For many post-80s and post-90s, they should have heard of a disease in film and television dramas: leukemia!
Yes, this is the usual routine of many bitter love scenes, the protagonist suddenly and repeatedly nosebleeds, was diagnosed with leukemia after a fainting, and finally died, earning countless tears from the audience and making us remember this disease deeply.
The so-called leukemia is actually a disease of the hematopoietic system, which is also clinically known as "blood cancer".
Although there is the word cancer, it is different from other organ solid malignancies, this cancer originates from a series of precursor cell DNA mutations in the hematopoietic system, the most common of which is a certain type of white blood cell DNA mutation.
These mutated cells are able to proliferate, aggregate, and invade multiple systems, maximals, and organs throughout the body in malignant monoclonals in the hematopoietic system!
That is to say, although leukemia is not a solid malignancy, it is a disseminated cancerous mutation. Children, young middle-aged people, and the elderly can suffer from different types of acute and chronic leukemia.
In particular, children are more likely to develop diseases, and among all types of malignant tumors in children, leukemia is deservedly the first place in terms of both incidence and mortality.
According to the current clinical data, the causes of leukemia are quite complex, including viral factors, chemical factors (long-term exposure to nitrosamines, phenylbutazone and derivatives, chloramphenicol, some anti-tumor cytotoxic drugs), long-term exposure to ionizing radiation, genetic genes, etc. Under the joint action of multiple factors, leukemia has thus developed.
Usually, after an onset of leukemia, the most typical symptoms are the following:
1. Repeated or persistent fever
A large number of clinical studies and survey data show that fever is the most typical symptom of leukemia, which is manifested as different degrees and different types of fever. The most fundamental cause of fever is the disease induced by various pathogen infections, of which pharyngitis, stomatitis, respiratory tract infections and perianal infections are the most common.
In severe cases, patients may also develop problems such as sepsis and sepsis. However, fever can also be not accompanied by any signs of infection, but rather symptomatic manifestations induced by acute leukemia itself;
2. Anemia
This symptom can occur early in leukemia, and a very small number of patients develop myelodysplastic syndromes in the months or years before diagnosis, such as primary thrombocytosis, and then develop chronic myelogenous leukemia.
After the patient's anemia is combined, the most typical symptoms are fatigue, lower extremity edema, pallor and palpitations and shortness of breath. This anemia can be seen in various types of leukemia, but it is more common mainly in elderly patients;
3. Bleeding tendency
Due to the patient's malignant changes in the hematopoietic system, no matter which type of leukemia may cause damage to the coagulation system, resulting in coagulation factors or thrombocytosis, abnormal action, complete damage to the coagulation system, and then develop bleeding tendencies. This bleeding site can be all over the patient's body, but is most commonly seen in the skin, gums, and nasal cavity.
Some patients present with massive bleeding from internal organs such as retina, ear or intracranial, digestive tract or respiratory tract, and after the initial onset of major bleeding, patients may die due to excessive blood loss and untimely rescue;
4. Bone pain or joint pain
Although leukemia is not a solid malignancy, the cells after DNA mutation also have the characteristics of metastasis and infiltration.
After a certain stage of progression, leukemia may infiltrate the patient's bones, periosteum and cause bone pain, which is manifested as diffuse pain in the limbs and back, or it can be confined to a certain joint, and the patient may even have difficulty moving. Nearly one-third of patients present with sternal tenderness, which helps in the diagnosis of the disease.
The above four symptoms find themselves, especially in the recent often inexplicable fever, bleeding tendencies, it is likely to be related to leukemia.
Even if it is not a signal of the arrival of leukemia, it may also be the result of other diseases, and patients should be vigilant and carry out relevant screening at the first time, especially blood routine examination, so as not to miss the best time for diagnosis and treatment of the disease.