IndexIntroductionOriginDescriptionSymptomsTreatmentConclusionIntroductionLeukemia is an infamous disease in modern times, but many people do not have an exact understanding of what it really is or how it began. Yet despite receiving so little attention, it raises many health concerns and affects a large portion of the population. In this research paper, the origin, scientific description, symptoms, treatments and other data will be explored in depth. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Origin The word leukemia is actually quite ancient and comes from two Greek words, leukos and haima (white and blood). In an article written by Chloe Bennett for News Medical Life Sciences, she writes how the first account ever given of the word leukemia being attributed to the disease was by a man named Rudolf Virchow. Rudolf was examining contaminated blood under a microscope when he decided that the word leukemia referred to this phenomenon he had discovered. December 6, 1899, was the first major event in history where a surgeon known as Maj. Samuel T. Armstrong died in Manila, in which his death was attributed to leukemia in his obituary. In 1913 leukemia became even better known and studied and it was discovered that there were different types of leukemia. This year, people still had little to no understanding about leukemia, but they knew that it was related to someone's blood. There are also many other people credited with discovering leukemia. This is because since it was not well understood, it was difficult for many to pinpoint its origin as there wasn't much documented history about it. But one sure candidate is John Hughes Bennett, who discovered the condition during an autopsy in which he noted that the patient's blood was highly abnormal and decided to investigate further. He then published his findings in the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal in 1845 and later became famous for the first scientific report on leukemia. Description The basis of leukemia is that it is a type of cancer that attacks the blood-producing tissues of the body. These include the bone marrow and also the body's lymphatic system. As noted above, many different forms of the disease have been found. According to mayoclinic.org, some of these different strains of leukemia are more evident in children, while others are more likely in adults. Typically, the way leukemia works is that the disease targets white blood cells, which in other essences means that it prevents cells from growing normally and also dividing properly. The bone marrow contains white blood cells, and due to leukemia, many of the white blood cells it produces will stop working properly. Leukemia tends to affect these cells by causing them to overproduce, which causes white blood cells to destroy healthy red blood cells. There are four types of leukemia most commonly found in humans: acute lymphocytic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, chronic myeloid leukemia. Acute lymphocytic typically affects immature white blood cells (B or T cells), while acute myeloid typically affects adults along with them affecting mature white blood cells (or even red blood cells). Chronic lymphocytes start in B cells and then grow abnormally in size pushing out normal cells. Finally, chronic myeloid is the rarest form and affects adults more than children. It is genetic and usually turns myeloid cells into immature tumor cells, which then continue to grow continuously, overwhelming other health cells in the blood and blood.,.