Beginners guide to Leukemia Part 2

The DNA of immature blood cells, mainly white cells, becomes damaged in some way. This abnormality causes the blood cells to grow and divide chaotically. Normal blood cells die after a while and are replaced by new cells which are produced in the bone marrow. The abnormal blood cells do not die so easily, and accumulate, occupying more and more space (hence high white blood cell counts). As more and more space is occupied by these faulty blood cells there is less and less space for the normal cells - and the sufferer becomes ill. Quite simply, the bad cells crowd out the good cells in the blood.

Since white blood cells are made in the bone marrow I think we should look at what the bone marrow does.

The Function of the bone marrow

The bone marrow is found in the inside of bones. The marrow in the large bones of adults produces blood cells. About 4% of your total bodyweight consists of bone marrow.

There are two types of bone marrow:
 1. Red marrow, which is made up mainly of myeloid tissue.
 2. Yellow marrow, is made up mostly of fat cells.

Red marrow can be found in the flat bones, like the breast bone, skull, vertebrae, shoulder blades, hip bone and the ribs. Red marrow can also be found at the ends of long bones, such as the humerus and femur.

White blood cells (lymphocytes), red blood cells and platelets are all produced in the red marrow. Red blood cells carry oxygen, and the white blood cells fight diseases. Platelets are essential for blood clotting. Yellow marrow can be found in the inside of the middle section of long bones.

If a person loses a lot of blood the body can convert yellow marrow to red marrow in order to raise blood cell production. (pretty cool)

White blood cells, red blood cells and platelets exist in plasma - Blood plasma is the liquid component of blood, in which the blood cells are suspended.

In the next part we will look at types of Leukemia.