When suffering from leukemia, immature and abnormal white blood cells, called leukocytes, are made by your body. When your organism starts to produce these cells, the number of normal cells drops very much and you can not fight infection anymore. When having leukemia, the normal cells that help you live and fight off any infection are produced in a very small number. Cells that carry oxygen, those that prevent blood from clotting and normal white cells can be found in a very small number opposite to a healthy person. If leukemia is left untreated, the leukemic cells will actually invade your whole body and lead to death.

The term leukemia actually comes from Greek and means white blood. There are many leukemia types, but four of them are the most important: chronic, acute, myelogenous and lymphocitic leukemia.

Leukemia also has symptoms, but many people that suffer from leukemia may not have the same signs. Here is a list of symptoms that you might suffer from when having leukemia:
- fatigue, weakness and an un- well general state are some of the most common symptoms for leukemia;
- fever and loss of weight that can not be explained are also some signs of leukemia;
- pain in the bones or joints, frequent infections, skin rash also indicate leukemia;
- bleeding from your gums or your nose, easy bruising are also leukemia symptoms;

The actual cause of leukemia is still a mystery, but there are extensive studies being done. However, men seem to be more affected by leukemia than women, and white people are more at risk of developing leukemia than black people are. These are all results based on studies of leukemia patients. However, the mystery of why some people develop leukemia and other do not can not yet be explained.

Leukemia symptoms can indicate the presence of this disease and let you know that something is wrong. However, a blood test or an examination of your bone marrow must be done by your doctor to see if indeed you are suffering from leukemia or not.

Leukemia is also grouped into 2 categories, because there are more types of leukemia. One group includes the types of leukemia that are based on what cells are affected by the disease and the second on how quickly this disease develops.