Leukemia is a malignant disease of the hematopoietic system characterized by abnormal tumorigenic proliferation of any series of leukocytes and their naive cells (i.e., leukemic cells) in the bone marrow or other hematopoietic tissues, resulting in decreased production of normal blood cells. At the same time, there are qualitative and quantitative changes in the surrounding blood leukocytes.
Many people are afraid of leukemia when it is mentioned. Leukemia is a direct threat to the health and life of the patient. According to epidemiological statistics, the annual natural incidence of leukemia in China is 3 to 4 per 100,000, which means that there are about 40,000 new leukemia patients each year, 40% of whom are children, and most of whom are 2 to 7 years old. In recent years, leukemia has always taken the first place in the incidence of malignant tumors in adolescents. According to the relevant medical authorities, the number of children with leukemia in China is on the increase year by year.
Leukemia is caused by a variety of integrated causes, and one of the reasons closely related to people’s lives is environmental pollution, non-environmental home decoration in environmental pollution is attracting more and more attention. In a survey of more than 1,800 children with leukemia admitted to the Institute of Hematology of a domestic children’s hospital for 10 years, 46.7% of the children’s homes had been renovated within six months before the onset of the disease. Meanwhile, renovation is not only associated with children with leukemia. One information survey found that among more than 1,200 elderly leukemia patients in the past 10 years, 54.6% of their homes had also been renovated within six months.
I. Harmful substances in decoration materials With the development of society and the continuous improvement of people’s living standards, residents’ demand for housing has changed from survival to comfort, but how to make health the first element of our homes? It seems that it should be focused on consideration when home decoration. Information shows that many decoration materials in home decoration contain harmful substances. A published information of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposes that there are as many as 189 kinds of these harmful substances, among which the more harmful ones are: radon, formaldehyde, benzene, ammonia and esters, trichloroethylene and asbestos, etc.
Some information shows that every year, about 70% of the newly renovated rooms in China are overloaded with formaldehyde, benzene, toluene, xylene, TVOC and other organic substances. Many decoration materials in the production of adhesives, paints and plastic components and other chemical synthetic items. A variety of man-made panels (particle board, fiberboard, plywood, etc.) due to the use of adhesives, and therefore can contain formaldehyde, benzene and other organic substances. The production of new furniture, walls, floors, decorative paving, are to use adhesives. Where a lot of use of adhesives, there will always be formaldehyde, benzene and other organic substances released. In addition, certain chemical fiber carpets, paints and coatings also contain a certain amount of formaldehyde, benzene and other organic substances. These toxic and harmful organic substances can also come from cosmetics, cleaning agents, insecticides, disinfectants, antiseptics, printing inks, paper, textile fibers and many other chemical light industrial products. In addition some decoration materials such as microscopic boards, plastic flooring, plywood, etc., also contain a certain amount of formaldehyde, benzene, ethylene, methanol and many other harmful substances, while building materials like granite, marble and certain color glazed tiles may produce radon, radium, thorium, potassium and other radioactive substances. In addition, some counterfeit paints that resist are also an important reason for the serious overload of toxic and harmful organic substance content in indoor air.
II. Possible mechanism of action of some harmful substances 1. Radon: Among the many environmental harmful factors, the carcinogenic effect of radioactive radon and its daughter bodies on human beings is drawing more and more attention from the society. In addition to air, radon can come from radon in the soil of house foundation, drinking water, living fuel and radon metamorphosed from radium in home decoration building materials. The radioactive aerosol formed by radon has strong water and lipid solubility, which can easily pass through the mucous membrane of respiratory tract and air-blood barrier and distribute the whole body through blood flow and accumulate in the fat cells for a long time. Experimental research evidence has shown that the DNA damage rate of peripheral blood lymphocytes, the mutation frequency of hypoxanthine guanine phosphate ribosyltransferase gene and indoor radon concentration are related, and the DNA damage rate and hypoxanthine guanine phosphate ribosyltransferase gene mutation rate of residents exposed to radon concentration > 200 Bq/m3 are significantly higher. 2. The main mechanism of action is that benzene is mediated by cytochrome P4502E2 in the liver to form benzene epoxide, which is then slowly metabolized to a large number of phenolic products and further oxidized to hydroquinone (HQ) and benzodiazepines, which are gathered in the bone marrow. Bone marrow contains high levels of myeloperoxidase (MPO), which further metabolizes phenolics gradually to benzoquinone, 1,2,4-benzenetriol (BT), etc., and then, exerts myelotoxic effects. Hydroquinone can selectively interfere with the function of bone marrow macrophages, inhibit the secretion of hematopoietic stimulating factor, interleukin-1, by bone marrow macrophages, and hinder the normal process of hematopoiesis, while causing bone marrow suppression.
