One form of cancer is blood cancer, also known as leukaemia. This
blood cancer caused when the white blood cells of the body over
produce. The white blood cells are part of the immune system and play
a large in dealing with foreign “invaders” to the body, such as
bacteria and other viruses. When someone has blood cancer, the
person’s bone marrow makes way too much white blood cells of abnormal
nature, affecting the person’s bone marrow and ability to fight off
infections.
Blood cancer can be broken down into two
types. The first type of blood cancer is chronic leukaemia, which is a
slowly progressive type of blood cancer that usually affects more
mature blood cells. Some symptoms of chronic leukaemia include
tiredness, which is brought on my anemia, bruising, which happens
frequently and is not usually caused by a fall, many infections,
swollen lymph nodes, and weight loss. This form of blood cancer
usually develops over time and can occur for a while before a person
even feels any symptoms. This type of blood cancer can usually be
treated through chemotherapy with can be given in caplet form.
The
second, most common, form of blood cancer is called chronic lymphocytic
leukaemia, or CLL. This form of blood cancer is diagnosed in about
4000 people in the UK every year. This form of blood cancer affects a
certain group of white blood cells, called lymphocytes, which creates a
weakened immune system within the patient. This disease is usually
found in people between the ages of 40 and 65, and primarily is found
in men. Symptoms of the blood cancer CLL include painless enlargement
of the lymph glands, enlarged spleen that is sometimes painful, and
consistent feelings of being sick. If a person believes they might
have a form of blood cancer, they should get a bone marrow test done to
make sure and to see what type of blood cancer they have.