No human is alike another on this planet. Because of the this the way that the disease leukemia affects people is also very different. Some patients may experience severe or acute symptoms, while in others the action of the symptoms may be so mild that a long time passes till the disease is actually found and diagnosed; this can go on for years or even decades. All of us know that leukemia is the worst cancer that exist in this days and that affects people. Properly diagnosing this disorder can prove quite tricky some times, the fact being that many of its symptoms do resemble the symptoms of other very common and not life threatening illnesses.
Some of the most usual symptoms found in leukemia patients are fever, chills or other symptoms that resemble the ones of flu; weakness or fatigue may also appear in patients. Because of the heavy tole that the disease has on the body the patient may experience loss of appetite and normally after this, the weight might severely drop. Severe sweating may also be present, especially during sleep, at night time. Swollen or bleeding gums may be some of that symptoms to show us that the disease is getting serious and taking a heavy tole on the patient. Because of the lack of oxygen and nutrients that the body is receiving, bone or joint pain may also make them selves felt. Because the fact that the brain is also affected, headache, paralysis, seizures may sometimes trouble the patient with different intensities. In men the case might also include the swelling of the testicles, witch is a very nasty thing. Skin symptoms may also appear like rashes, loss of hair.
To be sure of the diagnose he makes, the doctor will most certainly run a wide variety of tests to rule out any other disease that is suspected to cause trouble to the patient. As long with physical test the doctor will also take blood samples to be more shore of the diagnose that he makes. High white blood cell count would most certainly indicate an over production of the bone marrow, but this does not necessarily mean the person has leukemia. A further more thorough test will actually include the extraction of some bone marrow for a bone marrow biopsy. If in this case a problem is discovered than the patient is in for some bed news. Still these test are extremely painful, often making patients to think again about taking them.
By: Groshan Fabiola