What are Blood Diseases?

Blood diseases include anemia, platelet deficiency, hemophilia, lymphoma and leukemia. Anemia is a disease that we hear a lot among the public and know as "anemia". As a blood disease that is usually congenital or occurs in adulthood or adolescence, it can seriously affect the life functions of the individual. Anemia is caused by folic acid, B12 and iron deficiency. Congenital anemia is known as Mediterranean anemia and develops due to genetic factors. There are different types such as sickle cell anemia, aplastic anemia, hemolytic anemia, pernicious anemia and megaloblastic anemia. The symptoms of anemia are similar to the complaints we hear frequently in our daily lives. Weakness, dizziness, palpitations, darkening of the eyes, forgetfulness, hair loss, paleness of the face, eyes and nails, lip cracks and lack of focus are among the symptoms of anemia. Leukemia is popularly known as "blood cancer" and is a very serious blood disease. It occurs as a result of cancer of blood cells that function in blood production.

There are two most common types: acute leukemia and chronic leukemia. Acute leukemia is the more serious type; it is the body's inability to produce blood as a result of the bone marrow being filled with abnormal cells. Symptoms of leukemia may include night sweats, frequent infections, pain in joints and bones, easy bleeding on the skin, fatigue, fever and enlargement of lymph nodes. Lymphoma is a disease known as "lymph cancer" and is caused by the abnormality of lymphocytes, our defense cells. The most common part is the lymph nodes. Known symptoms are enlargement and proliferation of lymph nodes, fever, cough, respiratory problems and weight loss. Platelet deficiency, that is, thrombocytopenia, is caused by bone marrow damage or decreased number and function of platelet hormones. Symptoms include redness and bruising in the arms and legs, bleeding gums, and nosebleeds. All blood diseases can trigger each other and be the cause and effect of each other.

How Are Blood Diseases Diagnosed?

In our polyclinic, blood diseases, that is, hematological diseases, are diagnosed by physical examination, complete blood count, bone marrow biopsy, peripheral blood smear and hemoglobin subtype analysis.

How Can Blood Diseases Be Treated?

Acute leukemia is a serious type of leukemia and requires definitive treatment. For this type of leukemia, marrow transplantation, that is, stem cell treatments or drug treatments are applied. Chronic leukemia treatment depends on the type of leukemia, and stem cell therapy is applied for some chronic leukemia diseases. Depending on the type of anemia, treatment methods may vary. Vitamin supplementation is an important method for anemia and can be administered through pills or injections.

If anemia is severe, it is treated with blood or stem cell transplantation. Dietary treatment and control can also be provided for incipient anemias that require a regular diet. There may be cases of mild thrombocytopenia that do not require treatment, but if serious bleeding occurs, medication or blood transfusion may be required. The recommended treatment method for lymphoma is chemotherapy. After applying the diagnostic methods, our internal medicine specialists will help you by deciding on the most appropriate treatment method.