Acute leukemia Acute leukemia is a rapidly developing form of cancer, in which leukocytes that undergo pathological changes accumulate in the bone marrow and in the blood. In children, most often acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and in adults - acute granulocyte. In the lymphoblastic form of the disease, leukocytes with pathologies appear in the lymph nodes or bone marrow, and in the granulocyte they are produced in the bone marrow. Regardless of which symptoms have acute leukemia, treatment should begin with a diagnosis. Moreover, the causes are still unknown, and there are only certain assumptions that point to the risk of developing the disease due to genetic abnormalities, diseases of the immune system. In addition, it is assumed that leukemia can appear from a high dose of chemicals and radiation that suppress the creation of blood in the bone marrow. Next, you should consider the symptoms of leukemia, because it is their timely detection often helps to save health and even a person's life from this most dangerous disease.

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Acute Leukemia Causes

Symptoms of acute leukemia

The most common symptoms include those that are typical for influenza( fever, weakness in muscles, etc.), as well as an increase in lymph nodes in the liver and spleen, bone pain. If you consider the symptoms that are characteristic most often for leukemia, then it is appropriate to say about increased bleeding and the tendency to bruising. Bleeding causes red and purple spots on the skin. Another symptom is susceptibility to frequent infection with various infections and a constantly progressive weakness of the body.

Now it is necessary to pass to the symptoms that arise in the complications of leukemia.

Acute leukemia symptoms So, acute leukemia, whose treatment is more or less obvious, can very often become much more complicated. More often complications arise suddenly, and if the adult person can still foresee them, then they can literally arise from the child from nowhere. First the symptom is similar to a cold or flu, but suddenly in a couple of days the symptoms progress, the person's condition worsens very much and the blood undergoes pathological changes. Acute leukemia is an extremely dangerous disease, because, in the absence of timely treatment, a patient can lose all the main results of the vital processes of the organism in a very fast time, and the outcome of the disease may well become lethal. Measures for preventing leukemia do not exist, but acute leukemia can be prevented, the symptoms of which a person can still identify and consult a doctor without delaying this procedure for a minute. Best of all, when an experienced oncologist is engaged in treatment, who has already treated this type of disease. The treatment of the disease is very long and most often reaches two years. During this period, you should maintain your vitality, because radiation and antitumor therapy cause a person to feel nausea and weakness. The probability of recovery is higher the earlier the patient turned to the doctor.

Treatment of acute leukemia

Acute leukemia treatment Before the treatment of leukemia, the doctor must determine whether certain symptoms are associated with this disease or some type of it-that treatment depends on it. After all, each of the two aforementioned varieties of leukemia is treated in its own way, and even the same symptoms as leukemia can be caused by some infectious disease or anemia. Cells that are characteristic of leukemia can be found in the blood and bone marrow, and if they are found there further diagnosis is required in order to schedule a treatment program directly. Acute leukemia in humans is found when each of several blood tests shows a pathological increase in the level of leukocytes. The correct diagnosis is very important, so after it is established, biopsy of the bone marrow is carried out to confirm it. If she also indicates acute leukemia, treatment can not be postponed. It is characterized by chemotherapy with various combinations of antitumor drugs. The goal of the treatment is the destruction of tumor cells.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children Such antitumor drugs may have a very different dosage, and the dose depends on its careful determination during the assays. It is calculated mathematically according to the percentage of tumor cells in the body, so that they are destroyed, and healthy cells are not harmed in any way. The first phase of treatment is induction therapy, during which four to six weeks passes in the most intensive treatment. This stage of therapy usually causes remission of the disease, but if the therapy does not continue, the remission will be temporary. During the second phase of treatment there is a fixing chemotherapy, in which pathological cells that are still in the body are destroyed. The patient takes medications that level out the possible resistance of the body to the effect of therapy. It lasts usually two, sometimes even three years. During the first phase, very many patients remain in the hospital and are doing the right thing, because there is a high risk of infection and severe bleeding. Preparations taken during the first phase, reduce the production of leukocytes, and this can lead to poor health. You may also need repeated blood transfusions.

A very important part of the treatment that can sometimes be required is bone marrow transplantation. In this complex procedure, all cells are destroyed by irradiation, and then new cells are introduced into the bone marrow together with healthy cells. To prevent the invasion of tumor cells from the bone marrow, it follows with the help of radiotherapy. In our time, the treatment of acute leukemia is increasingly successful, because medicine at this stage is developing very well. In ninety percent of cases, remission of the disease is achieved, and approximately four out of five survive even untimely treatment.