leukemia1
According to the Cancer Book from the American Cancer Society, Leukemia is a cancer of the blood. It was first identified as a new disease in around 1830 in Germany. The scientific term, "leukemia," comes from the Greek words that mean "white blood." The disease is described as a cancerous disorder not just of the blood itself, but also of the organs that produce the blood cells in the body. The organs are mainly the bone marrow and the lymph system, where normal red and white cells, lymph cells, and platelets grow before entering the bloodstream. Normal cells usually go through the same process but with differences in rate, number, and function ability. With the disease, the bone marrow will not be able to produce the sufficient levels of red blood cells and platelets, while the white blood cells will produce so rapidly that the cells will not become mature enough to fight off infections. As the disease progresses, the whole blood system will become useless due to the vast amount of immature cells produced. If a person with the disease is not treated, there will be excessive bleeding and infections until the body reaches the point where it becomes defenseless. The body will make minor injury or infection very seri
The book further explained the causes of leukemia, and it says the hereditary causes of the disease are still far form being fully understood. There are chances that close relatives of leukemia patients have a risk of getting the disease. The greatest possibility is found in the identical twin of a child who has the acute leukemia before the age of eight: "Approximately 20 percent of these individuals will develop the disease within one year of their twin's diagnosis" (379). This shows that genetics are playing an important role in the disease. But whether heredity is also involved in all cases is still an unanswered question. ous. Leukemia itself does not always kill people. Instead, people die from infections such as small virus or bacteria because there are not enough normal white blood cells in the body. Also, people could die form internal bleeding, which could have been prevented by the platelets. Leukemia appears more commonly in adults then children. A survey in 1989 stated that approximately 25,000 new cases of the disease are diagnosed annually in the United States, 22,500 of them are adults and only 2,500 are children. It also shows that men are affected by leukemia 30 percent more frequently than women. Ten years ago, about 17,000 people die from the disease each year. Many of the advanced industrial nations have increased the study of leukemia since the 1930s. the skin, lung, or urinary tract, but it also may be due directly to the leukemia In the Cancer Book, the information shows that the first treatment for all types of leukemia is chemotherapy. The purpose of this treatment is to destroy the lurkemic cells in the bone marrow. But at the same time, the normal cells are being destroyed. It is hoping that the destruction of the leukemic cells will let the body develop the bone marrow with new and healthy cells. Patients will receive combination of chemotherapeutic drugs. It depends on the types of leukemia the patients carry; a completed remission is possible in 50 to 90 percent of patients. The chemotherapy protocol is divided into three stages-induction, consolidation, and maintenance: "During the induction stage, the patient receives intensive chemotherapy in an attempt to induce a complete remission. The largest number of leukemic cells are destroyed at this time" (384). When the first remission is completed, the consolidation stage will take place: "The purpose of this stage is to eliminate any remaining leukemic eliminate any remaining leukemic cells" (384). The consolidation stage primarily uses the same drugs as in the induction stage. Both of the stages last about 2 to 3 months, depending on the patient's response to the treatment. If the remission is succeed, the patient will enter the maintenance stage: "It is designed to keep the patient in remission by preventing leukemic cells from returning to the bone marrow" (384). This stage will provide treatment to the patients while they can maintain a near-normal life style. The Cancer Book further states that if leukemia is confirmed, different types of study will be performed: "Immunologic tissue typing, blood typing, coagulation and transfusion studies will be done. This information is most valuable if acquired before transfusions have made it difficult to test the properties of the patient's own blood" (382). Bone transplantation is dependent on the tissue typing. Brothers and sisters of the sick patient are strongly suggested to tissue typing because they will have a greater chance of success in the bone marrow transplantation.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2769
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)
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