What is leukemia?

Leukemia or blood cancer is a disease of unknown cause where the bone marrow produces large numbers of abnormal cells. This means that the normal marrow is pushed into smaller and smaller areas, which results in fewer cells being produced and leads to some of the symptoms listed below. These is call the Yin's Kidney de-efficiency. We divide them into many types of leukemia and each of them is classified according to the exact cell type affected by the disease. Chronic leukemia is a slowly progressive form of leukemia and tends to involve more mature cell types.

Acute leukemia is rapidly progressive if not treated and involves more immature cells. It develops rapidly from the earliest forms of cells in the immature bone marrow cells (blasts). It requires urgent medical treatment. Acute leukemia is a rare disease that is more common in children and young people. However, their survival rate is better than in older people.

Leukemia acute symptoms are:

- Sudden appearance of symptoms.
- An unnaturally pale and yellow complexion (anemia).
- Fatigue, tired.
- Pain in the joints. Sometimes mistaken for growing pains for children.
- Frequent infections, such as sore throats.
- Nosebleeds and bruising easily, often without any kind of injury.

If any of the above symptoms develop, it is advisable to consult a doctor or have a blood test.

Most leukemia can be diagnosed by blood tests at the beginning stage. Commonly, the acute leukemia cell (blasts) can be seen circulating in the blood. A bone marrow test will also be performed to diagnose the type of cells involved.

Some that have try Chemotherapy that kills all fast dividing cells and this includes killing the normal body cells as well as cancer cells. The blood counts may drop, making the patient vulnerable to infection and bleeding. This generally means that the patient has to remain in hospital for weeks following chemotherapy. Blood transfusions are likely to be given during this vulnerable and dangerous period.

Chemotherapy can lead to hair loss, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, these is causing the high damage in the kidney's "Yin". The side effects are too drastic and many cannot continue or take it.

Leukemia (blood cancer) is a disease where the bone marrow produces large numbers of abnormal cells. This means that the normal marrow is pushed into smaller and smaller areas. This results in fewer normal cells being produced and gives rise to some of the symptoms. There are many types of leukemia, each of which is classified according to the exact cell type affected by the disease.

Chronic leukemia is a slowly progressive form of leukemia and tends to involve more mature cell types.

The cause of leukemia is unknown.

Sometimes chronic leukemia is undetected for months or even years.
The symptoms are varied, but many people notice:
- tiredness (due to anemia)
- bruising easily without injury.
- repeated infections
- enlarged lymph glands
- weight loss
- night sweats
- fever.

Chronic lymphocytes leukemia (CLL) is the commonest type of leukemia with 3000 to 4000 new cases diagnosed each year in the UK. It is a form of chronic leukemia characterised by an increased number of lymphocytes in the blood. It is rarely found in people under the age of 40 and is twice as common in men then in women. There are no obvious causes for Chronic lymphocytes leukemia (CLL).

Usually is being diagnosed by chance when blood tests are being performed for other reasons.

Although a blood test may give us the diagnosis, a bone marrow test is usually done to confirm the diagnosis. Special tests are performed on these samples to help classify the leukemia as this will influence the kind of Leukemia treatment required.