How Can You Identify Whether Your Child Has Leukemia?
What is Leukemia?
Leukemia is a cancer of the early blood-forming cells. Most often, leukemia is a cancer of the white blood cells, but some leukemias start in other blood cell types. Leukemia is often described as being either acute (fast-growing) or chronic (slow-growing). Different types of leukemia have different treatment options and outlooks. child leukemia
Signs And Symptoms:
Many of the symptoms of childhood leukemia can have other causes as well, and most often these symptoms are not caused by leukemia. Still, if your child has any of them, it’s important to have your child seen by a doctor so the cause can be found and treated, if needed.
Leukemia begins in the bone marrow,
which is where new blood cells are made. The symptoms of leukemia are often caused by problems in the bone marrow. As leukemia cells build up in the marrow, they can crowd out the normal blood cells. As a result, a child may not have enough normal red blood cells, white blood cells, and blood platelets. These shortages show up on blood tests, but they can also cause symptoms. The leukemia cells might also invade other areas of the body, which can also cause symptoms.
Leukemia symptoms vary, depending on the type of leukemia. Common leukemia signs and symptoms include:
- Fever or chills.
- Persistent fatigue, weakness.
- Frequent or severe infections.
- Losing weight without trying.
- Swollen lymph nodes, enlarged liver, or spleen.
- Easy bleeding or bruising.
- Recurrent nosebleeds.
- Tiny red spots on your skin (petechiae).
- Excessive sweating, especially at night.
- Bone pain or tenderness.
Causes:
Scientists don’t understand the exact causes of leukemia. It seems to develop from a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
Kids have a greater chance of developing leukemia if they have:
- An identical twin who had leukemia at a young age.
- A non-identical twin or other siblings with leukemia.
- Had radiation therapy or chemotherapy for other types of cancer.
- Taken medicines to suppress their immune system after an organ transplant.
- A genetic health problem, such as:
- Li-Fraumeni syndrome.
- Down syndrome.
- Klinefelter syndrome.
- neurofibromatosis.
- ataxia telangiectasia.
- Fanconi anemia
Who Gets Leukemia?
Leukemia affects adults and children. It is more common in boys than girls. The different types of leukemia affect different age groups:
- Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is most common in children 2 to 8 years old.
- Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) can happen at any age, but most cases happen in kids younger than 2 and teens.
- Chronic myelogenous leukemia is most common in teens.
- Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML) affects infants and toddlers.
How Leukemia Forms:
In general, leukemia is thought to occur when some blood cells acquire mutations in their DNA the instructions inside each cell that guide its action. There may be other changes in the cells that have yet to be fully understood that could contribute to leukemia.
Certain abnormalities cause the cell to grow and divide more rapidly and to continue living when normal cells would die. Over time, these abnormal cells can crowd out healthy blood cells in the bone marrow, leading to fewer healthy white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets, causing the signs and symptoms of leukemia.
Types of Leukemia:
The major types of leukemia are:
1. Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL):
This is the most common type of leukemia in young children. ALL can also occur in adults.
2. Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML):
AML is a common type of leukemia. It occurs in children and adults. AML is the most common type of acute leukemia in adults.
3. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL):
With CLL, the most common chronic adult leukemia, you may feel well for years without needing treatment.
4. Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML):
This type of leukemia mainly affects adults. A person with CML may have few or no symptoms for months or years before entering a phase in which the leukemia cells grow more quickly.
5. Other Types:
Other, rarer types of leukemia exist, including hairy cell leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes, and myeloproliferative disorders.
Unfortunately,
leukemia can affect young children too, and the number of childhood leukemia cases keeps increasing. There are two types of leukemia:
A. Acute Leukemia:
Cancer develops and evolves very fast and it affects all the white blood cells.
B. and Chronic Leukemia:
- it develops slower and healthy white blood cells can still be found.
- More than 95% of the child leukemia cases are acute leukemia.
- Acute leukemia can also be divided into acute myelogenous leukemia and lymphocytic leukemia acute myelogenous leukemia because there are two types of blood cells, and each type of leukemia affects a different kind of blood cells.
