Leukemia severely affects a person’s immune system; the disease is characterized by low levels of leukocytes of white blood cells, which play an important role in the body’s defenses against disease. This disease can lead to other complications such as infections. However, for people who already have compromised immune systems, such as children and the elderly, developing leukemia can have some severe effects and complications. For children, the effects of leukemia can be very pronounced because battling the disease can take a toll on their fragile bodies.
Types of childhood leukemia
Just like in adult leukemia, children who develop the disease suffer either from large numbers of abnormal white blood cells or low levels of the white blood cells. Among cancers in children, leukemia accounts for about 25% of cancer cases. There are also different types of leukemia among children, categorized into two major categories: acute and chronic. Acute leukemia, or rapidly developing leukemia, is further divided into two types: Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) and Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML). Acute leukemia accounts for 98% of all cases of childhood leukemia, with ALL being the most common. Chronic leukemia, or slowly developing leukemia, has only one type, which is Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML), and it is very rare.
Symptoms and Treatment
The symptoms that a child with leukemia exhibits are similar to the symptoms that adults with the disease exhibit. Mostly, the symptoms are manifestations that the child’s immune system is compromised, including increased episodes of fever and other infections. Children with leukemia also suffer from anemia and the other blood abnormalities found in most leukemia cases. In addition, other symptoms include bruising and bleeding very easily, pain in the bones and the joints, swollen lymph nodes, malaise, and a poor appetite.
Usually, ALL is treated with chemotherapy. However, the dosage differs from what is given to adults. The medication that is given during this therapy is very potent, which is why for children, smaller dosages are given.
The effects of leukemia can be very hard to deal with, especially for children whose immune systems can be severely compromised by the disease. However, statistics show that children with this disease exhibit some of the highest remission rates, which means that with proper treatment, the chance of beating this disease is very high among children.
