Leukemia IntroductiontoLeukemia:Therearefourmaintypesofleukemiathatvarybasedontreatmentmethodsandtheirresponsivenesstothetreatment.Theyare:

• AcuteMyeloidLeukemia.• AcuteLymphocyticLeukemia.• ChronicMyeloidLeukemia.• ChronicLymphocyticLeukemia.

Leukemiasymptomscanvaryfromonepatienttoanother,butgenerally,mostpatientswillexperienceoneormoreofthefollowingsymptoms:

• Fever• Nightsweats• Frequentinfections• Weightloss• Headaches• Jointpain• Hemorrhage• Skinbruising• Swollenlymphnodes• Extremefatigue

Causes:Scientistsdonotyetunderstandtheexactcausesofleukemia.Itseemstodevelopfromacombinationofgeneticandenvironmentalfactors.However,thistypeofcancerisnothereditary. Riskfactors: Thefollowingfactorsmayincreasetheriskofdevelopingleukemia:

• Exposuretohighenergyradiationfromanatomicbomboranuclearpowerplant.

• Exposuretocertainchemicals,suchasbenzeneorformaldehyde. • Blooddisorders. • Exposuretochemotherapyorradiationtherapy. • GeneticdisorderssuchasDownsyndrome. • Sometypesofvirusescancausetumors,suchasthehepatitisBvirusandtheHIVvirus.

• Familyhistoryofleukemia,butthisisveryrare. Diagnosis:Todiagnoseleukemia,doctorsusecertaindiagnostictestsandprocedures,suchas:

• Physicalexamination:Doctorsexaminethelymphnodes,spleenandlivertocheckifthereisanyswelling.

• Bloodtests:Bloodtestsdeterminethenumberofbloodcellsandplatelets.Theyarealsousedtoidentifyanyabnormalitiesinthebloodcells.

• Bonemarrowbiopsytocheckforcancercells.• Genetictestingtoexaminethegeneticmaterialinthebonemarrow,bloodcellsandlymphnodes.

• Lumbarpuncture(spinaltap):tocollectcerebrospinalfluidanddetectanycancercellsinanotherfluidthatsurroundsthebrainandspinalcord.

Whatarethetreatmentoptionsforleukemia?Leukemiatreatmentmethodsdependonseveralbasicfactors,likeage,overallhealth,typeofleukemiaandwhetherornotithasspreadtootherpartsofthebody.Commontreatmentsusedtofightleukemiainclude:

• Chemotherapy.• Radiationtherapy.• Stemcelltransplant,whichreplacesthecellsthatweredamagedduringradiationtherapyandchemotherapy.

• Immunotherapy:thistypeoftreatmentisgiventoenhancethebody'simmunity.

Prevention:Lessexposuretoradiation,chemicalsandviralinfectionsmayreducetheriskofleukemia. Copingwiththedisease:

• Thepatientcanbettercopewiththediseaseandovercomethetreatmentstagebycommunicatingandcooperatingwiththemedicalteam.Thiscanbeachievedthroughgettingasmuchinformationaboutleukemiaaspossiblebeforemakinganydecisionsaboutyourhealth.Askingyourdoctoraboutthetypeofleukemiayouhaveandallavailabletreatmentoptionsyouhaveinordertoincreaseyourconfidenceinyourdecisionsaboutthetreatment.

• Donothesitatetoaskforsupportfromfriendsandfamilysoyoucangettheassistancethatyouneedduringboththedifferentstagesoftreatment,andifyoufaceanycomplications.

• Discussyourconcernsandfearswithyourdoctororclosefriendsandfamilymembersandaskfortheiradviceregardingyourcurrentsituation.

• Seekhelpandconsultationfromasocialworker.• SpendtimereadingQuranandsupplicatingorreadsomeusefulbooks.

Clinical Health Education Department

For more information, please contact us by email Hpromotion@moh.gov.sa