What Is Lymphoma

Most folks diagnosed with any type of cancer realize it is very difficult to be content with their condition. The usual response of patients and their family is misbelief of their disease. However, cancer is something that won't go away simply because you decline its existence. It is therefore better to ascertain as much as possible of the disease and learn how to attack it than to simply hide and wait for the definite to happen. In the case of people with lymphoma, it is critical that you should understand what is going on in your body and be prepared for any situation.

Numerous things could happen to people with lymphoma, as this type of cell illness is rather mobile compared to other strains of cancers. Lymphoma is a line of cancer that goes after the lymphocytes. The lymphocytes are defined by the medical profession as any of the nearly colorless cells found in the blood, lymph, and lymphoid tissues, accounting for approximately 25 percent of white blood cells and including B cells, which act in humoral specific immunity, and T cells, which work in cellular specific immunity. So you should comprehend that lymphocytes are not only extremely mobile as it is carried in the blood, it is also part of the body's typical protective mantle called the immune system. Like all forms of cancers, the cells divided abnormally or too quickly in folks with lymphoma.

Abnormal lymphocytes as usual collect in the lymph nodes making the lymph nodes enlarge. However, swollen lymph nodes does not necessarily mean you have lymphoma as there are other forms of diseases that lead to the swelling of lymph nodes. There are many strains of lymphomas; however, the most popular classification is Hodgkin's lymphoma, which is named after Thomas Hodgkin who discovered this type of cancer in 1832, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, which makes up all other forms of lymphoma.

Lymphocytes are part of the natural circulation of the human body. Since lymphoma affects the lymphocytes, aside form the lymph nodes; the unnatural lymphocytes have access to individual parts of the human body. Although in most cases, the spleen and the bone marrow are the favorite spots where abnormal lymphocytes would gather and form lymphoma exclusive of of the lymph nodes, there are some folks who can develop lymphoma in the liver, the stomach, and in very rare cases, in the brain. Lymphoma can materialize almost everywhere in the body and it is not uncommon for lymphoma to occur concurrently in different parts of the human body. This is why lymphoma is considered one of the systemic diseases that affects the total human body.

Indications of lymphoma are chiefly connected with the swollen glands. As the irregular lymphocytes no longer performs it ordinary functions of protecting the body from infections, the person with lymphoma become more prone to infections of any strain. It ought to be noted that part of the functions of the lymphocytes in the human body involves assisting the body's immune system in fighting off infection and other forms of diseases.

Where a person has lymphoma, his or her immune system is now impaired and he or she can no longer fight infections efficiently.

Jeff Kimball is a health writer and a contributing editor to the Lymphoma Information Portal and The Vitamin and Supplement Guide.