Leukemia essays

Leukemia essays Leukemia is one of the most deadly forms of cancer known today. For some reason it doesn't get the amount of media attention other forms of cancer. For example, if someone has breast cancer they are much more likely to survive than a person diagnosed with an acute or chronic leukemia. I think the reason for that is because they are making much more progress on treating breast cancer then on the treatment of leukemia. There are many different types of symptoms associated with leukemia. Many of the symptoms make the person fell as if they have the flu. Many people don't go to the doctor until their leukemia is in much more advanced stages because they think they have a bad case of the flu. This greatly reduces the patient's chances of survival. The most apparent symptoms of leukemia are weakness or chronic fatigue, fever of unknown origin, weight loss that is not due to dieting or exercise, frequent bacterial or viral infections, headaches, skin rashes, nonspecific bone pain, easy bruising, bleeding from the gums or nose, blood in urine or stools, enlarged lymph node and/or spleen, abdominal fullness, and petechiae. Petechiae is the sudden appearance of small red marks on the skin. There are many different types of treatments for leukemia. The most effective treatment is chemotherapy. Bone marrow transplants are also helpful in treating leukemia. Unfortunately it is had to find a donor with the same blood type, (it usually has to be a close relative) little over half of the people that receive them survive for more than three years. Various anti-cancer drugs are used many times in combination with chemotherapy. The drugs are often antioxidants. These antioxidants stop the dividing of the cells and so the number of white blood cells goes down. There are a large number of alternative treatments to choose from. There are traditional Chinese medicine, juice therapy, homeopathy, acupuncture, meditation, gigong ...