Myeloma: what it is and what the symptoms are – Curious

I how’s that, What exactly is myeloma?

Multiple myeloma is a rare blood cancer that affects plasma cells. Plasma cells are white blood cells and are part of the immune system and produce antibodies. These antibodies, called immunoglobulins, help fight infections. Multiple myeloma occurs when healthy cells turn into abnormal cells that multiply and produce abnormal antibodies called M proteins.

The most common symptom of myeloma is bone pain, especially in the pelvis and lower back, and multiple myeloma is a disease that often affects the elderly. There is currently no known cure, but treatment — including drugs to help regulate the immune system and drugs to help prevent bone loss — can reduce the severity of symptoms and extend life. patient survival of months or two to three years, doctors say.

This change triggers a cascade of medical problems and conditions that can affect your bones, kidneys, and your body’s ability to produce healthy red and white blood cells and platelets. Multiple myeloma is rare, affecting about 7 out of 100,000 people each year.

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All told, about 100,000 people in the United States have multiple myeloma.

Cancer cells leave the bone marrow through the bloodstream, just like normal immune cells leave the bone marrow to help fight infection. The cancer cells can then travel throughout the body to form other cancers.”

Here are five myeloma symptoms that doctors share with us:

• Bone pain

Bone pain is a common symptom of myeloma, doctors say. “We teach medical students to remember the abbreviation KBAL”. CBAL stands for ways myeloma can hurt people.

K – High calcium levels (hypercalcemia)

B – Renal (kidney) damage.

A – Anemia (low red blood cell count)

L – Bone lesions

It’s a disease of the bone marrow, so the soft part inside the bones is where blood cells are born and that’s where these cancer cells grow. When myelomas grow in this bone marrow, they affect skeletal bone — the hard bone that surrounds the bone marrow — and weaken it.

Weakened bones can cause pain, fractures, or broken bones. Dealing with treatments like chemotherapy on top of that pain can feel overwhelming.

Bruises are very common. The most common reasons for bruising in people with blood cancers are blood-thinning medications, such as aspirin or blood thinners, or low platelets. Platelets are the cells that float around in our blood and lend themselves to blood clots. with them there is a risk of bleeding and with it bruising.

So low platelets and anticoagulant blood-thinning medications to prevent or treat blood clots are the most common causes, but there are other reasons people bruise that are independent of these two mechanisms. So if you’re not sure why you have a bruise on your arm or leg or some other place where you don’t remember experiencing any trauma, and you’re not taking a blood thinner or aspirin, well, sometimes things it seems the bruises prove something else. And when we talk about blood cancer, the first thing to worry about is that it’s part of blood cancer itself. So what looks like a bruise isn’t always a bruise and it’s always a good idea when you’re with your doctor to show them bruises you need to make sure it’s actually just a normal bruise and not something more sinister.

Fatigue is one of the most common symptoms of myeloma. In myeloma, there are three specific causes of fatigue: anemia, cytokines and pain. Any of these can lead to tiredness, along with decreased appetite, weakness, and weight loss. When people experience all three, the resulting exhaustion can be overwhelming.
Other factors that doctors add are: pain, anxiety and even depression.

Persistent and recurring infections are one of the symptoms of myeloma, experts say. “Abnormal plasma cells cannot protect the body from infection”says the American Cancer Society. As mentioned earlier, normal plasma cells produce antibodies that attack microbes. In multiple myeloma, myeloma cells crowd out normal plasma cells, so antibodies to fight the infection cannot be made. The antibody produced by myeloma cells does not help fight infection.

This is because myeloma cells are simply many copies of the same plasma cell, all making copies of the same antibody. Infection is a major complication and the leading cause of death in patients with multiple myeloma. The risk of infection is due to a multifactorial immunodeficiency caused by the disease itself and by the therapeutic regimens administered during the various phases of the therapy. In recent decades, there have been significant advances in the management of multiple myeloma, leading to significant improvements in survival.

Insomnia and other sleep problems are a common side effect of myeloma. If you’re having trouble sleeping while living with myeloma or other cancers, understand the impact it can have on your quality of life. Sleep disturbances affect not only your energy levels, but also your overall physical and mental well-being. Several studies show that between 10% and 30% of the general population worldwide suffers from some form of insomnia and these numbers are higher in people with specific health problems.

Interestingly, sleep problems and insomnia can be caused by fatigue from the cancer itself. Excessive exhaustion has been shown to disrupt your sleep pattern and can cause you to sleep during the day and stay awake at night. This disrupts the body’s natural circadian rhythm and leads to more health problems.