Leukemia is a cancer of the blood or bone marrow and prevents the body from being able to fight infections. There are various types of this cancer and their symptoms are as follows:

Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL)
This is most common in children under the age of 15 and it also affects people between the ages of 15 and 45. The initial symptoms look more like that of a common flu and can be misleading. They are as follows.

• Fever accompanied by headache and body ache
• Fatigue and tiredness
• Nausea and vomiting
• Loss of appetite and unexplained loss of weight
• Frequent infections
• Bleeding gums
• Nosebleeds
• Swollen lymph nodes in the stomach, groin, neck, and underarm can be seen if leukemia spreads to the lymph nodes.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML)
This type of leukemia happens when the bone marrow produces immature cells and when it makes abnormal red blood cells and platelets. There are about eight types of AML depending on which component of the blood is affected. However, in all types, the number of healthy cells is always lesser than immature or abnormal ones. Symptoms of these types of AML are:

• Fever
• Frequent infections: Since the white blood cells are not able to fight against infection, one can be easily prone to infection by any germs, bacteria or virus.
• Anemia: If the number of red blood cells is less, there is less oxygen distribution to our vital organs and other parts of the body, resulting in tiredness and fatigue
• Easy and uncontrolled bleeding: If the AML affects the platelets, there is less clotting agent in the body and one is susceptible to easy bruising, non-stop bleeding and slower healing. Tiny red spots might appear under the skin indicating bleeding
• Joint and bone pain

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)
CLL develops over time and many do not even recognize the symptoms until leukemia has advanced over time. Some of the symptoms that people experience are:

• General unexplained changes in health
• Fatigue and tiredness
• Anemia
• Leukopenia: Decrease in the white blood count is known as leukopenia, resulting in reduced general immunity of the person affected.
• Thrombocytopenia: Reduction in the platelet count is known as Thrombocytopenia
• Swollen lymph nodes in the stomach, groin, neck, and underarm
• Swollen or enlarged liver and spleen: If the lymphocytes accumulate in the liver or spine, one is likely to feel pain in the abdomen, loss of appetite, and an inability to eat or feel satiated even with small amounts of food.

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML)
This leukemia starts in the blood cells of the bone marrow, spreads to the blood and from there to other parts of the body. Symptoms of CML include the following.

• Night sweats
• Fever
• Fatigue
• Easy bleeding
• Fever
• Loss of appetite and unexplained weight loss

Hairy Cell Leukemia (HCL)
When the bone marrow produces too much of B-lymphocytes, a type of white cells, the number of red cells and platelets go down. These B-lymphocytes look hairy under a microscope and hence this type of leukemia is named this way. Symptoms of HCL are similar to other types of leukemia, they are:

• Fever and frequent infection
• Easy bruising and bleeding
• Loss of appetite and unexplained weight loss
• Shortness of breath
• Pain below the ribs
• Painless lumps in the abdomen, groin, neck, and underarm

The above symptoms could be felt because of other illnesses too. If symptoms persist for more than a week, one has to go in for a detailed examination and diagnosis. Frequent screening is also advised, as many symptoms of leukemia are not shown until the diseases have progressed.