Multiple Myeloma: Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment

Know all about Kahler's disease, also known as Multiple Myeloma.

Know all about multiple myeloma or Kahler's disease

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Kahler's disease is also known as Multiple Myeloma and is a type of blood cancer. According to the National Cancer Society, myeloma shall raise the overall cancer cases by 1.8% across the globe.

According to the doctors of Mayo Clinic, myeloma occurs in the plasma cells, a type of white blood cell. Plasma cells help the body fight infections by forming antibodies but the cancerous plasma cells begin to accumulate in the bone marrow and replace the healthy blood cells.

Instead of their original job of producing antibodies and attacking the germs, the cells begin to produce abnormal proteins that are harmful and result in health-related complications. Know more about the causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of Kahler's disease.

Multiple Myeloma: Causes

According to the doctors of Cleveland Clinic, the exact cause of multiple myeloma is not known. Research proves that Kahler's disease originates in your bone marrow when one abnormal plasma cell grows into multiple abnormal cancerous cells.

Unlike, normal cells, the cancer cells do not mature and die, they accumulate and replace the healthy blood cells. In the similar, when a person suffers from myeloma, his blood cells are replaced by the cancer cells resulting in fatigue and an inability to fight infections.

Though the myeloma cells also produce antibodies like the plasma cells they are abnormal and cannot fight infections. Thus, it results in overcrowding of monoclonal proteins which causes a risk of kidney diseases and weak bones.

The risk factors for the condition involve (Mayo Clinic):

• Increasing age

• Being male

• Black Race

• Family history of myeloma

• Medical history of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance

Multiple Myeloma: Symptoms

According to the doctors of Cleveland Clinic, the patients suffering from multiple myeloma will show few or all of these symptoms. Though at an early stage people might experience no symptoms:

• Bone pain

• Nausea

• Loss of Appetite

• Constipation

• Fatigue

• Confusion

• Sudden weight loss

• Recurring infections

• Excessive thirst

• Numb legs

Multiple Myeloma: Diagnosis

According to Healthline, your doctors may diagnose multiple myeloma by the signs and symptoms or during a regular checkup while they examine your blood test reports. The other ways to make a diagnosis for Multiple myeloma include:

• Blood tests can show the presence of M proteins that are produced by the myeloma cells, it also helps check for kidney problems, number of blood cells, uric, and calcium levels.

• Urine tests detect the presence of M proteins which are then referred to as Bence Jones proteins.

• A bone marrow test is carried out by collecting your bone with a help of a long needle inserted inside your bone and being tested in the laboratory.

• Imaging tests like MRI, CT scan, and X-rays also help detect multiple myeloma.

Multiple Myeloma: Treatment

The treatment for multiple myeloma involves one or a few of these methods (UK NHS):

• Targeted therapy helps to detect the weakness within the cancer cells and kill them by blocking these abnormalities.

• Immunotherapy helps your immune system fight the cancer cells by interfering with the proteins that help them hide from the antibodies

• Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill the fast-growing cancer cells

• Corticosteroids help the body, specifically, the immune system fight against the inflammation caused due to myeloma.

• A bone marrow transplant is a procedure carried out to replace unhealthy blood cells with healthier ones.

• Radiation therapy uses high-power X-rays to kill the cancer cells growing within the body.