Leukemia Causes - Symptoms - Treatments

Leukemia is cancer of white blood cells. It starts in the bone marrow in the soft tissue inside most bones where platelets, red blood cells, and white blood cells are made. When the bone marrow makes to many white blood cells they are released into the blood stream thisis regarded as an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells. Leukemia is a broad term and covers a variety of diseases in detail. Theirregular white blood cells are termed leukemic cells. Unlike normal blood cells, leukemic cells do not die when they should a process called apoptosis. The irregular white blood cells may also horde out normal white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets in the blood as wellas making it hard for normal blood cells to do their work in the body causing serious problems such as anemia, bleeding, and infections.

Finding out that a person has leukemia can be a terrible surprise. It may help to learn all about the type of leukemia and its treatment, this will help a person make the best choices and know what to expect. Talk to other people or families who have faced this disease. Ask a doctor about support groups in the area. Also a person can go on the Internet and find stories of people who have leukemia.

There are several different types of leukemia. In general, leukemia is grouped by how fast it gets worse and what kind of white blood cell it affects. Acute leukemia gets worse very fast and may make people feel sick right away. Chronic leukemia gets worse slowly and may not cause symptoms for years. The leukemia may be lymphocytic; lymphocytic also entitled lymphoblastic leukemia, affects white blood cells called lymphocytes. Myelogenous leukemia affects white blood cells called myelocytes. In summary, the four main types of leukemia include Acute lymphoblastic leukemia or ALL, Acute myelogenous leukemia or AML,Chronic lymphocytic leukemia or CLL, and Chronicmyelogenous leukemia or CML. In children, the most common leukemia is acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Childhood leukemia's also include acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and other myeloid leukemias, such as chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML). In adults, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) are the most common leukemias.

Causes for Leukemia

Experts do not yet know what causes leukemia but say that different leukemia's have different causes. The following are either known causes, or strongly suspected causes. Artificial ionizing radiation, Viruses such as HTLV-1 (human T-lymphotropic virus) and HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), Benzene and some petrochemicals, Alkylating chemotherapy agents used in previous cancers, Maternal fetal transmission, Hair dyes Genetic predisposition- some studies researching family history and looking at twins have indicated that some people have a higher risk of developing leukemia because of a single gene or