Leukemia Skin Symptoms

Leukemia is a condition that causes the excessive production of defective blood cells. To diagnose the condition, a doctor will use a physical examination, blood tests and an imaging test such as a CT scan and an MRI. Skin symptoms are often used to help positively diagnose leukemia.

Identification

• The bone marrow in a person's body is responsible for creating and distributing the white blood cells that the body uses to fight disease and infection. Leukemia is a condition that spreads through the bone marrow of the body and causes a rapid over-production of defective white blood cells. These defective white blood cells are incapable of doing their job as disease fighters, so the body begins to fill up on these cells and damage begins to occur to the bones and to other parts of the body. The Mayo Clinic states that even though leukemia is thought to only affect children, it has the potential to strike adults as well.

Effects

• Many of the symptoms of leukemia can be seen by studying the skin of someone suffering from the condition. One of the earliest skin symptoms of leukemia is excessive sweating, which usually becomes more prevalent at night. Another early skin symptom is referred to as petechiae. This is a series of very small red spots that begin to appear on the skin and start to form a red rash. This rash can appear in random spots on the person's body, and it may become itchy over time.

Potential

• As leukemia advances, it begins to create more obvious skin symptoms. One of the conditions that happens as a result of leukemia is a condition known as anemia. Anemia is a lack of blood flow throughout the body, and this has an effect on the skin. The skin begins to turn white, usually starting in the extremities such as the fingers and toes, and as the white skin has a cold feel to it. Another advanced skin symptom is a low platelet count. Platelets are the parts of the blood that allow the blood to clot. With a low platelet count, the skin will bruise easily, and wounds will bleed for a much longer period of time than normal.

Prevention/Solution

• Leukemia can be difficult to treat because it does not have any central tumor to remove and treat. Treatment of leukemia is normally a combination of chemotherapy medication, radiation treatment and a bone marrow transplant. The success of treatment depends on how advanced the condition is when treatment begins. The more advanced leukemia is in the bones and blood when treatment begins, the less effective treatment will be at slowing the disease down.

Considerations

• There are two types of leukemia: chronic leukemia and acute leukemia. According to the Cancer Treatment Centers of America, chronic leukemia takes a while to develop and is the form of leukemia that displays skin symptoms. Acute leukemia strikes relatively quickly and can create symptoms such as nausea and seizures, but acute leukemia tends to not show many skin symptoms.