Leukemia is often thought of as a children’s disease but the truth is that it affects adults more. It is more common in men than in women. There’s nothing much one could do to prevent leukemia. It is the cancer of blood cells caused by a rise in the number of white blood cells. The extra white blood cells actually don’t work quite right and rather cause problems. Leukemia cells cannot fight infection the way normal white blood cells would have, so they start affecting major organs.

Types
Leukemia can be grouped in two ways depending on:

• How fast it develops.
• Which type of blood cell is involved.

Causes
One cannot tell the exact cause of leukemia. People have certain abnormal chromosomes but the chromosomes do not cause leukemia. There are certain things in the environment which could definitely trigger the development of it.

• For example, if one is a tobacco smoker or a tobacco chewer, they may be more prone to certain types of leukemia than non-smokers.
• It is also related to the amount of radiation exposure and certain chemicals.
• There is also a possibility that some kinds of chemotherapy used to treat cancers and radiation exposure to certain chemicals can actually trigger this disease.
• Family history is also a risk factor which leads to this deadly disease. If an identical twin develops leukemia then there is more than 20% chance that the other one would also develop this within a year.

Symptoms
Many symptoms of leukemia do not show up in the early stages but eventually, they do. These symptoms may include.

• Anemia and related symptoms such as fatigue, pallor, and a general feeling of illness and tiredness.
• Certain tendency to bleed or bruise very easily and often. Bleeding from the gums or nose, or blood in the stool or urine.
• Deadly infections such as a sore throat or bronchial pneumonia, which may be accompanied by a severe headache, fever, mouth sores, skin rash, swollen lymph nodes, swollen armpits, and swollen groins.
• No or less appetite and sudden loss of weight.
• A person might be feeling some discomfort in the left lower ribs which is dramatically caused by a swollen spleen.
• A person having very high white blood cell count may suffer from visual problems due to retinal hemorrhage, and ringing of the ears, prolonged erection, stroke and also their mental status might get disrupted or change.
• Getting frequent infections and having fevers or chills.
• Poor blood clotting is also a vital symptom to look for.

Leukemia happens when the DNA of blood cells, or to be more precise, immature blood cells grow and divide continuously so that there are too many of it. The abnormal blood cells do not die when they should have. Thus, they accumulate and occupy too much space. The population of bad cells outnumbers the good cells, stopping the healthy WBCs from growing and functioning normally, by filling or crowding the space in blood.

So, if you experience any symptom of leukemia as discussed above, consult a medical practitioner today. An early diagnosis can save your life.