Childhood Leukemia Symptoms

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Dr. David Hill, and today we're going to talk about symptoms of leukemia in childhood. Leukemia is a cancer affecting the white blood cells -- the cells in the blood that usually help us fight off disease. But when they have a genetic problem and start to grow out of control, these white blood cells become a problem, eventually crowding out the other blood cells and also causing problems in other organ systems where they may grow too fast and take up space. Leukemia peaks between the ages of 2 and 5, and the most obvious symptoms of leukemia actually involve the blood cells. As the red blood cells get crowded out by the white blood cells in leukemia, children may become anemic. They may appear pale, listless, fatigued very easily. They may just not have any energy. Those children often deserve a blood count if they present with those symptoms, and the blood count may show lymphoma or leukemia when it occurs. Another thing that we'll see is a reduction in the number of platelets. These are the blood cells that help form blood clots. They're the ones that keep you from bleeding. When the platelets are low, of course, you have problems with bleeding. Bruises arise, bleeding when children brush their teeth, tiny, little red spots called petechiae that don't fade when you push on them. Those are really little microscopic bruises. If you see these, those are always a pretty alarming sign in a child, and those should be evaluated immediately with a complete physical exam and appropriate lab work. Now, some of the problems that leukemia can cause occur outside of the bloodstream. For example, it can settle in the brain, take up space, and present as a brain tumor. That usually shows up with increasingly severe headaches, headaches that may awaken the child at night or cause vomiting. Any child with headaches that are getting progressively work...worse always deserves evaluation. Leukemia can also affect the bones and cause bone pain or joint pain, so any unexplained and severe bone pain deserves getting looked at. It may cause tumors within the skin as well, so any really odd skin finding -- something that just doesn't look right -- deserves a looksie as well. So remember, leukemia, while it's still not terribly common, is the most common of the childhood cancers, peaks between age 2 and 5, and can present with excessive bleeding, anemia, problems within the brain, pain within the bones or joints, or tumors within the skin. The bottom line is any time you feel that your child just doesn't seem right or is unusually sick, you probably should consult his or her doctor and that person will help you take it from there. Talking about symptoms of childhood leukemias, I'm Dr. David Hill."