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Hairy Cell Leukaemia

One of the major constituents of blood is the white blood corpuscles. These cells are responsible for the completely healthy functioning of the immunity system of the body. Nevertheless, under the effect of a chromosome named Philadelphia, sometimes the cells of the bone marrow begin to act in a very irresponsible and uncontrollable manner. They begin to multiply indiscriminately, and as they have no useful function, they stopped producing more healthy white blood cells.

There are two types of leukaemia -chronic and acute leukaemia. Chronic leukaemia takes a long time to develop, and that is the reason why by the time a doctor diagnoses it, it is already in the dangerous and life-threatening stage. On the other hand, acute leukaemia can be diagnosed easily, because the blood cells start multiplying fast, and start showing symptoms of a complete infection throughout the body.

Hairy cell leukaemia is a very rare type of leukaemia, which is caused because of a DNA defect in the body. There is no cure for it. This is a type of chronic leukaemia, which grows very slowly. Your body is going to produce many lymphocytes, which look hairy when seen under the microscope. Because the body is producing plenty of white blood corpuscles, the production of blood platelets and red blood corpuscles goes down drastically. About 600 people are diagnosed to suffer from this type of chronic cancer every year in the USA.

The percentage of women suffering from this cancer is very low. A larger number of men suffer from this disease, especially older and middle-aged men. Teenagers and children do not suffer from this disease. Researchers are still trying to find out what causes hairy cell leukaemia. It is called a chronic disease because it is never going to disappear, even after the patient thinks himself to be cured.