Fatigue: Leukemia can cause individuals to have too few red blood cells, resulting in anemia. Anemia can make the individual feel tired by decreasing the number of red blood cells that can carry oxygen to tissues. Treatment for leukemia, such as with chemotherapy, can also cause a drop in red blood cells, leading to fatigue.
Excess bleeding: Blood cells called platelets help control bleeding by prompting the blood to clot. A shortage of blood platelets (thrombocytopenia) can result in easy bleeding and bruising, including frequent or severe nosebleeds, bleeding from the gums, or tiny red marks caused by bleeding into the skin.
Pain: Leukemia can cause bone pain or joint pain as the bone marrow expands when excess white blood cells build up.
Enlarged spleen: Some of the extra blood cells produced when an individual has leukemia are stored in the spleen, causing the spleen to become swollen or enlarged. Rarely, the spleen becomes so large that it is at risk of bursting. More commonly, the swollen spleen takes up space in the abdomen and makes the individual feel full even after small meals or causes pain on the left side of the body below the ribs and difficulty breathing.
Stroke or excess clotting: Some individuals with CML produce too many platelets. Without treatment, this high platelet count, called thrombocytosis, can cause excessive clotting of the blood, which can lead to stroke. Stroke is neurological damage to the brain due to a lack of oxygen. An increase in blood clotting can lead to the blocking of blood vessels in the brain, decreasing the oxygen to the brain tissue and causing brain cell death.
Infection: White blood cells help the body fight off infection. Although individuals with leukemia have too many white blood cells, these cells are often leukemic (damaged) and do not function properly. As a result, they are not able to fight infection as well as healthy white cells can. In addition, treatment can cause the white cell count to drop too low (neutropenia), also making individuals vulnerable to infection.
Metastasis: Metastasis is the movement or spreading of cancer cells from one organ or tissue to another. Leukemic cells in the blood can deposit into organs and tissues, such as the brain and spine, causing further cancer development.
Death: If leukemia cannot be successfully treated, it ultimately is fatal.
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