Leukemia , also called blood cancer, is a dangerous disease, but with timely diagnosis, it is curable. In order not to start a malignant blood disease, it is important for parents to learn and remember the signs of leukemia in children. If chronic leukemia is almost not manifested and is most often detected by chance as a result of a blood test, acute leukemia can be suspected when the child is closely monitored.
Main signs of leukemia
Disease leukemia demonstrates such symptoms in children, which is difficult to be described as indicative, which is why treatment at the initial stage is rather rare. However, for a competent parent, it will suffice to notice several signs to go to a doctor for a consultation. Consider how leukemia manifests:
- The child becomes sluggish, quickly gets tired and behaves less active than before.
- The appetite decreases, as a result of which there is a noticeable loss in weight in a few months
- Skin pale.
- Elevated body temperature can last for a long time (even for weeks) without being accompanied by signs of ARVI or ARI.
- Another sign - bleeding, for example, bleeding gums or blood from the nose. Bruises and bruises on the skin can appear even with minor bruises.
- The child's complaints of leg pain are one of the most common symptoms. And the child can not name a specific painful place, the pain spreads across all bones.
- Because of the increase in the liver and spleen, the size of the baby's abdomen also increases.
- Lymph nodes increase, but there is no soreness.
When to see a doctor?
Since only a specialist on the basis of tests can determine leukemia and make an accurate diagnosis, a doctor should be consulted if there are at least several symptoms. Even if fatigue is easily explained by a large school load, and pallor is due to the absence of long walks, it is better to be safe. A month of observation is enough to understand what is the health of the child
The peculiarity of the disease is that the first signs of leukemia in children do not have specific periods of manifestation and consistency. In one case, everything starts with anemia and as a consequence with pallor, in the other with temperature. The danger lies in the fact that single symptoms are most often misdiagnosed, improper treatment is prescribed, which affects the course of leukemia. That is why, if the parents have suspicions that the doctor has not confirmed, you can not relax. It is necessary to continue to observe and hear the opinion of more than one doctor. This does not mean that you need to panic, but, as the American oncologist Charles Cameron wrote, it is important to be on the alert.