More and more children get leukemia, doctors warn: 3 things in the home are the 'culprits'

Due to its close proximity to the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, the No. 51 hospital in Erqi District, Zhengzhou City is full of patients from all over the country. 5-year-old Xiao Zixin and his father are new visitors here.

The picture comes from Henan Radio and Television City Channel

After a blood test at the hospital, he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. For a 5-year-old boy, leukemia was beyond his cognition. He only knew that he was in pain and felt uncomfortable. Looking at a large box of medicines, he whispered, "There are too many medicines to eat", and he I don't know when my little head started to become bald.

What's even more chilling is that the child's mother left after telling her son to go to work in Suzhou in early September 2019, and there was no news after that.

The child's father didn't have time to complain. He said that his wife might just want to relax, but he still hoped that she would come back to take care of the child as soon as possible. He went out to earn money to help the child see a doctor: "Even if the family goes bankrupt, I have to show him, as long as there is a glimmer of hope."

During chemotherapy in the hospital, apart from my father, there were only a few small dinosaur toys to accompany Xiao Zixin, but Xiao Zixin was very strong. He said, I am not afraid of anything, and my mother will come back when I am cured.

Here, Xiao Jiu wishes Xiao Zixin a speedy recovery, and also hopes that the child's mother can go home as soon as possible.

Children are the angels of every family and the hope of the family. The health of children affects the hearts of every parent. However, in recent years, the age of onset of some malignant tumors has become younger and younger, especially childhood leukemia. Great damage, but also a catastrophic blow to countless families. Why is the incidence of childhood leukemia increasing now? How can parents prevent it?

Leukemia is a malignant tumor of the blood system, and it is also the most common malignant tumor in children and adolescents, and its incidence is increasing year by year.

According to data released by the National Health Commission in 2018, the incidence of leukemia in children under the age of 15 in China is about 4-5/100,000; if the age is expanded to under the age of 18, there will be about 15,000 new leukemia children each year. Among them, 75% belonged to children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and 20% belonged to refractory relapsed cases.

At present, leukemia is the second leading cause of death among children under the age of 15 in China. As the highest incidence of leukemia, children are usually at the peak age of 0-9 years of age. The incidence of childhood leukemia is getting higher and higher, causing many parents to are worried.

Childhood leukemia is related to genetics, environment and infection. Whether it is physiological or environmental factors, almost every family will be involved to some extent, so we must pay attention.

genetic factors

Because children's susceptibility genes cause individuals to be susceptible to environmental factors, gene mutations can easily lead to the occurrence of leukemia, and familial leukemia accounts for about 0.7%. In monozygotic twins, if one person develops leukemia, the other person is 12 times more likely to develop leukemia than dizygotic twins.

For children with chromosomal and genetic abnormalities, the risk of developing leukemia is more than three times higher than that of ordinary people, especially children of consanguineous marriages are more likely to develop acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Patients with congenital immunodeficiency have a higher incidence of leukemia, indicating that leukemia has a certain relationship with genetic factors.

envirnmental factor

If there are some carcinogens in the living environment, it is easy to cause DNA damage and cause leukemia, such as some chemical carcinogens, including benzene, formaldehyde, xylene, etc. These harmful substances are mainly released from building decoration materials and unqualified children's utensils and toys. If you live in a newly renovated house immediately, it is easy to induce childhood leukemia because of these carcinogens. Such cases are not uncommon.

In addition, ionizing radiation is also one of the factors that cause leukemia, such as X-rays, r-rays, etc. Studies have also found that children living in radon-contaminated rooms have higher rates of the disease than other children.

Infectious factor

Leukemia in children is closely related to certain viral infections. Because children's own immunity is relatively low, they are more susceptible to infection by external factors. Childhood leukemia may be a rare response to an infection, according to a Scottish study.

Most childhood leukemias have abrupt onset, and because some children's early symptoms are not obvious, it is easy to be ignored and the timing of treatment is delayed. In fact, if you pay attention to the performance of the child, it is not difficult to find the signals from early leukemia. The typical symptoms of childhood leukemia are fever, anemia, and bleeding.

The first is fever. Most of the first symptoms of acute leukemia are fever, usually irregular fever, sometimes low fever, sometimes high fever;

The second is anemia. Anemia is one of the first symptoms of childhood leukemia. With the aggravation of the disease, the anemia will also worsen. Usually, children will have such adverse symptoms as paleness, weakness, low appetite, and weight loss;

Finally, children with leukemia have bleeding symptoms. According to the survey, about 50% of children with leukemia have bleeding symptoms, and it is a systemic manifestation. The common ones are the oral cavity, nasal cavity and skin. In severe cases, even intracranial and internal organs will bleed , is also an important cause of death in children with leukemia.

In addition, bone lesions, bone and joint pain, headache, vomiting, nausea, convulsions, coma and other symptoms may also occur.

During pregnancy, pregnant women should pay attention to their environment, do not expose themselves to harmful substances, and pay attention to diet and medication.

As a parent, you should try to avoid exposing your children to chemical toxic substances. For example, try to choose environmentally friendly materials when decorating. It is best to move in the newly renovated house after half a year. Before moving in, you should open the windows frequently for ventilation, or you can ask professional environmental monitoring. The department will check in after passing the test, and special attention should be paid to preventing children from being contaminated by benzene.

At the same time, keep children away from ionizing radiation, avoid exposure to too much radiation, and keep children from playing mobile phones, computers, and watching TV as much as possible. In addition, be careful not to abuse drugs to children, some drugs have toxic and side effects on the blood system of children, therefore, follow the doctor's guidance when administering drugs to children.

Children's health should not be ignored. If children are found to have dangerous signs of leukemia, they must go to the hospital for examination in time, and treat them as early as possible.

References:

[1] "Don't ignore the symptoms of childhood leukemia and prevent it from home". Guangzhou Daily. 2016-12-13

[2] Tang Nannan. Analysis of risk factors for childhood leukemia [J]. Abstract Edition: Medicine and Health, 2016: 5.

[3] Common omen of childhood leukemia [J]. Health must read: Health News, 2014: 45.

[4] Integrity. How to prevent childhood leukemia [J]. China Health Food, 2015: 56.