How does chronic lymphocytic leukemia affect my body?

How does chronic lymphocytic leukemia affect my body?

Typically, the stem cells in your bone marrow produce two types of blood stem cells: myeloid stem cells and lymphoid stem cells.

Myeloid stem cells become one of three types of blood cells:

• Platelets, which create blood clots to stop bleeding.
• Red blood cells, which carry oxygen to the rest of the body.
• White blood cells, which fight infection.

Lymphoid stem cells become one of three types of lymphocytes (white blood cells):

• B lymphocytes: These cells create antibodies, cells that protect you from infection.
• T lymphocytes: T lymphocytes aid B lymphocytes in creating antibodies.
• Natural killer cells: These cells attack cancer and other viruses.

When you have CLL, your body creates abnormal lymphocytes, or leukemia cells. These cells do not fight infection very well. As the number of abnormal cells grows, your body has less room for healthy red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.