Immune System is the most indiscernible part of a human body, and proper care is essential in every way. Our agency can function adequately only when the immunity is healthy and able to defend the organ from being attacked by any virus or bacteria.
Although when the immunity is weak enough, then the chances of inclining our body more towards rare diseases increase along with it.
One such not very rare but essential disorder about which awareness is necessary refers to as, Splenomegaly, or what it is in a non-professional term known as Enlarged Spleen.
The immune system is responsible for many roles to be performed in the human body. Spleen is known to be a part of the immune system to execute certain functions.
What is Splenomegaly?
Spleen is a part of a human‘s lymphatic system located just below the rib cage. It is responsible for helping the immune system in storing white blood cells and creating anti-bodies to be able to fight any infection, such as the recent COVID-19 viral infections.
Spleen Enlargement, as we know, is a condition when this Spleen, as mentioned earlier, enlarges or increases in size (according to the physician when the Spleen is 12-20 centimeters, also weighing 400 grams) which is usually of the size of a fist.
The Spleen is mainly responsible for two kinds of white blood cells that are stored by the immune system: B blood cells and T blood cells, which are necessarily needed to fight off infections.
Apart from this, Spleen has a role to play in filtering those bacteria which are generally coated with anti-bodies, and reprocessing the iron contained in hemoglobin.
What causes the enlargement of the Spleen?
There could be some disorder or infection which leads to a wrongly concluding episode of Spleen enlargement. Those disorders could be:
- Infections in Spleen
Spleen is part of the immune system, and it involves shielding the body from all kinds of diseases and infections. In this case, the chances are that an infection in the Spleen could be caused by suffering from conditions such as tuberculosis, HIV, mononucleosis, etc.
- Any Liver Disease
Liver diseases such as Cirrhosis, hepatitis which affects the liver can cause the Spleen to increase in size. Sometimes, suffering from the condition of Hepatosplenomegaly where a virus that might be causing swelling and infection in the liver might be doing the same in the Spleen.
- Disorders related to Blood
When diseases such as leukemia and lymphoma occur inside the body, these cancer cells attack the Spleen resulting in increasing it in size. Experts believe that massive Splenomegaly is majorly visible in the majority of people with blood disorders.
Other reasons of Splenomegaly could be inclusive of:
- Congestive heart failure
- Portal hypertension
- Malaria
- Hodgkin’s Disease
- Parasitic Infections
- Tumors that might have spread from other organs up till the Spleen
Symptoms of Splenomegaly
The symptoms depend on factors like if a person already has cancer and has Splenomegaly due to the same reason, the symptoms would include Night sweats, weight loss due to no apparent reason, fatigue, and weakness. The other common symptoms could include:
- Bleeding easily
- Anemia
- abdomen Bloating
- the feeling of fullness, after ingesting food in little quantity
- frequent Infections
- Discomfort around the area where the Spleen is located; below the rib cage
- fever
- respiratory issues
Diagnosis and Prevention
There are times when the spleen enlargement doesn’t show any appropriate signs to indicate the disorder or illness. But in most cases, if one can identify the symptoms, the best option would be to consult a doctor.
Who might go for liver function tests or other imaging tests to be able to identify the underlying cause of why the Splenomegaly has occurred?
Sometimes, doctors don’t prefer giving antibiotics if the sickness is resulting from a virus or maybe due to any infection.
The antibiotics will only work if the cause of Enlarged Spleen is due to bacteria in question. The physician might suggest you for a Splenectomy (Removal of Spleen).
It is advisable not to play hard sports or activities like hockey while suffering from this illness. While sitting in a car, wear seat belts so that any minor or significant accident doesn’t affect the Spleen causing trauma to other parts of the organ as well in this case.
