Myeloma is a malignant tumor of the blood system, which is more common in middle-aged and elderly people aged 40 to 60. The issue of patient survival rate also varies from person to person. Some patients with better postoperative outcomes can live like normal people and can live to 70-80 years old or even more like normal people. For this type of patient, the key lies in early detection, early diagnosis, early treatment, and the patient's positive attitude. So early detection of the disease is crucial for treatment.
1、 What is myeloma?
Myeloma usually refers to malignant tumors of the blood system, also known as plasma cell tumors. Myeloma is mostly caused by various factors such as genetics, infection, and environment, which can easily lead to malignant tumor growth in the patient's bone marrow, affecting their own bone marrow hematopoietic stem cells, and causing anemia and thrombocytopenia in the patient's body. As the disease progresses, it is easy for cancer cells to spread and metastasize, leading to death. It is necessary to actively cooperate with doctors to treat through various methods such as radiotherapy or chemotherapy, which can control the development of the disease and prolong the patient's survival time.
2、 How to detect early myeloma?
1. Early myeloma is not easy to detect, and some patients may experience bone pain. However, there are many reasons that can cause bone pain, and bone pain is also the most common symptom in middle-aged and elderly people, so it is easily overlooked.
2. Patients with early onset of bone pain in myeloma often seek medical attention from orthopedic or traditional Chinese medicine departments, and are treated according to osteoporosis and chronic bone and joint conditions, which can easily lead to missed diagnosis or even misdiagnosis.
3. The tumor cells of myeloma grow in the bone marrow, which can affect normal cells and cause anemia and fatigue in patients. After activity, patients may experience palpitations and shortness of breath.
4. Myeloma can also lead to proteinuria in patients, and in severe cases, renal dysfunction, elevated levels of urea nitrogen and creatinine may occur.
3、 Early Symptoms of Myeloma
Understanding the early symptoms of myeloma plays a significant role in early detection of the disease. The early symptoms are mainly bone pain, which varies in severity and is often mild or temporary. As the disease progresses, it can become persistent and severe, with severe or sudden exacerbation of pain, often indicating the occurrence of pathological fractures. The vast majority of patients will experience varying degrees of bone pain throughout the course of the disease, but a small number of patients will never experience bone pain. In addition to bone pain pathology and fractures, there may also be bone masses and tumor cells infiltrating from the bone marrow, invading the cortical bone, periosteum, and adjacent tissues, thereby forming masses. Skeletal masses are more common in multiple myeloma, commonly located in the chest ribs, clavicles, skull, nasal bones, mandible, and other areas. Unlike solitary plasmacytoma, its lesions are not only multiple, but also the bone marrow has already been invaded and there is a large secretion of monoclonal immunoglobulin. Anemia and bleeding tendency are another common manifestation of this disease, generally characterized by progressive anemia, accelerated erythrocyte sedimentation rate, elevated serum calcium in some patients, and often accompanied by secondary hyperparathyroidism. Elevated serum total protein and globulin levels, decreased or normal albumin levels. Most of the serum protein electrophoresis shows abnormalities, including immunoglobulin peaks. Urine protein is often positive, and bone marrow smears show proliferative bone marrow images, with plasma cells accounting for at least 8% of nuclear cells.
How to detect the "pretender" in the bone marrow - myeloma in the early stage?