- More than half of the children with leukemia have acute lymphocytic leukemia.
The Symptoms of Acute Leukemia,
- Start with fever and continue with many infections because the child is weak against any damaging foreign microorganisms.
- When the disease advances the child becomes anemic and begins to have a pale color.
- He will always feel a sensation of weakness and fatigue which will prevent him from playing outdoors.
All Leukemia Patients,
- Including children, can be bruised very easily, and they often bleed for no reason.
- When bleeding occurs it cannot be stopped for a long time because leukemia affects the cells responsible for healing wounds.
If the illness is not discovered and it is left untreated it starts spreading through the body and it can reach the brain, affecting some of the senses and causing headaches.
Common Signs of Childhood Leukemia:
Here are some common warning signs of childhood leukemia that you should be aware of:
1. Infection:
- Normally child leukemia will cause high fever and it will not react to the antibiotic.
- It is generally caused by a lack of white blood cells, specifically mature granulocytes.
- While it produces a high white blood cell count and these cells do not preserve against infection.
2. Abnormal Bruising And Bleeding:
- Child leukemia will reduce the production of blood platelets and will also cause bruises.
- the kid will sometimes bleed more than normal even from a small cut.
- In some cases, the child may also experience recurrent nosebleeds.
3. Bone Pain and Joint Pain: child leukemia
- Bone pain and joint pain are the most common symptoms of childhood leukemia.
- Both bone pain and joint pain are due to the deposition of leukemic cells under the layer of the bone surface.
4. Swelling of The Abdominal Region:
Child leukemia usually causes enlargement of the liver and swelling of the liver can normally be recognized as the stomach of the child will always in full condition.
5. Swollen Lymph Nodes:
- Child leukemia will also influence the lymph nodes, and swollen lymph nodes are easily recognized near the body surface of the child.
- Tests such as an MRI scan and CT scan are able to detect the swollen lymph nodes in the abdomen or chest.
6. Enlargement of The Thymus:
- Swelling of the thymus or lymph nodes inside the chest of the child can tighten the nearby windpipe.
- This will cause the child to have difficulty in breathing, coughing, and suffocation.
7. Vomiting and Headache:
- Spreading of the leukemic cells outside of bone marrow is called the extramedullary spread.
- It can spread to the central nervous system, lungs, ovaries, testicles, heart, kidneys, and intestines.
8. Extreme Fatigue And Weakness:
- Leukemic cells can extend to the gums and causes pain and bleeding.
- When leukemia spreads to the skin, it can lead to dark-colored spots.
Leukemia Diagnosis And Treatment:
The main treatment for most childhood leukemias is chemotherapy. For some children with higher risk leukemias, high-dose chemotherapy may be given along with a stem cell transplant. Other treatments might also be used in special circumstances.
In order to diagnose childhood leukemia, Childhood Leukemia
the child must go through a series of special tests. If the result is positive then therapy must begin as soon as possible.
- First, some new tests must be performed to determine what kind of therapy works best.
- In most cases, chemotherapy is used because it has the highest survival rate.
- Chemotherapy is also accompanied by drugs.
The purpose of the therapy is to heal the bone marrow, the organ that produces the defective blood cells, and to kill all the malfunctioning cells from the body. If the therapy is successful it must still be continued because cancer can re-appear. In some more severe cases, a bone marrow transplant is needed.
The good news is that therapy is getting better and better and most of the children survive this illness, but the survival rate depends on how far cancer has advanced and on what form of it the child has.
Here are Guidelines for Healthy Children:
Children require good nutrition and exercise so they can become healthy, happy adults. The following guidelines will assist you in helping your child develop a healthy lifestyle.
1. Teach By Example:
- You can’t just tell them to respect their liver health, eat healthy foods, and exercise regularly.
- The absolute best way to teach your kids to do these things is by example!
2. Avoid Processed Meats:
- This includes hot dogs, sausage, bacon, pepperoni, bologna, corned beef, Spam, and the list goes on.
- These are high in sodium, nitrates, nitrites, colorings, flavorings, sweeteners, hydrogenated oils, and fat.
