How dangerous is leukemia?
Leukaemia is cancer of the blood cells. These usually arise in the bone marrow. The cancerous cells multiply in the bone marrow and gradually replace the normal cells there. This affects normal production of the blood cells. In addition, the rapidly multiplying cancer cells utilise a lot of the nutrients available in the body leaving very little for normal functions. Once these cells spill out of the bone marrow and come into the blood, they can also affect the functioning of other organs. Leukaemia will also cause reduced immunity by affecting production of normal white blood cells.
There are different kinds of leukaemia. Each subtype of leukaemia has a different severity and prognosis. Further, the stage of the disease will also affect whether it can be cured or not. The patient will need to undergo several tests to determine the type of leukaemia and the stage of the disease. Only then will the doctor be able to discuss treatment and prognosis.
No comments:
Post a Comment