d bruising. Anemia is caused by the decreased production of normal red blood cells. Leukemic cells are actually abnormal white blood cells. As these cells clone themselves they increase the concentration of white blood cells in the blood stream. Chronic leukemia seems to progresses more slowly and permits greater numbers of more mature functional cells to be made.
             Now that I have presented the background for the disease itself, it's time to look at it from the "Multiple Causation Theory." This theory has five basic categories: biological/genetic, demographic, environmental, psychological, and social interaction. Before I discuss these categories, I must first present the information that the theory is concerned with. And that is a) the incidence of new cases and b) the prevalence or total number of illness within a given population.
             It was estimated that there would be 30,200 new cases of leukemia in the United States in 1999. There would be equal proportions are acute leukemia and chronic types (www.leukemia.org). Most cases occur in older adults; more than half of all cases occur after the age of 60. Leukemia is expected to strike ten times as many adults as children in 1999. About 27,900 cases compared with 2,300 in children, ages 0-14. The most common types of leukemia in adults are acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), with an estimated 10,100 new cases annually; and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), with some 7,800 new cases in 1999. The most common form of the leukemia in children is acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). It accounts for about 3
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