Leukemia, this odious disease, is often confusing. How can a good person suffer from leukemia? Actually, the reason for leukemia is many, so let’s find out.
Genetic factors
Genetics play a role in leukaemia. Although leukaemia is not a typical genetic disease, and does not make it necessary for parents to have a child with a single genetic disease, if there is a leukaemia in the family, the risk of leukaemia may be slightly higher for other relatives than for the general population.
For example, if one of the identical twins suffers from leukaemia, the probability of another is significantly increased. This is because they have almost the same genetic composition and are prone to similar disease manifestations with some specific internal and external effects. Moreover, some genetic diseases, such as Down syndrome, are at a much higher risk of leukemia than normal people, because their own chromosomal anomalies make cells in the body more susceptible to malformation and lead to leukaemia.
Environmental factors
• Chemical substances: We live in an environment where there are a variety of chemical substances, some of which are “collaborators” of leukaemia. The risk of leukaemia is higher for people with long-term exposure to benzene and its derivatives. For example, some workers in the paint, shoe and rubber industries are exposed to benzene-containing organic solvents and, if protective measures are not put in place, benzene can enter the human body through respiratory tracts, skins, etc., slowly affecting stem blood cells, causing them to deteriorate and eventually lead to leukaemia. There are also chemotherapy drugs which, although used to treat cancer, may also cause leukaemia if they are inherently carcinogenic, long-term or excessive.
• Ionizing radiation: excessive exposure to ionizing radiation is also a risk factor for leukaemia. For example, the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, have led to a marked increase in the number of malignant tumours, such as leukaemia, over a long period of time. In addition, the long-term exposure to large doses of radiation, such as radiation workers, without strict protection, can easily cause damage to blood cells in their bodies and increase the risk of leukaemia. However, there is no need to worry too much about some of the radiation in daily life, such as non-ionizing radiation from mobile phones, computers, etc., which has no significant impact on leukaemia.
Virus factor
There is a virus called Human Tlymphocyte virus type I, which is closely related to certain types of leukemia. When the human body is infected with the virus, the virus may be integrated into the genome of human cells, disrupting the growth and fragmentation of normal cells and causing a lymphocytes, such as lymphocytes, to deteriorate and lead to leukaemia. However, the infection is less common in our country.
Self-immunisation factor
The immune system of our bodies should have protected our “guardians”, but sometimes it also “disturbed”. Disruptions in the own immune system, such as the failure of the immune cells to properly identify and remove abnormal cells in the body, or the wrongful attack on their own normal stem blood cells, can lead to the deterioration of these stem blood cells following damage, leading to leukaemia. Moreover, some self-immunological diseases, such as systematic red hemorrhoids, are chronically administered with immunosuppressants to control the condition, which may in some way weaken the functioning of the immune system and increase the risk of leukaemia.
In sum, leukaemia occurs as a result of a combination of factors, often not a single cause. With these reasons in mind, we will be able to reduce the risk of leukaemia by doing as much as we can in our lives to prevent, for example, from harmful chemical substances, radiation protection, and good physical immunization.
