Leukemia is a disfunction of the bone marrow stem that over produces white blood cells which generally infiltrate into other organs spreading the disease to the liver, nervous system, spleen and other organ tissues.
Leukemia is a group of blood diseases characterized by cancer of the blood forming tissues. It was discovered in Europe during the XIX century when a group of doctors directed by John Hughes Bennett tested their patients and discovered their elevated number of white blood cells. It was then called “white blood” and later was named leukemia from the words greek words “leukos” (white) and “hemia” (blood).
Leukemia is a disfunction of the bone marrow stem that over produces white blood cells which generally infiltrate into other organs spreading the disease to the liver, nervous system, spleen and other organ tissues. The production of white blood cells affect the blood clotting process which means patients who suffer leukemia may present abnormal bleeding or brusing. The white blood cells over produce during the disease are dysfunctional and have a lack of defensive capacity which makes the body vulnerable for infection and finally the red blood cells deficit produces anemia. There are other symptoms presented before the disease is spread through other parts of the body like : fever, weakness, fatigue, loss of appetite, headache, paralysis, seizures, bone or joint pain. There are two types of leukemia : myelogenous or granulocytic and lympathic. This terms are divided depending on the types of blood cells involved in the disease (lymphoid cells or myeloid cells). The main forms of leukemia are :