3. Omega 3 Fatty Acids:
- Enrich your diets with omega 3 fatty acids Fatty fish such as tuna, salmon, mackerel, herring, sardines, anchovies, and lake trout are a few good choices.
- Other foods rich in omega 3 fats are flax seeds, flax oil, walnuts, omega 3 enriched eggs, and dark leafy green vegetables
4. Supplement:
- Your child needs to take a high-quality multivitamin supplement daily.
- Regardless of how well you feed your kids, there are going to be some deficiencies.
5. Avoid Larg Amounts of Sugar:
- Avoid consuming large amounts of sugar Sugar depletes children’s bodies of healthy nutrients.
- Especially avoid products sweetened with high fructose corn syrup.
- High fructose corn syrup is a major factor in behavior and intolerant reactions in both children and adults today.
- Keep in mind that some artificial sweeteners can be toxic to the liver, also.
- Children should avoid aspartame. acesulfame-K, and saccharin.
6. Eliminate Trans Fat:
- Eliminate any foods containing trans fats. Read labels. If the product contains any form of hydrogenated oil, shortening, or lard, put it back!
- Remember that manufacturers in the U.S. can say their products are trans-fat-free if there is less than.5 grams of trans fat per serving.
7. Juice With Your Kids:
- Raw juicing is an excellent way to improve liver function, Kids love it.
- Although eating the whole fruit provides children with the most fiber, a fresh juice three to four times a week is a treat and very cleansing to the liver.
8. Children Need to Drink Plenty of Pure Water:
- Water is necessary for your child’s body to digest and absorb vitamins and nutrients.
- It detoxifies their liver and kidneys and carries waste from the body.
- When it comes to digestion and healthy liver function, it’s not happening without water.
9. Eliminate All Soda And Energy Drinks:
- These drinks go against everything that is healthy yet they are often marketed toward children and teens.
- One really good alternative is sparkling water mixed with your child’s favorite fruit juice.
- Just mix equal amounts of juice and sparkling water and pour over ice!
10. Physical Activity Daily:
Sedentary lifestyles have become the norm in the U.S. with children spending more time in front of the TV, computer, or video game console than reading books, playing outside or engaging in extracurricular activities. Children need daily physical activity.
11. Avoid Food Dyes:
- According to a new report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, food dyes pose risks of cancer, allergies, and hyperactivity in children, and should be banned.
- This is such a serious matter that the British Government asked companies to phase out most dyes.
12. Watch For Food Allergies:
- The most common food allergy is a dairy allergy.
- Other foods that often cause allergies are peanuts, corn, and wheat.
13. More Vegetables, Less Meat, and Dairy:
- Reducing their consumption of meats and dairy products will help reduce saturated fats in the diet.
- Other good sources of protein are beans, peas, nuts, seeds, and grains.
- There should always be more vegetables than meat on the plate.
- A wide variety of vegetables and protein sources will provide your children with many varied, liver-friendly nutrients.
14. Choose Healthy Bread And Spreads:
- Whole grain and stone-ground bread, pitas, tortillas, or flatbread are good choices, consumed in moderation.
- For a healthy low-fat spread, that supplies extra nutrients; try a fresh, mashed avocado, all-natural nut butter spreads, hummus, or tahini (sesame seed paste).
15. Consider a Visit to a Chiropractor:
- Research by the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association found spinal manipulative therapy safe and successful in treating children of all ages.
- Common pediatric conditions treated by chiropractors include asthma, allergies, infantile colic, ADHD, and more.
- Health problems that emerge in adulthood could often be prevented by having your children’s spines checked by a chiropractor early in life.
Caution:
- Do not overwhelm your child with all of these changes at once.
- Try implementing these guidelines one at a time.
- Consider one new healthy food or healthy habit each week. You decide what works for your family.
If your child is on any form of medication for behavior or other health-related issues, do not take them off of the medication unless your doctor gives permission. Always keep your doctor or pediatrician current on any changes you make in your child’s diet, supplements, and lifestyle so you can work together to improve your child’s health. child leukemia
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Disclaimer: “Nothing in this article makes any claim to offer cures or treatment of any disease or illness. If you are sick please consult with your doctor.”
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