Hairy cell leukemia is a type of cancer which originates in the bone marrow and affects a type of white blood cell called a B cell. The cancerous cells appear hairy when viewed under a microscope. The cause of hairy cell leukemia is unknown, but...
Hairy cell leukemia is a type of blood cancer that occurs when the bone marrow makes too many white blood cells called lymphocytes. Although hairy cell leukemia typically progresses very slowly, it can eventually lead to serious problems such as...
Hairy cell leukemia is the rarest of five types of leukemia (the other four being chronic, acute, lymphocytic and myelogenous). It is a slow-progressing cancer of the blood or bone marrow. Hairy cell leukemia attacks a type of B white cell that...
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma describes a group of cancers that develop from a specific type of white blood cell known as a lymphocyte. Lymphocytes, usually concentrated in the lymph nodes, spleen and bone marrow, play an important role in protecting the...
Leukemia refers to a group of cancers that arise from the white blood cell-forming tissues of bone marrow. Leukemia develops when the genetic material of this tissue undergoes changes that lead to uncontrolled replication of the cell type...
Blood contains a liquid portion, known as plasma, which consists of 90 percent water, according to the Franklin Institute. The plasma functions to carry the different types of blood cells, including red cells that carry oxygen, white cells that...
White blood cells, also called leukocytes, function to protect the body from foreign invaders such as bacteria and viruses. Five major types of white blood cells exist, each performing important functions in the immune system. An adult's normal...
The bone marrow is a tissue inside flat, irregular-shaped bones and the long bones. There is yellow bone marrow and red bone marrow. Yellow, only found in the long bones of adults, contains fat cells. Red bone marrow contains stem cells that give...
A decreased appetite occurs when you have a diminished desire to eat food. Appetite suppressants are drugs that induce a loss of appetite so you eat less and lose weight. Other drugs may have side effects that decrease your appetite. As a result...
A cursory read of some alternative medicine publications might leave the false impression that low cholesterol causes leukemia. These publications all point to the same source, but a close reading of the original research study reveals that the...
Adult leukemia can take many forms. Common variants include acute lymphoblastic, chronic lymphocytic, acute myeloid and chronic myelogenous leukemia. Rarer variants such as T cell leukemia and hairy cell leukemia are also known. These variants all...
Brown algae, also referred to as kelp, may provide health-boosting benefits. It can have high levels of a heavy metal that is harmful to the body. Talk to your doctor before treating any health condition with kelp.
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia or CLL is different from acute forms of leukemia in that initially, it behaves less aggressively. It may have a prolonged phase during which the disease progresses slowly or not at all. However, unlike the acute...
White blood cells, also called leukocytes, are the portion of the blood responsible for fighting infections. There are five types of white blood cells--neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, lymphocytes and monocytes--and each plays an important...
During the time that a fetus is 9 to 28 weeks old, blood cells form in the spleen. After birth, the spleen keeps a supply of blood, which it releases into circulation if the blood pressure gets low. It removes old red blood cells and stores iron...
Leukemia is a form of cancer that affects the bone marrow and the lymphatic system, both of which play an important role in maintaining immunity. A person with leukemia produces large quantities of abnormal white blood cells or leukocytes, the...
Cancer immunotherapy can be divided into three popular categories--interleukin, interferons and genetic therapy. According to the National Cancer Institute, there are many studies defending the use of the body's own immune system to fight diseases...
Chemotherapy (also known as chemo) is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells or stop cancer cells from growing and dividing. According to the book "Clinical Oncology," the first clinical trial investigating the effectiveness of chemotherapy in...
Fucoidan is a sulfated polysaccharide that occurs naturally in several types of brown seaweed, one of the world’s most widespread forms of marine algae. Polysaccharides are carbohydrates made up of multiple monosaccharides, the basic...
According to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma make up 9.5 percent of all cancers diagnosed in the U.S. Leukemia is the No. 1 fatal cancer in individuals younger than age 20. For children younger than...
There are many diseases associated with the spleen. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, the spleen is an important part of a person's immune system. The spleen, which is approximately...
Non-Hodgkin's Lymphomas (NHLs) are a diverse group of cancers caused by tumors in the body's lymphocytes, or immune system cells. There are many types of NHLs, each of which is classified according to its rate of growth (slow-growing, intermediate...
Lymphoproliferation describes the over-production or abnormal activity of lymphocytes. Lymph nodes are located in your neck, armpits and groin. Lymphocytes are white blood cells that make up your immune system, including antibody-producing B cells...
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a degenerative condition, or one that worsens with time, caused by damage and destruction to the central nervous system, most specifically the covering of nerves called myelin. Myelin acts much like insulation on wires,...
Cancer refers to a debilitating and potentially fatal condition in which cells grow at a really fast rate. This increase of cells can lead to tumor formation. Signs of cancer include fatigue, chills, night sweats, weight loss and a fever. Drugs...
Cancer is a group of disorders that can develop in any of the body's tissues or organs, destroying healthy tissue and sometimes spreading to other areas. The American Cancer Society estimates that over 1.5 million Americans will likely develop...
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, also known as non-Hodgkin lymphoma, is a kind of cancer caused by the uncontrolled growth of immune cells called lymphocytes. Normally, lymphocytes growth or death depends on a complicated system of genetic regulation. When...
There are several important medical conditions associated with the spleen. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, the spleen is part of the lymphatic system, which wards off infection and balances...
Lymph node cancer, commonly called lymphoma, is cancer that occurs in cells of the lymph nodes. The lymph nodes are small, jelly bean-sized organs found throughout the body that help the immune system fight infections. Lymph node cancer is usually...
