Warning Signs Of Childhood Cancers

Dealing with childhood cancer is something no parent should have to go through. But understanding the warning signs of cancer could save your child's life. Parents, relatives, and health professionals often find cancers in children while they're still in the early stages. However, it can be challenging to recognize the seriousness of the illness right away, because many warning signs seem to be normal illnesses or injuries. Cancer is uncommon in children, but if a child exhibits any of the warning signs, it's better to be safe than sorry, so parents should contact a doctor as soon as possible. Here are signs to watch for.

Easy Bruising

Easy bruising may be a sign a child has leukemia. Children with leukemia tend to bleed more than they should after nosebleeds or minor injuries. They also bruise quite easily, even from impacts that shouldn't leave bruises. It's also possible their skin will be dotted with tiny red spots, otherwise known as petechiae. These spots occur when tiny blood vessels underneath the skin are bleeding.

If a child is bruising more than usual, a parent's first thought may be to worry about their safety, such as fixing potential hazards in their room or the backyard. However, they also need to worry about their health. For blood to clot correctly, it needs to have healthy platelets, and leukemia lowers the platelets in the blood. As such, it's essential to get in contact with a doctor and order a blood test, which will analyze the child's platelet count and should offer an explanation.

Continue reading to learn about the symptom related to vision to watch for.

Sudden Vision Changes

If a child experiences sudden vision changes, this might be a sign they have retinoblastoma, which occurs almost exclusively in younger children. They are typically detected when a health professional, parent, or other adult realizes the child's eye looks strange. The earliest and most common sign of this cancer is the white pupillary reflex. When a person shines a light into someone's eyes, the pupil should look red due to the blood vessels found within the eye. However, in children with retinoblastoma, the pupil will seem to be pink or white instead. Children might have lazy eyes, a condition in which both eyes fail to look in the same direction, but this is not always a sign of cancer. In most cases, lazy eyes are caused by weakness in the eye muscles, but retinoblastoma can also cause this phenomenon.

Continue reading to reveal the next sign of childhood cancers.