What Is Leukemia ?
Leukemia is a condition in which the body's blood cells and blood forming tissues become malignant and cancerous. Normally the bone marrow produces the white blood cells that are essential in fighting off infections and bacteria that enter the body. However when an individual has leukemia, the bone marrow starts behaving erratically and produces a huge number of white blood cells that keep growing and growing in size. These abnormal cells are referred to as leukemia cells and due to their continuous growth and abnormal productio, they can soon crowd out the healthy blood cells causing bleeding, swelling and other infections.
What Are The Symptoms ?
Typical symptoms of leukemia include fever, tiredness, weight loss, headaches, gum bleeding or rectal bleeding, swelling of the lymph nodes, reduced appetite and pain in the bones and joints. Read more about leukemia symptoms
How Is Leukemia Treated ?
The method of treatment of leukemia would depend on a number of factors such as the health of the individual as well as the type of leukemia. Procedures such as chemotherapy, kinase inhibitors, stem cell transplantation, biological therapy, radiation therapy and drugs may be used to treat leukemia.
