Educating a Patient to Fight Leukemia

Currently, in the United States, more than 250,000 Americans have leukemia. Leukemia is a leukemia cancer that helps your body fight infections. Your blood cells are formed in the bone marrow. In leukemia, bone marrow produces abnormal leukocytes, these cells squeeze healthy blood cells and make blood difficult to work ("leukemia", 2013). Regina 54 years old has just been diagnosed with leukemia. After evaluation, I gathered that she never smoked in life, she sometimes liked to drink a cup of wine and walk in the mountains and hike.

Leukemia is a malignant tumor of blood cells (cancer). In leukemia, abnormal blood cells are produced in bone marrow. Usually, leukemia involves the production of abnormal white blood cells - this is the cell that is responsible for fighting the infection. However, abnormal cells in leukemia can not function in the same way as normal white blood cells. Leukemia cells continue to grow and divide, eventually pushing out normal blood cells. As a result, the body fights infection, suppresses bleeding and makes it difficult to deliver oxygen.

In leukemia patients, many of the white blood cells produced in the bone marrow do not mature properly. These abnormal cells called leukemia cells can not fight infection like healthy white blood cells. As their numbers increase, leukemia cells can also interfere with the production of other blood cells. Leukemia is usually thought of as childhood disease, but it actually develops in more adults. Indeed, the incidence of disease increases with age. Men are more common in leukemia than females, whites are more common than in African Americans. Approximately 30,000 cases are diagnosed each year in the United States

Leukocytes involved in fighting pathogens can be suppressed or dysfunctional. This may make it impossible for the patient's immune system to resist simple infections or to begin attacking other somatic cells. Some patients, including tonsils, oral ulcers, diarrhea, life-threatening pneumonia or opportunistic infections are often infected, as leukemia prevents the immune system from functioning properly. Some patients may experience other symptoms such as poor physical condition, fever, chills, night sweats, fatigue and other influenza-like symptoms. Some patients develop nausea or satiety due to hypertrophy of the liver and spleen; this can lead to unintentional weight loss. Explosions affected by disease gather, swollen in the liver and lymph nodes, causing pain and nausea.