Nursing Research Paper - Leukemia Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nursing - Leukemia - Research Paper ExampleIntroduction The word leukemia is derived from the Greek dustup leukos and aima, which stand for gabardine rake. Leukemia is a form of blood and bone marrow cancer and it points to an abnormal issue and multiplication of white blood cells (leukocytes) in a persons body. Blood cells are produced in the bone marrow and they divide to form new body cells according to the requirements of the body (thither is the dying of overage cells and new cells deal to replace them). In a person suffering from leukemia, the DNA of immature white blood cells whateverhow becomes damaged and they grow and divide chaotically. The old cells do not die and there is rapid division of body cells more and more cells are produced in the body taking up more and more space and cancer problem arises. Simply put, the bad cells in the blood press out the good cells (Nordqvist, 2009). History of Leukemia Ancient Greeks discovered leukemia way back in the 4th or 5th century BC. However, John Hughes Benett officially diagnosed it in Edinburgh in the year 1845. In the 19th century, or so physicians from Europe further realized that a number of of their patients were suffering from peculiarly high white blood cells levels. They termed this condition weisses blut, meaning white blood. In the year 1913, leukemia was categorized into four types namely swell lymphocytic leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, acute myelogenous leukemia (Erythroleukemia) and chronic myelogenous leukemia. Further, in the year 1970, it was proven that there was recruit for leukemia, and by 1980s and 1990s, roughly 70% of patients suffering from leukemia had been cured. This brought high hopes to all patients suffering from leukemia globally. For ages, people have been fighting with cancer, the only difference being that they were not aware of the details of what they were battling (Johnson, 2011). Treatment options Just equivalent the information concerning leukemia has changed with time, the discussion options available for the patients have also changed. The earliest treatment option administered to leukemia patients was arsenic. Generally cognize in the West as a poison, arsenic has been used to treat leukemia and such conditions as psoriasis and lues venerea in traditional Chinese medicine for almost two thousand years. It has been proven to have a considerable anti-cancer effect for leukemia although the mechanism for this effect has remained unknown till novelly when scientists in China nominate out that it targets proteins which contribute to cancer cells growth (Edwards, 2010). Healthandnutritiontips.net (2011) records that arsenic is still used in the treatment of some types of leukemia and that it has proved very successful. In the early 20th century, radiation therapy replaced arsenic (Johnson, 2011). Scientists found out that vulnerability to radiation decreases the cancerous tumors on patients in size. Radiation is still a v ery common and a very effective treatment option for leukemia, as well as other cancer types. However, it has several(prenominal) side effects that a patient needs to take into consideration (Healthandnutritiontips.net, 2011). Other modern/recent treatment options for leukemia include biological therapy or immunotherapy, chemotherapy surgery and bone marrow transplants. Biological therapy/immunotherapy has to do with treatment