Understanding Leukemia -- Symptoms
What Are the Symptoms of Leukemia?
Many types of leukemia produce no obvious symptoms in early stages. Eventually, symptoms may include any of the following:
- Anemia and related symptoms, such as fatigue, pallor, and a general feeling of illness.
- A tendency to bruise or bleed easily, including bleeding from the gums or nose, or blood in the stool or urine.
- Susceptibility to infections such as sore throat or bronchial pneumonia, which may be accompanied by headache, low-grade fever, mouth sores, or skin rash.
- Swollen lymph nodes, typically in the throat, armpits, or groin.
- Loss of appetite and weight.
- Discomfort under the left lower ribs (caused by a swollen spleen).
- Very high white blood cell counts may result in visual problems due to retinal hemorrhage, ringing of the ears (tinnitus), mental status changes, prolonged erection (priapism), and stroke.
The chronic myeloproliferative disorders consist of chronic myelogenous leukemia, polycythemia vera (p. vera), primary myelofibrosis, essential thrombocythemia, chronic neutrophilic leukemia, and chronic eosinophilic leukemia. All of these disorders involve dysregulation at the multipotent hematopoietic stem cell (CD34), with one or more of the following shared features: Overproduction of one or several blood elements with dominance of a transformed clone. Hypercellular marrow/marrow fibrosis...
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Call Your Doctor About Leukemia If:
- You experience any of the symptoms listed in the description section and cannot readily explain their occurrence. Your blood cell count should be tested.
- You experience unexplained bleeding, high fever, or a seizure. You may need emergency treatment for acute leukemia.
- You are in remission from leukemia and notice signs of recurrence, such as infection or easy bleeding. You should have a follow-up exam.
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