An Overview of Leukemia and How the Disease Got Named

The German anthropologist and founder of cellular pathology, Rudolph Virchow is considered the first to talk about the disease, Leukemia, during the year 1887. Virchow spoke about "weisses blut" (in English these words mean white blood), while explaining the disparity between the red cells and the white cells contained within the blood.

Even before Virchow, many historians show evidence that other doctors reported signs of pus-filled blood. Alfred Velpeau, a French physician in 1827 autopsied a body and found that the cadaver's blood was full of pus. Later, in 1844, a French doctor, Alfred Donne described this form of cancer; he classified it to be of unknown origin. In the next year (1845) an English doctor, John H Bennett presented a diagnostic procedure to pin point the cancer to be a blood disease; he named it Leuco-cythaemia. He later named the disease Leukemia. Dr. Bennett published his work on this form of cancer as a series on the following years. Ernst Neuman was the first to relate bone marrow to leukemia in 1872. The term leukemia is derived out of two Greek words Leucos and Heima which translate to white blood. Leukemia is characterized by an abnormal increase in the white blood cells in the blood.

What causes leukemia?

Today, leukemia is considered to be a cancerous disease located in the blood forming cells of the body, which include the bone marrow, liver, spleen and lymph glands. It is a condition where there is excessive production of abnormal white cells, which can also cause a reduction in the production of red cells and platelets. The symptoms relate to anemia because the red cells that carries oxygen to the cells is reduced. Surprisingly, this form of cancer of the blood is also found in pets and domesticated animals like cats, dogs, pigs and cattle. Leukemia can attack any age group, male and female, and people of any ethnicity and origin. Researchers are still trying to find the exact causes the abnormal white blood cell growth.

Research has uncovered many underlying factors which could cause leukemia; they include:

Exposure to nuclear radiation
Exposure to certain chemicals like benzene
Genetic abnormalities
Certain drug interactions and reactions

What are the symptoms of leukemia?

The symptoms of leukemia include:
Impaired immune system (frequent bouts of infection)
Fatigue
Anemia
Pain and tenderness in the bones
Fever
Hemorrhaging
Increase of abnormal of white blood cells
Liver enlargement
Spleen enlargement
Lymph node enlargement

Fatigue and anemia - Whatever the form of leukemia, it is not usually discovered until the patient visits the doctor with his/her symptoms. The fatigue and anemia a person feels is due to the low level of red blood cells in the blood. The red blood cells carry oxygen molecules in the hemoglobin within the corpuscles. With low hemoglobin there is low iron and low oxygen in the body. The patient feels fatigue and may also feel shortness of breath due to not having enough red corpuscles in the body.

Impaired immune system - Frequent infections occur due to the immature and abnormal forms of white blood cells (leukocytes). The function of the WBCs is to protect the body from pathogenic invasions; but the diseased leukocytes are not able to defend the body.

An increase of the abnormal forms of white blood cells will cause liver, spleen and lymph node enlargement. Enlargement of these organs help to compromise the immune system; as a result an impaired immune system allows an inflammatory process to occur in the body, which causes the fever.

Bone marrow involvement - Pain and tenderness in the bones is related to the bone marrow troubles associated with leukemia.

Decreased platelets - As the disease progresses, there will likely be instances of hemorrhaging due to a decreased number of platelets in the blood.

How is leukemia treated?

To be treated for leukemia, the right diagnosis and proper classification of the disease is essential. Leukemia can either be lymphocytic or myeloid, depending on which type of cell turned abnormal in the blood stream. Furthermore, the cancer could be acute or chronic. The acute form of leukemia is characterized by a sudden onset of the symptoms; there is also a very rapid progression of the disease. The chronic form of leukemia is characterized by gradual onset of symptoms; there is a slow proliferation of the disease throughout the body. When immature myelocytes become abnormal, it is medically termed myeloid leukemia. Myeloid leukemia is also called non-lymphocytic leukemia. The other form, lymphocytic leukemia, involves B cells and T cells when the antibody producing cells change their patterns to abnormal malignant forms.

Conclusion

Survival is often difficult due to the patients' compromised immune systems. Treatment involves chemotherapy and radiation. Recent studies show great promise for the usage of cord blood and placentas as a viable treatment for leukemia. If using cord blood and placentas prove to be a successful treatment for leukemia, this may eliminate the need for bone marrow transplants.

Sources:

Rudolph Virchow

Alfred Velpeau