Leukemia is cancer in the blood-forming tissue, such as the lymphatic system and the bone marrow. There are several different types of leukemia. Of them, certain forms of leukemia are predominant in children, while others mostly occur in adults. This type of cancer involves the WBCs or white blood cells. Technically, the job of the WBCs is to fight infection. So, they grow and then divide systematically. However, in people with leukemia, there’s an abnormal production of WBCs, or the produced WBCs do not work adequately.

Causes of Leukemia
When the Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in the leukocytes or the blood cells change or mutate, you might get leukemia. It hampers the ability of the blood cells to keep a tab on their division and growth. So, what happens is that the mutated cells tend to get off control, and at times they come out of the body’s immune system, travel through the bloodstream, and crowd the healthy cells.

Risk factors for leukemia
Every year, over 60,000 people are diagnosed with blood cancer. There are a few risk factors, which put you more at risk of leukemia over others. Here, we’ll discuss the common risk factors of leukemia.

• General
  • Sex
    In general, women are less likely to develop blood cancer or leukemia as opposed to men.
  • Blood disorders
    People who have some blood disorders, such as chronic myeloproliferative, including idiopathic myelofibrosis, essential thrombocytopenia, and polycythemia vera have a higher vulnerability to acute myeloid leukemia.
  • Age
    Your risk of leukemia only aggravates with age. Studies prove that the average age for the development of leukemia is over 65 years. It holds for AML, i.e., acute myeloid leukemia, CLL, i.e., chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and CML, i.e., chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). However, ALL mostly occurs in people below the age of 20. The average age of diagnosis of ALL in patients is 15 years.
  • Congenital syndromes
    There are certain congenital syndromes, such as Bloom syndrome, Down syndrome, ataxia-telangiectasia, Blackfan-Diamond disorder, and Fanconi anemia, which increase your susceptibility to AML. Hence, these are all the risk factors of leukemia.
  • Genetics
    Usually, most of the different types of leukemia do not have any familial link. But if your blood relative had or has CLL, or if your identical twin had or has ALL or AML, you are at a heightened risk of developing the disorder.

• Lifestyle
  • Smoking
    Though smoking is not one direct risk factor of blood cancer/leukemia, people who smoke have a higher risk of getting sick with Acute myeloid leukemia.

• Other conditions
  • Chemicals
    Persistent exposure to specific industrial chemicals, such as benzene, puts you at risk of blood cancer.
  • Pesticides
    Pesticides also make you susceptible to leukemia.
  • Radiation
    The exposure to radiations, which are high-grade, possibly from an atom bomb explosion, or even the constant exposure to some low-grade radiation at the workplace from power lines or electromagnetic fields, increase vulnerability to leukemia. Even people who reside near power lines are at an increased risk of developing ALL.
  • Radiation therapy or chemotherapy
    If you have previously undergone cancer treatments, such as radiation therapy or chemotherapy, you are at an increased risk of developing leukemia.