What is Leukemia Article:

According to National Cancer Institute, cancer is the leading disease causing deaths in children under the age of 20.

There is no difference between cancer process developed in children or adults. Cells grow out of control, resulting in abnormal sizes and shapes and destroying neighboring cells. The final stage is metastaze, when cells can spread to other organs and tissues.

Despite these sad statistics, it is very important to note that childhood cancer is still a relatively rare disease and affects only about 14 of every 100,000 children on average each year.

About one-third of childhood cancers are some form of leukemia.

Leukemia is a cancer of the bone marrow. Normally, all of bloodstream cells produced in the bone marrow. There are produced white and red blood cells. The red cells are mainly responsible carry oxygen from the lungs to all other tissues of the body. The white ones defend the body against infections with bacteria and fungi.

Leukemia generates an unrestrained proliferation of immature white cells that over the time crowd out the normal blood cells. The main problem is immature cells are not able to perform their task. As a result, the child's strength is ruined, weakening the body's protection against other illnesses.

There are some signals that should generate parents concern related to a possible leukemia

Early symptoms for children with leukemia are shortness of breath, excessive tiredness, or the skin may appear pale because of anemia (a shortage of red blood cells).

Because of a deficiency of normal white blood cells, children with leukemia may develop an infection that doesn't respond to antibiotics, have a high fever, and become very sick.

As a result of poor production of blood platelets a child with leukemia may bruise easily or have increased bleeding from small cuts and nosebleeds.

Leukemia often causes enlargement of the liver and spleen. This enlargement would be noticed as a fullness, or even swelling, of the belly.

Leukemia can also spread to lymph nodes. This swollen nodes that are close to the surface of the body, may be noticed by the child, a parent, or a health care professional.

Most of the above symptoms are not specific to leukemia. Many of them can also be caused by other problems like infections. For these reasons, an accurate diagnosis is needed and the best way to do this is to perform a blood test, a simply blood cell counts and blood cell examination that could reveal the abnormal proliferation of white cells.

More importantly, survival rates for childhood leukemia have improved greatly as medical research uncovers new treatment options.

About the Author : Valerian D is a freelance writer specialized in health issues such as cancer. Please visit http://www.mens-health-events.info/prostate.php Source: www.isnare.com