White blood is the historical name for leukemia, which is a serious blood disease that often leads to death.
This ailment does not know age restrictions and mercilessly affects both adults and infants. Consider why there is
bleeding, symptoms, treatment of this disease.
Essence of the disease
Leukemia causes changes in the white cells (leukocytes) contained in the blood, both in a quantitative aspect (their number is growing very rapidly) and in a qualitative one (they stop performing their functions). In a healthy person, platelets, white blood cells and red blood cells form in the bone marrow. A patient with leukemia in the blood significantly increases the number of blasts - immature pathologically altered cells that inhibit the growth of healthy cells. At a certain moment, there are so many blasts that they, not being placed in the bone marrow, penetrate the blood circulation, and from there to various organs. That is why white blood is an ailment that often ends in death.
Causes
At present, it has not been possible to find out what specifically provokes a mutation of blood cells. However, bleeding is a disease, the most common cause of which is a genetic predisposition. Scientists have proved that if the family had patients with leukemia, then this ailment will certainly manifest itself in their children, grandchildren or great-grandchildren. In addition, chromosomal abnormalities in the parents of the child can cause the disease, which include Turner, Blum and Down syndromes.
Leukemia medicines and certain chemicals used in everyday life (pesticides and benzene, for example) can give rise to bleeding. The leukemogenic drugs include Butadion, chloramphenicol, cytostatics, penicillin group antibiotics , as well as drugs used in chemotherapy.
It has been reliably established that one of the factors causing bleeding is radiation exposure. Even with the smallest doses of radiation, there is a risk of developing this ailment.
Various infectious and viral diseases are also capable of provoking the development of bleeding . The largest number of patients with leukemia are carriers of HIV infection.
Symptoms of bleeding
At the initial stage, the manifestation of leukemia is more like a cold. It is important to listen to your well-being and timely recognize this ailment, which is characterized by the following symptoms:
- The patient experiences malaise and weakness. He constantly wants to sleep, or, conversely, the dream completely disappears.
- A violation of brain activity occurs: the patient with great difficulty remembers what is happening around him and is not able to concentrate even on the simplest things.
- Bruises appear under the eyes, the skin turns pale.
- Even the most minor wounds do not heal for a long time, bleeding from the gums and nose can be observed.
- For no reason, the temperature rises, which for a long time can be held at 37.6º.
- The patient is disturbed by minor pain in the bones.
- Over time, there is an increase in lymph nodes, spleen and liver.
- A person has a heartbeat, fainting and dizziness are possible. The disease proceeds with increased sweating.
- Often there are colds that last longer than usual, there is an exacerbation of chronic ailments.
- The desire to eat food disappears, as a result of which the patient begins to rapidly lose weight.
Treatment features
With a diagnosis of "white blood" (symptoms, treatment and prognosis of which depend on the specific type of leukemia) , necessary measures are urgently needed. Acute leukemia requires emergency treatment, due to which it is possible to stop the rapid growth of leukemia cells. Sometimes it is possible to achieve remission. Chronic leukemia before the stage of remission is extremely rarely cured, and the use of certain therapy is necessary to monitor the course of the disease.
Treatment methods
If a person is diagnosed with bleeding, treatment of the disease may include the following main methods.
Chemotherapy
The appropriate type of medication is used, when exposed to which it is possible to destroy cancer cells.
Radiation therapy or radiotherapy
The use of certain radiation can not only destroy cancer cells, but also reduce the lymph nodes, spleen or liver, the increase of which occurred against the background of the processes of the disease in question.
Stem cell transplantation
This procedure allows you to restore the production of healthy cells and at the same time improve the functioning of the body's immune system. Radiotherapy or chemotherapy can precede transplantation, with the help of which it is sometimes easy to destroy a certain number of bone marrow cells, weaken the immune system and make room for stem cells. It is worth noting that weakening of immunity is of great importance, since otherwise the immune system may begin to reject cells transplanted to the patient. Red blood disease is a deadly disease, the treatment of which must be taken as seriously as possible. With the timely adoption of appropriate measures, a full recovery can be achieved.