Understanding Leukemia – Risk Factors, Symptoms And Treatment

Understanding Leukemia – Risk Factors, Symptoms And Treatment

REINHA.com – Leukemia is a cancer of the blood cells. The disease is characterized by the uncontrolled growth of blood cells, usually white blood cells in the bone marrow. White blood cells are an important component of your blood system. Think of white blood cells as your immunity cells. In a sense, they are continually at war. They flow through your bloodstream to battle viruses, bacteria, and other foreign invaders that threaten your health. When your body is in distress and a particular area is under attack, white blood cells rush in to help destroy the harmful substance and prevent illness. But people with Leukemia affects the production and function of leukocytes or white blood cells in fighting infection, because blood DNA is damaged.

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The causes of leukemia aren’t known. However, several factors have been identified which may increase your risk. The causes of leukemia are internal and external factors.

Internal causes of leukemia are chromosomal abnormalities, pollution exposure, radiation exposure, and smoking are some of the things that can be risk factors. In addition, other changes in white blood cells due to gene factors and the environment are also thought to contribute to leukemia. While the external factors causing leukemia include exposure to radiation, pollution, or certain dangerous chemicals. Get used to living a healthy lifestyle and reduce smoking will not to increase the risk of leukemia.

Signs and symptoms of leukemia vary.

They may include :

1. being tired all the time
2. weight loss
3. having fevers or chills
4. getting frequent infections
5. excessive sweating, especially at night
6. bone pain and tenderness
7. painless, swolen lymph nnnodes (especially in the neck and armpits)
8. enlargement of the liver or spleen
9. red spots on the skin, called petechiae
10. Bleeding easily and bruising easily

The type of leukemia itself is seen through microscopic examination of the bone marrow, whether the type of lymphoblastic leukemia or myeloblastic. This examination can also determine whether patients with leukemia are categorized as acute or chronic.

1. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia
   How to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has 3 steps consisting of the stages of induction, consolidation, and maintenance.
   • Leukemia induction therapy is the stage to kill leukemia cells in the blood and bone marrow. Treatment for this stage includes chemotherapy and corticosteroids. Induction usually lasts 4 weeks and is done in a hospital.
   • How to treat leukemia is by consolidation therapy to kill leukemia cells that may still remain. If the cells are left, these cells can grow back and can recur. Treatment includes chemotherapy and maybe a bone marrow transplant.
   • Leukemia maintenance therapy is a method of treatment to prevent the remaining leukemic cells from growing. This can be done using lower chemotherapy doses than those used during induction or consolidation. Chemotherapy is given with oral medications and intravenous (IV) injections. Maintenance therapy is carried out for 3 consecutive years
2. Leukemia mieloblastik akut
   Treatment of acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML) is based on the genetic makeup of normal myeloid cells. The treatment plan usually has 2 steps which include induction of remission and post-remission therapy.
   • Remission therapy is the treatment of leukemia to kill leukemia cells in the blood and bone marrow. Chemotherapy is given to patients by treating intravenous (IV) injections. Induction usually lasts 4 weeks, followed 3 weeks later for bone marrow recovery.
   • Post-remission therapy is done to kill leukemia cells that may exist even if they are not detected. This therapy can be in the form of additional chemotherapy or bone marrow transplant.
3. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)
   For chronic lymphocytic leukemia therapy :
   • Radiation therapy. This can be used to treat swollen lymph glands due to too many abnormal lymphocytes.
   This method is a combination of leukemia drugs, including monoclonal antibodies. When CLL does not respond to treatment, or if the relapse returns after the patient has subsided for some time, how to treat leukemia like this is with more chemotherapy or bone marrow transplant.
4. Chronic myeloblastic leukemia (CML)
   The most common choice of leukemia drugs for this type of disease includes:
   • Target terapi dengan inhibitor tyrosine kinase. Ini adalah pengobatan pertama kali digunakan untuk CML.
   • Bone marrow transplant. Before a transplant can be done, chemotherapy or radiation is used to destroy bone marrow activity.

The long-term outlook for people who have leukemia depends on the type of cancer they have and their stage at diagnosis. The sooner leukemia is diagnosed and the faster it’s treated, the better the chance of recovery. Some factors, like older age, past history of blood disorders, and chromosome mutations, can negatively affect the outlook.

# Understanding Leukemia – Risk Factors, Symptoms And Treatment