Complete Health News » Leukemia http://completehealthnews.org Fri, 13 Apr 2012 09:50:20 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 Childhood Leukemia http://completehealthnews.org/childhood-leukemia/ http://completehealthnews.org/childhood-leukemia/#comments Fri, 21 May 2010 12:29:59 +0000 admin http://completehealthnews.org/childhood-leukemia/
When the white blood cells in your system have cancer it is called Leukemia. As this disease progresses, it will hinder the production of other blood cells and this will involve the platelets and red blood cells. The result of this will be anemia, which is low numbers of red blood cells.  This can cause bleeding problems because the platelets needed for clotting are in low numbers and bleeding will be hard to control.  There is also a higher risk of infection because of the abnormal white cells.
Symptoms of leukemia in children can be seen as more than normal infections and fevers.  They can also bruise very easily and have  frequent nosebleeds. If they get a cut or bad scrape, it can bleed longer than it should because there is a lack of the clot forming platelets.  Children with leukemia will look pale and they can tire easily also.  They might complain of joint or bone pain and a limp can then be noticed. Their appetite will be poor and they will feel tired a lot. They can also show symptoms of leukemia such as swollen lymph nodes that are located in the groin, neck or other places on the body.
There can be leukemia to the brain which causes seizures, headaches, abnormal vision and trouble with their balance. These symptoms will be found in about twelve percent of all kids with leukemia. The diagnosis will be given after a physical exam where the doctor will look for abnormal bleeding, infection, anemia or swollen lymph nodes.  The doctor will also check for an enlarged spleen or liver and he will ask your about your medical history. This will include any medications that you are taking, the health of the family and if you have any allergies. Next will be the blood test that will tell him the blood count. This count will give a number for red cells, white cells and platelets in your child’s blood. A technician will have a sample to look at under a microscope to see if there are any abnormal blood cells and this is typical for patients with leukemia. To discover the type of leukemia that is present, a bone marrow or lymph node sample will be needed. If any painful procedures must be done, your child will be given anaesthesia or a sedative so that they experience no pain while it is being done. 
 
]]> http://completehealthnews.org/childhood-leukemia/feed/ 0 Transplants for Leukemia http://completehealthnews.org/transplants-for-leukemia/ http://completehealthnews.org/transplants-for-leukemia/#comments Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:51:52 +0000 admin http://completehealthnews.org/?p=18 Transplants for Leukemia

On average, as those who undergo the more invasive procedure of having a bone marrow transplant, leukemia patients who have blood stem cell transplants survive just as long, scientists say. Suggesting that for some the benefit of the complex treatment is greater in the long run, patients with acute forms the blood cancer appear to do better if they have bone marrow as opposed to blood stem cell transplants.
A procedure in which the patient must have a general anesthetic and surgery, bone marrow transplants involve the collection of stem cells from the bone marrow. But, avoiding some of the complications of bone marrow collection, stem cells are collected from blood in peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT).
Berlin, German, researchers from the Charite Medicine University looked at survival rates in 329 patients. These patients were from 42 transplant centers from 13 European countries and Australia and Israel, and they all received PBSCT or a bone marrow transplant. They said in the study published in the Lancet Oncology medical journal, “they found notable differences in survival in patients with acute leukemia’s.”

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