Causes of Leukemia

There are several causes of Leukemia, but the exact cause is still unknown.

Leukemia is a type of cancer which affects the blood cells. This type of cancer is most common in children.

This disease is a result of abnormal cell division and multiplication in various regions of the body. The white blood cells are affected in this case.

The bone marrow is the production area of white blood cells. In case of leukemia this production is increased. The cells start dividing rapidly in an uncontrolled manner. As time goes by these cells accumulate at a certain point, they crowd out the normal white blood cells, red blood cells and the platelets.

Types of Leukemia

Leukemia is of many types. The causes of leukemia or blood cancer cause differs depending on its type. Therefore, let us first see the classification of leukemia, before knowing the causes of leukemia. The classification is made on the basis of the disease progression. According to this classification leukemia is divided into two major types:

• Acute leukemia: Bad thing about this type of disease is that instead of acting normally they multiply rapidly. The cells involved in this type of progression are the immature blood cells.
• Chronic leukemia: Unlike the acute type the chronic leukemia involves more mature blood cells. It is well explained that the chronic leukemia does not show any symptoms for long, this may go on for many years too making it very difficult to treat the disease later after detection. The process of accumulation of cells in this case is very slow, it may be quite normal for a period of time not reflecting any abnormality.

Some known Causes of Leukemia or Blood Cancer Causes

Researchers and experts still do not know the exact causes of leukemia or the blood cancer causes till date. The research still goes on to prove what is behind this abnormal behavior of cells. Why some people happen to suffer from this disease and some are spared off.

However it is said that it is a result of combination of genetic and environmental factors.

Cancer results due to the damage caused to the DNA. The acute leukemia is also the result of damage of the DNA sequence. The immature cells are termed so because they do not fully develop and rather divide rapidly and do not die like the normal cells, they instead continue to multiply and accumulate at a point in any area of the body. This process definitely interferes with the normal functions of the body and the vital organs. In fact the healthy cells production is affected.

The other type of leukemia as discussed involves more mature blood cells. This chronic leukemia is no less dangerous. Though it replicates and accumulates more slowly when compared to the former type it is still deadly and killing.

Eventually, causes of leukemia or the blood cancer causes may differ from person to person. For some the causes of leukemia or the blood cancer causes may be a heredity factor for some it might be a combination of environmental factors which affect ones lifestyle and also the heredity factor.

This damage of the cells leads to various health problems and ailments like anemia which is a result of shortage of WBC, which may further lead to infection and excessive bleeding. Most of the leukemia or blood cancer patients die due to excessive bleeding or infection.

Research has shown that some people may be more likely to get blood cancer. A risk factor is anything that raises the chance of getting a disease.

Leukemia or Blood cancer risk factors include chemotherapy treatment, being exposed to large amounts of radiation or some chemicals in the workplace, and smoking and tobacco use. However most of the leukemia patients are not having any risk factors but still affected by the disease.