Leukemia

[tRiStAn]

What are the symptoms of leukemia? Can it be cured?

[Ira]

Patients with acute leukemia may present with illness lasting for days or week. There is usually bleeding in the skin (pasa) and the mucous membranes (e.g. gum bleeding, nosebleed, vaginal bleeding). They are pale, and some subtypes of acute leukemia may also present with singaw and gum problems. They also have enlargement of the liver, spleen, and lymph nodes (kulani). Bone pains, particularly on the leg and the chest, may be present.

Chronic leukemia usually appears in the middle aged to elderly people, and may present with just fatigue and enlarged lymph nodes.

Depending on the subtypes of leukemia, some may be fatal, while some, curable.

[gem]

when a person is anemic, will that lead to leukemia?

what shld be done? and where to get such minerals?

[Ira]

Anemia does not lead to leukemia. Anemia is a symptom of a disease, not a disease, just like fever is a symptom of an illness.

I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you meant about "what should be done" and "minerals", so please explain. :)

[kiosk]

anemia may be a part of leukemia. it may be the initial symptom in leukemia.

[GForce]

Doc Ira, I used to be anemic, my RBC has always between 96-115 (115 after one month of taking iron). For female adults, yung normal range is 120-140 (tama ba yun?).

Two years ago, my Dad suggested that I take multi-vitamins. When I had my annual PE last year my RBC became a normal 120.

So, mine was dietary lang kaya? I haven't had my medical this year pero kahit na noong anemic pa ako, I didn't feel anything was wrong with me.

[Ira]

For female adults, an ideal hemoglobin count would be 120-140 g/L depending on the laboratory's normal values, but a range of 100-120 g/L is nothing to get worried about. Oftentimes, your hemoglobin count is affected by your menstrual period (it will be lower after your period, of course), and the way the lab extracts and processes blood. Let's say you have a CBC done now and maybe 2 hours later--sometimes, the results are vastly different. Your hemoglobin decreased maybe because it was right after your period. The multivitamins you took, unless it contains a significant amount of iron, did not increase your hemoglobin count. I think your very slight decrease in hemoglobin is just a normal occurence. As long as your body can increase the count automatically, and you're not pale or sickly, then there's nothing to worry about.

[gem]

I mean.... is there anything that I can do so I wont be anemic anymore? what vitamins/minerals is best? what diet is advisable?

Is sleeping late a factor?

[Ira]

If you're anemic based on your hemoglobin exam (not mga sabi-sabi of friends na "mukha kang anemic"), the peripheral blood smear in the CBC says "hypochromic"/"normochromic" and "normocytic"/"microcytic", and there are no other problems associated with this anemia, you can take iron tablets (ferrous sulfate tabs, 325 mg 3x a day) for 3 weeks. In general, hemoglobin returns to normal 2 months after this. Eating liver and other food rich in folic acid also helps.