Leukemia Case

Life may not always be fair. Every child should get to live their childhood to its full potential without having to worry about obstacles along the way. They should have the opportunity to be able to go outside, hang out with friends, and just be a normal kid. One of the obstacles that a child may run into is Leukemia. According to the website emedicincehealth.com, Leukemia is the cancer that a child is most likely to be diagnosed with. The website says, "Leukemia affects people of all ages. Approximately 85% of Leukemia in children are of the acute type. Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) affects both children and adults but is more common in children. It accounts for 65% of the acute Leukemia in children." In an average year, 29,000 adults will be diagnosed with Leukemia and more than 2,000 kids (emedicincehealth.com). Unfortunately more and more people are being diagnosed with Leukemia but the survival rate has risen 45% in the last 50 years. Leukemia can affect anybody throughout the world. The median age for a person to have Leukemia is 67 years old. While the median age for people dying from Leukemia is 74 years old. Out of 100,000 people that die, 7.6 of them will die from Leukemia (http://leukemia.emedtv.com/leukemia/leukemia-statistics.html). The 7.6 people could be 15.2 people but thankfully 50% of people will survive from Leukemia (http://www.emedicinehealth.com/leukemia/article_em.htm) Of those 15.2 people that have Leukemia the most common descent would be European. After diagnosis and treatment, many people with leukemia live many good, quality years. Leukemia upsets the immune system's ability to turn itself on and off. Some of the first signs of Leukemia occur when ordinary cuts and bruises and other health problems become a extraordinary burden on the body. Infections cannot be fought of when a person has Leukemia and one may bruise easily says Devra Davis the author of The Secret History of the War on Cancer. Some other symptoms may be weight loss for no reason, headaches, fever, feeling tired and weak, and swelling of the lymph nodes. Most often, these symptoms are not due to cancer. An infection or other health problems may also cause these symptoms. Only a doctor can tell for sure. The doctor can tell for sure by performing numerous tests. Some of the tests include blood tests, a chest x-ray, biopsy, or a spinal tap (http://www.medicinenet.com/leukemia/page4.htm). As do most cancers, leukemia strikes sporadically. Though hereditary influences or environmental exposures may contribute to risk, its occurrence is usually considered random. For some rare families, however, the disease is hereditary. In only a few dozen known cases, parents pass it to their offspring as a single gene (http://depts.washington.edu/drrpt/2002/research/rare.html). Some of the cases of Leukemia have been traced to a specific gene are dominant, but most are recessive, because as long as you inherit one healthy