WPSU’s Health Minute is a collaboration with Penn State’s Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing.
Multiple myeloma is a cancer that attacks plasma cells in the bone marrow and creates abnormal proteins called monoclonal proteins. These proteins crowd out heathy cells and lead to fatigue, anemia, and the inability to fight off infections.
Multiple myeloma can also damage the kidney and bones. Risk factors include obesity, a family history of the disease, being over 45 and being male. It’s also the most common blood cancer in African Americans.
Treatment depends on the stage of the disease and may include chemotherapy, blood transfusion, radiation, or a stem cell transplant to put the disease in remission.
Learn more from the multiple myeloma research foundation at themmrf.org.
