overview
Multiple myeloma is cancer that forms in a type of white blood cell called a plasma cell. Healthy plasma cells help you fight infection by making antibodies that recognize and attack germs.
In multiple myeloma, cancerous plasma cells accumulate in the bone marrow and displace healthy blood cells. Instead of making useful antibodies, cancer cells produce abnormal proteins that can lead to complications.
Treatment for multiple myeloma is not always necessary immediately. If the multiple myeloma is growing slowly and causing no signs and symptoms, your doctor may recommend close monitoring rather than immediate treatment. For people with multiple myeloma who need treatment, there are a number of options available to help manage the disease. Multiple myeloma Treatment in Nizamabad
symptoms
The signs and symptoms of multiple myeloma can vary, and when the disease starts there may not be any.
When signs and symptoms appear, they can include:
- Bone pain, especially in the spine or chest
- nausea
- constipation
- Loss of appetite
- Mental fog or confusion
- Tired
- Frequent infections
- Weight loss
- Weakness or numbness in the legs
- Excessive thirst
The reasons
It is not known what causes myeloma.
Doctors know that myeloma begins with an abnormal plasma cell in your bone marrow – the blood-producing soft tissue that fills the center of most of your bones. The abnormal cell multiplies quickly.
Because cancer cells do not mature and then die like normal cells, they build up and ultimately exceed the production of healthy cells. In the bone marrow, myeloma cells crowd out healthy blood cells, leading to fatigue and the inability to fight infection. Multiple myeloma Treatment in Nizamabad
Myeloma cells keep trying to make antibodies like healthy plasma cells do, but myeloma cells make abnormal antibodies that the body cannot use. Instead, the abnormal antibodies (monoclonal proteins, or M proteins) build up in the body and cause problems such as kidney damage. Cancer cells can also damage bones, which increases the risk of fractures.
Risk factors
Factors that can increase your risk for multiple myeloma include:
- Increased age. Your risk of multiple myeloma increases with age, with most people diagnosed in their mid-60s.
- Male gender: Men are more likely to develop the disease than women.
- Black race. Blacks are more likely to develop multiple myeloma than people of other races.
- Family history of multiple myeloma. If a sibling or parent has multiple myeloma, there is an increased risk of developing the disease.
- Personal history of monoclonal gammopathy of indeterminate importance (MGUS). Multiple myeloma almost always starts with MGUS, so such a condition increases your risk. Multiple myeloma Treatment in Nizamabad