Posts Tagged ‘Blood Platelets’

A Short Classification Of Leukemia Cells

Comments: 0June 10th, 2011 by admin



In the bone marrow are produced the leukemia cells which are abnormal and immature.These cells are classified in two types:lymphoid leukemia cells and myeloid leukemia cells.The abnormal, immature cells called leukemia cells are produced by blood-forming tissue and these are named after the lymphoid or myeloid cells.

It is better to know about the normal blood cells and about the form of these.So,in the bone marrow,which is the soft material in the center of most bones, are formed the blood cells.The immature blood cells called stem cells and blasts are produced by the marrow.

These blood cells become mature,they can be formed into one of three types of mature blood cells like:red blood that carry oxygen and other materials to all tissues of the body,white blood cells that fight infection and disease,platelets that help prevent bleeding by causing blood clots to form.

One of two types of stem cells are created by mature blood cells like lymphoid stem cells or myeloid stem cells.As they grow they become lymphoid blasts, they transform in lymphocytes and then passes into white blood cells.In the same way myeloid cells grow,passes into myeloid blasts, then myelocytes and finally they become either white blood cells, red blood cells or platelets.

Abnormal cells are produced in the bone marrow and they can be either abnormal lymphoid cells or myeloid cells;appears only at people with leukemia.Lymphocytic leukemia is formed by the abnormal lymphoid cells and the myeloid leukemia is created by the abnormal myeloid cells.The types of leukemia based on the leukemia cells are four and they are the following:chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL),chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML),acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Too many stem cells develops into either abnormal lymphoblasts or lynphocytes conduct to the appearance of lymphoid leukemia cells.Unfortunatelly lymphoblastic and lymphocytic are not abble to fight infection because of the number of lymphocytes arrises in the blood and bone marrow,there is less space for healty white blood cells,red blood cells and platelets, which can cause infection anemia and easy bleeding.

At people with leukemia there are three types of lymphocytes they became abnormal:B lymphocytes that make antibodies to help fight infection,T lymphocytes that help B lymphocytes make the antibodies that help fight infection and natural killer cells that attack cancer cells and viruses.It is important for as to know the classification of these cells and their role.

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Low Platelets – Possible Causes of ITP and Other Blood Platelet Disorders

Comments: 0May 12th, 2010 by admin



There are a number of reasons and conditions that might just trigger a low platelet count or an increase in the breakdown of blood platelets.

Some possible causes are as follows:

Blood Poisoning – this is usually caused by severe bacterial infections which will leaad to a low platelt count and subsequent blood platelet destruction.

Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome – This is a rare disorder that causes the platelets to plummet. This is also accompanied by destruction of the red blood cells and damage to the kidneys. Sometimes this occurs when the person has contracted a severe bacterial infection such as E.Coli (Escherichia coli), which can be acquired from eating uncooked or undercooked meat, such as hamburger.

Pregnancy – Sometimes and in some unusual circumstances when the body is pregnant it destroys some of its own platelets.

Which can cause a mild case of thrombocytopenia (bruising).

Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) – A blood disorder in which your immune system mistakenly identifies platelets as a threat to the body and creates antibodies that attack the platelets.

Other autoimmune diseases – These range from rheumatoid arthritis, some cancers and even lupus. A lot of these conditions lead to destruction of the platelets because the immune system has malfunctioned.

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) – This is a rare, sometimes genetic, life-threatening condition. This happens when small blood clots spontaneously occur throughout your body, causing a large number of platelets to be spent in the process. In most cases of TTP the cause is unknown. In some of the cases it might be related to experiencing an infection or a chronic disease.

Drugs and medications – It is acknowledged by the medical community that certain drugs and medications can low platelet production by confusing the immune system and causing it to destroy platelets. Some examples include sulfa-containing antibiotics, heparin, quinidine, quinine, some oral diabetes drugs, gold salts and rifampin.

Thrombocytopenia induced by Heparin, has been known to cause excessive blood clotting instead of bleeding. This increases the risk of clot forming blood clots deep within a leg blood vessel. This can be lifethreatening and very dangerous as the blood stream may carry the clot to your lungs.

Trapped platelets in the spleen – The spleen normally functions to fight infection and filter unwanted waste material from your blood. It is an organ about the size of your fist and is located on the left side of your abdomen just below your rib cage. Sometimes and enlarged spleen, which can be caused by any number of disorders, may hold on to too many blood platelets, thereby causing a low platelet count in the blood.

