Posted by For this steam project, I did disorders of the blood. I found them intriguing and enlightening that I did not just do one blood disorder, but I also did three different types of blood cancers to add a little razzle-dazzle. Anemia is the main blood disorder. I also included lymphoma, leukemia, and myelomas, as they are considered blood cancers. For each, I described what it involved, symptoms, and types of treatment.
This project discusses the characteristics of anemia, lymphoma, leukemia, and myelomas, as well as, how these blood disorders are treated. Besides anemia, the other three disorders are also considered blood cancers. For example, one version of lymphoma is Hodgkin’s disease. This disease is when the body’s white blood cells grow abnormally, in which they spread throughout the lymphatic system, making it difficult for the immune system to fight infections. A result of this cancer are lymph nodes that can be found on the neck, armpit, and groin area. It was stated that the treatment consists of radiation therapy, immunotherapy, and stem cell transplant. Like Hodgkin’s disease, leukemia involves abnormal white blood cells within the lymphatic system, specifically, in the bone marrow. This type of cancer hinders the production of red blood cells and platelets. Treatment for leukemia consists of chemotherapy, blood transfusion, and stem cell transplant. Myeloma is similar to leukemia in the sense that it takes place in the bone marrow, except, it involves plasma cells blocking the development and functionality of other blood cells. I found it interesting that the most common type of myeloma is multiple myeloma; a fact that I was not aware of. Multiple myeloma is when abnormal plasma cells form tumors in multiple locations in bone or marrow. The treatment for myeloma consists of the removal of malignant cells from bone marrow, stem cell transplant, chemotherapy, antibodies, and radiation therapy. The non-cancerous blood disorder that was talked about was anemia. This is a condition where a person does not have an adequate amount of healthy red blood cells to carry appropriate amounts of oxygen to the body’s tissues. The treatments listed were dietary supplements, blood transfusion, vitamins, and antibiotics.