. There is benzene in cigarette smoke also which can be a major factor.
2- Genetic – You can inherit Acute Leukemia from your parents.
3- Down syndrome in children can cause Acute Leukemia. It fan be hereditary but not necessarily so. Its been observed in many cases that people affected with Acute Leukemia had no family history of cancer.
Some studies have shown that people with family history of breast cancer were more likely and at the risk of getting Acute Leukemia.
4- Exposure to electromagnetic field in the work environment and the radiation – caused by it can also result in Acute Leukemia.
5- A virus called HTLV-1 is also the cause of rare form of Leukemia.
6- Blood disorders and past history of chemotherapy can also cause Acute Leukemia.
There can be many other causes of Acute Leukemia. Chance is on of them. One can get it by chance also without any family history or blood disorder etc.
All we can do is make an effort to keep away from the likely causes and reduce the risk.
