English Diary for Gia Bao

What is Leukemia? I pray for all of you that you will never see or use this word to your beloved ones. So lucky if you haven't heard of it.

It's a type of blood cancer. It's when you blood be come "white". What is the normal color? It's red, the color of health & strength. How may it turn white? Actually it's not white and never has that
color.

Human blood contains of 2 components: blood cells and plasma (the fluids to carry cells all over body). Blood cells consist of red cells, white cells and platelets. Red cells make up a major number while white cells & platelets relatively small amount. It's normal. If, one day, the number of white cells increases to a certain level, you might have "white blood" or leukemia (obviously it's abnormal, right?).

The leukemia patient therefore may experience some of the symptoms or signs of particular blood cell shortages. For example, red blood cell loss would lead to fatigue and pallor (anemia), white blood cell loss would lead to repeated infections, and platelet loss would lead to red skin blotches, numerous bruises, and nose bleeds. This explains why leukemia results in anemia, bleeding and infections.

The causes of leukemia and related blood disorders are not definitely known. However, a few factors do appear to affect its development.

• Genetic Factors
  Down’s syndrome children have an increased risk of developing acute leukemia, as do children with some other rare chromosomal abnormalities. Genetic factors rarely play a role in the development of chronic leukemia.

• Radiation
  Leukemia occurs at higher than average rates among people exposed to intense radiation. These include survivors of the nuclear bomb explosions in Japan; people exposed to radiation after the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster in the Ukraine; and people who received large amounts of radiation necessary for the treatment of certain medical conditions in the past. No well designed study has ever shown a relationship between leukemia and power lines.

• Chemicals
  Workers exposed to benzene have an increased risk of developing acute leukemia. Some types of cytotoxic drugs used in organ transplant patients and cancer treatments also increase the risk of developing leukemia.

• Viruses
  In certain areas of the world, such as south-west Japan, parts of Africa and the Caribbean, a particular type of leukemia can be spread among local residents by a virus known as Human T-cell Leukemia Virus (HTLV).

These risk factors account for only a part of the cause of leukemia in an individual patient and account for a very small number of all leukemia cases. In most cases the cause remains unknown. Having one or more of these factors does not mean that you will definitely develop leukemia. If you are concerned about any of these factors you should talk to your doctor.