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News Topical, Digital Desk : Cancer is a serious disease that affects people in different ways. This disease is spreading rapidly all over the world and therefore it is important that people are aware of it. Blood cancer is one such type of this serious disease, which is often identified late. In such a situation, Blood Cancer Awareness Month is celebrated every year in the month of September with the aim of making people aware about it.
On this occasion, we spoke to Dr. Kumardeep Dutta Chowdhury, Director of Medical Oncology at Max Super Speciality Hospital, Shalimar Bagh and learned why blood cancer is often diagnosed late. Let us know some of the main reasons for this-
Why are the symptoms of blood cancer ignored?
Doctors say that the early symptoms of blood cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma in adults are often ignored or misdiagnosed. This is because they often seem like common, non-serious diseases. Apart from this, there are some reasons for ignoring the early symptoms of blood cancer, which are as follows:
Symptoms that are similar to each other
- Fatigue, weakness or restlessness are often blamed on stress, overwork, exams or lifestyle.
- Recurrent fevers or infections that are misdiagnosed as a weakened immune system, viral illness, or seasonal flu.
- Bruises or bleeding without apparent cause are often ignored, assuming it to be a minor injury or vitamin deficiency.
- Weight loss or night sweats, which may be misdiagnosed as stress, changes in diet or exercise.
- This is because these small signs do not always indicate cancer, so patients and even doctors are unable to investigate deeply in the beginning.
Age
Blood cancers are more common in old age, so in adults with general or vague symptoms like the ones described above, they may not initially be suspected. Instead, it is usually attributed to a more general cause such as anemia, viral infection or lifestyle factors.
Active and busy lifestyle
Adults often ignore early symptoms, such as fatigue or frequent illness, because they are so common in their daily routine that they are dismissed as a normal aspect of social stress, work, or college. For this reason, many people wait until their symptoms worsen or become unbearable before seeking medical help.
Gradual onset of symptoms
Some blood cancers, particularly chronic leukemia and lymphoma, develop slowly. In such cases, the initial symptoms may appear over months and seem normal until they become serious.
Lack of awareness
Most young people and their families are not aware of the warning signs of blood cancer, so they delay seeking medical help. Therefore, regular blood tests should be done as one grows older, so that low hemoglobin , platelets or white blood cells can be detected in time.
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