Causes of leukemia

So, I found this site which gives a lot of information about leukemia and I have put some part of it here:

Symptoms of leukemia

• Blood clotting is poor - As immature white blood cells crowd out blood platelets, which are crucial for blood clotting, the patient may bruise or bleed easily and heal slowly - he may also develop petechiae (a small red to purple spot on the body, caused by a minor hemorrhage).


• Affected immune system - The patient's white blood cells, which are crucial for fighting off infection, may be suppressed or not working properly. The patient may experience frequent infections, or his immune system may attack other good body cells.


• Anemia - As the shortage of good red blood cells grows the patient may suffer from anemia - this may lead to difficult or labored respiration (dyspnea) and pallor (skin has a pale color caused by illness).


• Other symptoms - Patients may also experience nausea, fever, chills, night sweats, flu-like symptoms, and tiredness. If the liver or spleen becomes enlarged the patient may feel full and will eat less, resulting in weight loss. Headache is more common among patients whose cancerous cells have invaded the CNS (central nervous system).


• Precaution - As all these symptoms could be due to other illnesses. A diagnosis of leukemia can only be confirmed after medical tests are carried out.

What causes leukemia?

Experts say that different leukemias have different causes. The following are either known causes, or strongly suspected causes:

• Artificial ionizing radiation
• Viruses - HTLV-1 (human T-lymphotropic virus) and HIV (human immunodeficiency virus)
• Benzene and some petrochemicals
• Alkylating chemotherapy agents used in previous cancers
• Maternal fetal transmission (rare)
• Hair dyes
• Genetic predisposition - some studies researching family history and looking at twins have indicated that some people have a higher risk of developing leukemia because of a single gene or multiple genes.
• Down syndrome - people with Down syndrome have a significantly higher risk of developing leukemia, compared to people who do not have Down syndrome. Experts say that because of this, people with certain chromosomal abnormalities may have a higher risk.
• Electromagnetic energy - studies indicate there is not enough evidence to show that ELF magnetic (not electric) fields that exist currently might cause leukemia. The IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) says that studies which indicate there is a risk tend to be biased and unreliable.

The link to this site: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/142595.php

So get this - you can get leukemia from a genetic disposition - that is something really new to me... I never thought that genes could play a role in having or not having leukemia... It opened my eyes, has it opened yours? Also, some of the other ways one could get leukemia are astonishing - I never would have thought that hair dyes could play a part in someone having leukemia...