These are just a sampling of possible causes of a low platelet count. If you have signs of a low platelet count please consider looking into natural means to build up your blood platelet levels.

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Curb Cravings With Cinnamon – The Spice of Life

Comments: 0October 5th, 2009 by admin



Do you enjoy cinnamon? Here is a spice that we can enjoy, and that is also healthy for us.

Cinnamon was one of the first commodities traded regularly between the Near East and Europe. Surprisingly, cinnamon is a small evergreen tree. It is the bark that is processed which turns into the ground cinnamon and cinnamon sticks (or quills) we are used to seeing. Its active and healthful components are cinnamaldehyde, cinnamyl acetate and cinnamyl alcohol which are derived from the essential oils in the bark.

Ceylon and cassia are the two most popular varieties of cinnamon, even though there are hundred of varieties. Cassia, the stronger of the two and the less expensive, is more common in North America. Both cinnamons are an excellent source of trace mineral manganese and a good source of dietary fiber, iron and calcium.

Insulin Reduction

By just digesting a

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Posted in Diabetes

Myelodysplastic Syndrome and Leukemia

Comments: 0June 30th, 2009 by admin



Considered to be a benign disease for years, Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) is nowadays known to pose a serious threat to people it affects. Recent studies have revealed that MDS is actually a malignant disease that can further lead to leukemia. Due to this fact, Myelodysplastic Syndrome is also referred to as pre-leukemia disease.

Similar to leukemia, MDS triggers an overproduction of abnormal blood cells that eventually outnumber their healthy counterparts. The cells involved in causing the disease are called blasts and they originate in the bone marrow. Dysfunctional blasts multiply at abnormally fast rates and accumulate in the marrow or in the bloodstream. These functionless cells perturb the production of normal blood cells, causing a decrease in the number of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. As a result, people who suffer from MDS also have anemia, (due to fewer red blood cells), impaired immune system (due to fewer white blood cells) and experience slow healing (due to fewer platelets).

Many patients diagnosed with MDS are at risk of developing leukemia. In order to block the progression of MDS and to prevent the occurrence of leukemia, most patients receive treatments with decitabine, a new drug that is currently under testing.

Although most patients diagnosed with MDS respond well to treatments with mild chemotherapy drugs and decitabine, they commonly experience relapse after completing the prescribed course of medications. MDS has a pronounced recurrent character and despite its high curability in the initial stages of the disease, it becomes very difficult to treat in later stages of evolution.

Oncologists have noticed the fact that patients who relapse also become less responsive to second treatments. The exact reasons why most patients with MDS fail to respond to re-treatment are still unknown. However, this problem may be corrected by extending the duration of initial treatments. Medical scientists explain that a single long-term course of chemotherapy drugs and decitabine may provide better results than frequently repeated shorter treatments. They sustain that by extending the treatment with mild chemotherapy drugs and decitabine beyond the margin of remission, patients with MDS are less likely to relapse. In addition, medical scientists claim that patients who achieve remission should follow ongoing maintenance treatments in order to prevent the recurrence of the disease.

Recently conducted experiments have confirmed the fact that long-term treatments provide better results than repeated treatments in overcoming MDS. Patients who receive short-term treatments not only experience relapse, but they are also more exposed to developing acute leukemia and other severe forms of blood cancer. In order to prevent this from happening, an extended low-dose initial treatment with decitabine followed by maintenance treatments may be the best option for patients diagnosed with MDS.

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Posted in leukimia

Leukemia – Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Comments: 0April 22nd, 2009 by admin



There are some diseases that occur without much of the fault of the sufferers. One of the most horrible diseases is Cancer and among Cancer if there is anything that is quite dangerous, it is the Leukemia. It is the Cancer of the blood or bone marrow. Its quite dangerous and difficult to cure.

There are two main types of Leukemia, the Acute and the Chronic. When the immature blood gets weight age in the body and it is increased more than the mature blood, it gets converted into Leukemia. In this type an immediate treatment is must as if the blood gets circulated in majority of the parts of body, it becomes difficult to handle the situation and that results into the blocking of bone marrow to produce healthy blood cells. So, the curing should be deadly faster. Also the lymphocytes Leukemia and myelogenous Leukemia are also the other types of this disease.

