Understanding Leukemia : Diagnosis and Treatment

Leukemia Topic Overview

Leukemia is often termed as blood cancer, which is a lethal disease that hampers the proper functioning of certain infection fighting cells inside human body. These are often seen getting developed inside the bone marrow over the central cavities of the bones. With the presence of leukemia the white blood cells fail to get mature to fight the infection inside the body, which in turn bring in issues. At such junctures, you need to treat the same with proper treatment and thus averting issues like bleeding, infections and bruising.

How do I know if I have Leukemia          

When it comes to finding out whether you have this lethal disease or not, you can check a couple of symptoms and signs like fever, night sweats and flu kind of signs along with issues like fatigue and weakness, headaches, bone pain, sudden weight loss, etc to name a few. Once you find these symptoms make sure you go to your doctor’s office to get the blood test done followed by a biopsy, which will give a clear picture of the same. Once the presence of leukemia is confirmed your doctor would suggest the further course of action to do the needful.

Common symptoms Leukemia 

The symptoms of leukemia can include the following conditions, which are as follows

• Fatigue or weakness
• Chills, fever, night sweats and several other flu kinds of signs
• Headaches
• Swollen or bleeding kind of gums
• Enlarged kind of spleen and liver
• Swollen Tonsils
• Bone pain
• Paleness
• Pinhead kind of red spots over your skin
• Sudden weight loss

What are the stages of Leukemia Cancer?          

In adults, there are two basic types of leukemia – the acute and acute myologenous leukemia. The former is not further classified while the latter is categorised by one stage. Then there is another stage called ALL (Adult Acute Lymphocytic) leukemia, which is further divided into three stages – in remission, recurrent and untreated.

Among kids, there three types of stages – high, recurrent and standard risk.

Then you have Chronic Leukemia stages, which is further divided into CML (Chronic myelogonus leukemia) and CLL (chronic lymphocytic leukemia). The former again is divided into two stages – chronic phase and accelerated phase. Finally you have the highest stage of leukemia, which is difficult to treat.

What is the treatment for Leukemia?

When it comes to treatment for Leukemia is concerned, you have the following options, let’s check them out:

• Biological Therapy: is a treatment, which hampers the response of your immune system to cancer. A drug called Interferon is used against leukemia, which come along in a form of biological therapy. This Biological therapy employs the immune system of your body to combat cancer with the help of antibodies to destroy leukemia cells.
• Chemotherapy: One of the popular treatment methods to get rid of the leukemia in our body. This treatment procedure simply helps in destroying cancer cells by simply stopping them from multiplying. Though this treatment option has certain side effects as well but is among the most effective ways of getting rid of the different types/stages of leukemia.
• Radiation Therapy: This therapy is at times employed to treat the leukemia present in the central nervous system or inside the testicles. With the help of high doses radiation in this therapy, the leukemia cells are destroyed, which keep on reproducing all the time.
• Bone marrow transplant: is one of the popular procedures carried out in coordination with the chemotherapy ,which is also one of the effective was of flushing out these cancerous cells.
• Surgery: and lastly, if nothing works, the surgical procedure are also one of the option to kill cancerous cells.

Conclusion        

Leukemia is among the heinous disease one can have, however, if you are encountered, you do not have to panic rather consult a competent doctor and consider the further course of action taken to kill the menace from your body.