Luekemia is a cancer (malignant disease) of the blood or 'bone marrow', (soft tissue found in the hollow interior of the bone.) It is characterized by the uncontrolled accretion of blood cells, usually white blood cells. The word Luekemia means "white blood", which was derived by luekemia patients' high white blood count. An excessive amount of cells can interfere with other cells which causes a very harmful imbalance of blood count. There are four different categories of luekemia:
* Acute Lymphocytic Luekemia (ALL): This type of Luekemia is a rapidly progressing disease that is the most common type of Luekemia for children. However it does occur in adults, especially those over 65 years of age.
* Chronic Lymphocytic Luekemia (CLL): This type of luekemia (chronic) progresses more slowly than acute and most commonly affect those over 55 years of age. Once in a while will occur in a young adult but very rarely occurs in a child.
* Acute Myelogenous Luekemia (AML): More common to occur in an adult than a child.
* Chronic Myelogenous Luekemia (CML): Occurs mainly in adults and sometimes in children.
Some Statistics to Think About:
* To this day 218,659 people are living with luekemia in the United States.
* Luekemia affects about nine in 100,000 people each year.
* It is expected that 21,790 deaths in the United States are caused by Luekemia.
* Once diagnosed with luekemia, the five year survival rate is 42 percent.
* The estimated numbers of deaths caused by Luekemia in the US are about 30 percent higher for males than females.
* Adults are 10 times more likely to be diagnosed with luekemia than children, especially the elderly.
* About 515 children under the age of 14 are expected to die from Luekemia.
* Children under the age of 4 have a greater chance of developing luekemia than older children.
Symptoms:
Damage to the bone marrow will lead to a deficiency level of blood platelets which is important for blood clotting. This means people with luekemia may have problems with bruising, bleeding excessively, and petechiae. Petechiae is a small red or purple spot on the body caused by a minor hemorrhage. Other common symptoms for those who have Luekemia are:
* Weak immune system
* Anemia
* Fever, chills, and night sweats (flu like).
* Easily fatigued and weak.
* Swollen and bleeding gums.
* Frequent infection
* Bone and joint pain
* Dizziness
* Swollen tonsils
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