Leukemia Symptoms are difficult to find outer as it is totally internal process. If in any of the reports it is found to have the damage of bone marrow or even the lack of platelets can be the reason of this cancer. Other symptom can be the suppressing or dysfunctional behavior of White Cells in Blood without any reason. Leukemia prevents the immune system so if there are complains of frequent infections or even the tonsils, sores in mouth are felt, diarrhea, pneumonia or even the opportunistic infections are felt than there are bright chances of converting the diseases into Leukemia.

Causes of Leukemia

There are no visible reasons of Leukemia as such but still artificial ionizing radiation, different type of viruses that cause the blood platelets balancing problem and also the smoking or tobacco habit is the reason of this disease to occur to certain extent.

There are some of the people in whom the maternal-fatal transmission has become the reason for the Leukemia occurrence. Also some of the people are found to have the genetic predisposition as the reason of this disease to happen.

Treatment of Leukemia

The treatment is difficult yet not impossible as some of the medication treatment are required to get cured and beside this there are also the radiation therapy and bone marrow transplantation are the treatments of this diseases. But still nothing gives guarantee as the diagnosis has no outer symptoms and the stage in which the diseases are approached is also important.

So, have the best treatment and better curing of the diseases that is quite difficult to handle, Leukemia.

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Blood Donation – Is That For Me?

Comments: 0February 7th, 2009 by admin



For a long time, I wanted to write about blood donation and why it is very important for the donor and for the community. There hasn’t been a lot of research activity on how donating blood helps the donor but it is a well understood fact that the act saves lives. So what is this all about? Who can donate blood and what care needs to be taken before and after donating blood? Keep reading to save more lives…

Donating Blood:

Blood donation is about helping the people who are in very bad need of a renewed life. It is about giving people an opportunity to get back to their normal life. There can be nothing noble when compared to giving someone a life to live. I used to donate blood in the past to a blood bank and I learnt that the blood will be disposed after 90 days if that is not used. After knowing this I stopped donating blood to blood banks and would only donate if approached from hospitals asking for my particular blood group. I now realise how wrong I was.

Blood nowadays is not used in its original form. Instead it is divided into smaller components like Red Blood corpuscles, Blood platelets and plasma and they are used for treatment of various diseases. We all should remember that all hospitals take only what is medically accepted as allowed quantity to donate.So what we generally donate would just be the extra blood our body can really afford to loose. The donated blood regenerates in 8 weeks time so there is really nothing to worry about it.

Benefits of Blood Donation:

An unfortunate event can turn the donor to an acceptor and hence it is required for all of us to realise the importance of donating blood. The most important benefit to the blood donor is the feel good factor. The deep satisfaction of helping the community and saving some one’s life is something that is indescribable. Apart from these, there are a few health benefits as well that arise because of donating blood.

A study in the US showed that people who donate blood regularly have lesser risk of getting heart problems and cancer. The theory behind this is people who have very high iron content in their bloods are vulnerable to the formation of free radicals. These free radicals are the key for heart diseases and cancer. By donating blood regularly, the excess iron is taken out and that helps in reducing the formation of free radicals. Before donating blood, a GP would check the hemoglobin levels in the blood and would advise not to donate if the iron content is too low. So do not worry about loosing too much iron.

Preparation before donating blood:

There are a few precautions that need to be followed before donating blood. These are very simple steps that would ease the whole process.

Drink Lots of water. It helps in not getting dehydrated.

Eat Iron rich foods to maintain healthy hemoglobin levels. Have orange juice or other Vitamin C supplement. Vitamin C helps absorb iron faster. Maintaining the right iron levels is required for oxygen transport and cell respiration. So to be healthy you need the right amount of iron in the blood.

Avoid foods that have too high fat content for a few days before donating.

Have proper breakfast / meal with relatively high sugar content before donating blood.

Relax and do not be nervous.
After donating blood:

Feel happy to have made an effort to save some one’s life.

Drink fruit juices or eat fruits. Have glucose supplement if available.

Do not workout or do extensive exercise after donating.

Some may feel very tired or even faint. Resting for a while (30 minutes or so) will make the body get back on track.
Donating blood is a very simple process and with the improvement of technology, we have completely safe and very very less painful needles and apparatus to collect blood. There is nothing to worry or be tensed about donating blood. If everyone of us can donate blood once in a year at least, then there will be enough blood in this world to save the needy.

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Posted in anemia