MULTIPLE MYELOMA SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS
Symptoms and signs are what lead us to the path of diagnosis of a disease. A symptom is a change or a condition in the body that the patient experiences, such as pain, nausea, or fatigue. It is subjective in nature. A sign on the other hand is an objective change or condition in the body such as fever, blood pressure, or heart rate but observed, evaluated, or measured by a person other than the patient. In this piece, we will go over the common symptoms and signs that multiple myeloma patients experience. WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF MULTIPLE MYELOMA?
Although some types of multiple myeloma are asymptomatic, some are symptomatic. Most patients do not present any signs or symptoms in the early stages, which leads to a late diagnosis of the disease. So how is it possible to diagnose multiple myeloma in the early stages? It is usually discovered during a physical examination, or a urine or blood test intended for another reason.
There are some common symptoms such as thirst, dehydration, frequent urinating, constipation, and confusion that many patients with other diseases experience as well. This is one of the reasons why many patients do not suspect multiple myeloma soon. In this part, we will go over some specific symptoms indicating the presence of multiple myeloma including various problems related to blood, bone, kidney, and nervous and immune system.
Bone-related problems: One of the most common symptoms experienced by multiple myeloma patients is bone-related problems, we will briefly go over them.
Bone pain:
Many patients visit the doctor with a complaint of pain in either their back, hips, or skull.
Weakness in bones:
When myeloma is present, the regenerative process of the bones is interrupted; the cells (osteoclast and osteoblast) that help the bone stay strong and healthy are decreased. This eventually leads to bone weakness. When the patient suffers from multiple myeloma in the spine, their vertebrae become weak, get compressed and thus might lead to shortening height of the patient.
Broken bones:
Broken or f ractured bones are common in multiple myeloma patients. The reason for it is the accumulation of myeloma cells in the bone marrow and the cortical bone (the protective layer on the outer bone). The accumulation causes the bone to become thinner, which is called osteoporosis, the condition where the bones become easily breakable or fractured. The more fractured or broken the bones are, the higher the patient's calcium levels increase. This leads to hypercalcemia, which causes various side effects such as kidney damage, constipation, and drowsiness.
Blood-related problems:
When myeloma causes the plasma cells to overgrow and leave no room for other blood cells, this leads to various blood-related problems.
Anemia:
The lack of or decreased levels of red blood cells in the body is called anemia, which causes the patient to experience weakness and fatigue.
Thrombocytopenia:
This means the lack or decreased level of platelets in the body, and results in easy bleeding (such as in the nose or gums) and bruising.
Leukopenia:
It refers to the lack or decreased level of white blood cells in the body, which causes a lowered defense against infections.
Hyperviscosity:
Refers to the condition where the blood is so thickened that it affects the circulation in the whole body. It causes problems such as cloudy vision.
Neurological problems: These problems might have various causes such as uremia, hyperviscosity, or hypercalcemia. In addition to these metabolic conditions, some patients experience neurological complications caused by cranial nerve infiltration, spinal cord compressions or peripheral neuropathy.
Kidney damage: The abnormal and uncontrolled increase in the calcium level in the body is called hypercalcemia, which is the main reason for kidney damage in multiple myeloma patients.
Weight loss: This is generally a common result of various symptoms multiple myeloma patients are experiencing such as hypercalcemia, kidney damage, or abnormal changes in the blood. Hypercalcemia generally causes loss of appetite, which leads to weight loss.
Fatigue: Fatigue is generally a result of the anemia experienced by the patient. Sometimes, other cellular problems such as the overproduction of cytokine might be the reason for fatigue in multiple myeloma patients.