Medical

CANCER PATIENT INFORMATION

Instructor: Darrell Portis

4/20/2014

BRANDI GAMBILL

HCA/240 HEALTH & DISEASES: UNDERSTANDING THE PATHOS OF PATHOLOGY

LEUKEMIA

There are two types of Leukemia found in children which include; Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia(ALL) and Acute Myeloid Leukemia(AML), most cases in children are affected by the Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and the ones that remain are affected by Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

What is Leukemia?

Leukemia is a deadly growing disease where the bone marrow and other organs that are formed by blood make a high amount of undeveloped and uncommon leukocytes which makes it harder for the development of normal blood cells. Leukemia is the most common cancer found in children and teens.

Causes and Risk Factors

A well known cause of leukemia is Ionizing radiation. The risk for leukemia is amazingly high for children that are exposed to radiation at a young age; meanwhile infants that have x-rays done are over half more likely to be affected by it than other children.

Pesticides are another possible cause of Leukemia, this is a possibility if the child's father was in any way in contact with them and they are more likely to be affected by it than other children. There are also some pesticides that are used in homes that can cause it in children; the different pesticides that can cause leukemia if used while the mother is pregnant include; Herbicide, insecticides, and different garden products.

Risk factors are something that makes a person have a better chance at developing a cancer or disease; all risk factors are different in which they are changed or not able to be changed. In leukemia there are genetic risk factors, lifestyle risk factors, and environmental risk factors.

Genetic risk factors

Genetic risk factors are those that can be inherited by DNA; most of the time through parents. Some change in DNA can affect the bone marrow cells to become a part of leukemia. Children that are born with other...