In addition, Stillman et al. used hydroquinone, a metabolite of benzene, to act on human CD34+CD19- myeloid cells in vitro and performed in situ hybridization analysis with site-specific probes 5q31, 5p21 and chromosome 7 and 8 mitotic probes, and found that hydroquinone selectively caused deletion of chromosome 5q31 and 7 without damaging chromosome 8. The results show that chromosomes 5 and 7 are important in benzene-induced AML.
High concentration of benzene has a narcotic effect on the central nervous system and causes acute poisoning; long-term exposure to benzene damages the hematopoietic system and causes chronic poisoning. Acute intoxication: In mild cases, there are headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, mild excitement, staggering gait and other drunken states; in severe cases, coma, convulsions, drop in blood pressure, resulting in respiratory and circulatory failure. Chronic poisoning: the main manifestations are neurasthenia syndrome; hematopoietic system changes: leukocyte, platelet reduction, aplastic anemia in severe cases; leukemia can occur in a few cases after chronic poisoning ( to acute granulocytic as the most common ).
3, formaldehyde, formaldehyde is a colorless, strong irritating odor gas, slow volatility, with high toxicity. Formaldehyde has been identified by the World Health Organization as a carcinogenic and teratogenic substances, the most serious harm to the elderly pregnant women and children, easily lead to leukemia, chronic respiratory diseases, causing pregnancy syndrome, chromosomal abnormalities in newborns, memory and intellectual decline in adolescents, and even bring the risk of life.
When the formaldehyde content in indoor air is 0.1mg/m3, there will be odor and discomfort; 0.5mg/m3 can irritate the eyes and cause tears; 0.6mg/m3 can cause throat discomfort or pain; higher concentration can cause nausea, vomiting, cough, chest tightness, shortness of breath and even emphysema. Long-term low-concentration exposure to formaldehyde gas can cause headache, dizziness, weakness, asymmetric sensory disorders on both sides and excessive sweating and visual impairment, and can inhibit sweat gland secretion, leading to dry and chapped skin; at higher concentrations, it is strongly irritating to mucous membranes, upper respiratory tract, eyes and skin, and toxic to the nervous system, immune system and liver.
After we move to a new home if you feel the following discomfort, please do not be careless! Leukemia has four main manifestations namely: infection fever, anemia, bleeding, and infiltration. These manifestations may not all occur at the same time. If you find any of the following unexplained symptoms accompanied by abnormal blood count, you should seek early medical attention from the Department of Hematology for further examination: (1) fever; (2) unexplained anemia; (3) unexplained spontaneous bleeding tendencies such as purpura of the skin, blood blisters in the mouth or nasal bleeding; (4) enlarged liver, spleen and lymph nodes; (5) joint and bone pain and sternal pressure; (6) swollen and eroded gums (6) gum swelling and erosion, etc.
The treatment of leukemia is threefold: (1) drug therapy.
(2) Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (including peripheral blood, bone marrow, and cord blood).
(3) Immunotherapy.
At present, the efficacy of leukemia has been greatly improved, the complete remission rate has reached 70-90% depending on the type, as long as the regular treatment, the clinical cure rate can also reach 50% to 70%, so that leukemia is not “incurable”, but the main thing is that we need early detection, early treatment.