My father is losing blood and his father died from Leukemia. He has been diagnosed with being anemic and has been sent to a Hemotoligist for further testing. The Dr. wants him to have a colonoscopy and lightescope done and if that doesn't show anything then they want a bone marrow done. My question is this is losing blood a sign of leukemia ? I am in the med field and I know what the major signs of leukemia is and understand alot of the things that are going on but not sure about the blood loss. Can you help or even stir me in the right direction?
Thanks Alot
2006-09-19 09:41:16 · 7 answers · asked by dtech 2 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Cancer
I'm a hematologist/oncologist. Anemia without other blood deficiencies (low white blood cells, low platelets) is rarely due to leukemia or other hematologic malignancies. Blood tests to evaluate if there's not enough iron, vitamin b-12/folic acid, or less common problems is the first step. If there is evidence of iron deficiency, then it makes leukemia v. unlikely, and testing for either blood loss (e.g. internal bleeding, tested via endoscopy) or malabsorption (due to dietary problems or at times other inflammatory conditions) is appropriate rather than performing a bone marrow biopsy. Hope that helps.
2006-09-19 10:25:01 · answer #1 · answered by mjm_hms 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your father must be anemic so the doctor is trying to decide if it is the result of losing red blood cells or not making enough red blood cells. Not making blood or making enough blood could be a sign of leukemia or lymphoma or nutritional deficit. Losing blood is more likely a sign of intestinal bleeding. Leukemia/Lymphoma usually has other signs that may be evident in the CBC such as an abnormal WBC count and abnormal differential, but not always. That is why a bone marrow test is so helpful.
A colonoscopy is a very good test and should be done on everyone 50 and over because early detection of colon cancer is treatable.
2006-09-19 09:50:13 · answer #2 · answered by petlover 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
While anemia can be associated with leukemia, there is usually a constellation of symptoms that would make one think of leukemia rather than other things. Leukemia involves the clonal proliferation of a subset of white blood cells in the marrow. In so doing, this abnormal population of cells displaces normal hematopoiesis and therefore can cause thrombocytopenia in addition to anemia. The white blood count itself can be very high or very low (packed marrow), but the important part is the differential is abnormal, with a predominance of early lymphoid or myeloid precursors and an abnormal population of blasts. This would be visible not only on the differential but also the peripheral blood smear. A diagnosis can be made by obtaining a bone marrow biopsy and seeing greater than 20 percent of blasts in the marrow.
Having said all this, keep in mind that the differential diagnosis of anemia is very, very broad, with leukemia actually somewhere near the bottom of the list because of its rarity. Work up of anemia requires evaluation of the CBC, seeing whether the RBCs are Macrocytic, Microcytic, or Normocytic based on the MCV. Each of these would help point the diagnosis in a different direction.
In an elderly man, the most common cause of anemia is GI blood loss. That's why your father's physician recommended endoscopy as the first step. I would suggest you work with your father's physician and take it a step at a time.
2006-09-19 15:27:43 · answer #3 · answered by Cycman 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well I am in the med field too and leukemia still escapes me. My friend's husband has it and is currently getting chemo and a stem cell transplant. They checked his bone marrow and it was negative for leukemia and this is his second round with stem cell transplant. Basically what I am trying to get at is just wait and see what the colonoscopy shows, and what the bone marrow shows. Depending on how old he is he may just need to change his diet to get more iron. If he does have leukemia it sounds like it has been caught pretty early on, there is hope. That is about all I can give ya. All the best.
2006-09-19 09:49:35 · answer #4 · answered by I do what I want.. 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes, losing blood could be a sign of leukemia (among many others) that is mainly because the platelets are low in the blood stream, therefore patients with leukemia tend to bleed a lot and for a long time because the forming of a proper clot, for them, take longer than a healthy person.
2006-09-19 13:37:11 · answer #5 · answered by angryflower 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
colonoscopy, endoscopy, boen marrow evaluation, blood smear evaluation, iron, B12 and folate as well as thyroid studies are all included in the anemia workup. Colonoscopy is essential to rule out colon cancer which can be a cause of anemia. Blood smear and bone marrow will help to rule out leukemia, good luck
2006-09-19 09:44:40 · answer #6 · answered by HK3738 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Check this site, I think it has the best info.
http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org/hm_lls
Best wishes to your family.
2006-09-20 01:12:30 · answer #7 · answered by Char 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