This results in anemia, causing paleness, weakness and fatigue. White blood cells fight infections by destroying bacteria, viruses and foreign matter in the blood and help build immunity to disease. In leukemia, white blood cells don't function normally. This results in infections occurring repeatedly because the leukemic white cells are unable to fight off bacteria or viruses. An extremely high number of abnormal white blood cells are produced, flooding the bone marrow.
Platelets are tiny blood cells formed in the bone marrow.
They are essential for clotting. In leukemia, platelet production goes down. This results in excessive bleeding, bruising and hemor-rhaging because the blood won't clot. Both acute and chronic leukemia cause the same effects, except those of chronic leukemia are less dramatic. In chronic lymphocytic leukemia , the main effect may be simply an increase in lymphocytes circulating in the blood and bone marrow.