How To Identify The Most Obvious Signs Of Leukemia In Children

By Author: stephaniecutter
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The majority of the signs of leukemia in children are caused by the lack of normal blood cells. This is because the cells that are creating blood in the bone marrow are overcrowded by the cancerous cells. The leukemia cells could spread in other parts of the body as well and they could cause other symptoms. Nonetheless the majority of the symptoms aren’t caused by leukemia itself.

Tiredness and pale skin

In case of children it may be a sign of leukemia if they are tired, dizzy, weak or short of breath. In the same time the skin and the gums could be pale. All this is caused by the fact that there are fewer red blood cells than there should be – a condition known as anemia.

Infections and fever

In case of a child with leukemia, high fever and infection could appear that doesn’t get better with the help of antibiotics. This happens because there aren’t enough normal white blood cells that would fight off the infection. Although the white blood cell count of the child could be very high, these are not normal cells and so they cannot fight the infection.

Bleeding or bruising

It is ...
... one of the signs of leukemia in children if the child in question bruises easily and if there is heavy bleeding in case of small cuts or wounds. Also it is a sign if there are tiny little red spots on the skin made by bleeding from the little blood vessels. This kind of bleeding is caused by the absence of the blood platelets that would plug the holes in the blood vessels.

Bone pain

This kind of pain could also occur in case of children with this kind of illness, and also some of them could experience pain in the joints. This is caused by the buildup of the leukemia cells in the joint or near the surface of the bone.

Swelling of the abdomen

Because of the illness the liver or the spleen could get larger than usual and the doctor could observe this kind of swelling.

Loss of appetite and weight loss

In case the liver or the spleen gets too large, it could press against other organs in the abdomen, such as the stomach. This limits the food amount that the child can eat and so there will be appetite loss. On the long run this leads to the child losing significant weight.

Swollen lymph nodes

The illness can spread to the lymph nodes as well and this is why they get swollen. This can be noticed on the sides of the neck, at the underarm, in the groin or right above the collarbone. In case the lymph nodes get swollen in the chest or in the abdomen, this can be seen on the CT or the MRI scans.

Coughing and difficult breathing

This is also one of the signs of leukemia in children. The T-cell type of the acute lymphocytic leukemia also affects the thymus gland that can be found near the heart.

Author Bio:

Stephanie writes on topics including stages of cancer, cancer treatments, breast cancer, cure for cancer information, and symptoms of cancer to help you know the symptoms and effective treatment for all types of cancer.