Multiple Myeloma: What Causes It and Risk Factors A few weeks ago, I was a panelist discussing how Multiple Myeloma patients can thrive during treatment and beyond (March is Multiple Myeloma Awareness Month). After the panel I met with several audience members who purchased my book and one woman said “My uncle was recently diagnosed with this disease and we don’t know why this happened. What is Multiple Myeloma and what are some of the risk factors?” What Is Multiple Myeloma? Multiple Myeloma is a malignancy (cancer) of the body’s plasma cells. Plasma cells are immune system cells that produce antibodies against viruses, bacteria, and fungi that invade the body and cause infection. Plasma cells, also called plasmacytes, are differentiated B-lymphocyte white blood cells. They are secreted immunoglobulin or antibodies. Plasma cells are responsible for humoral immunity, and without their presence, you may be

Multiple Myeloma and The Overlooked Cancer Prevention Strategy Having worked with multiple myeloma clients in the past, the most frequent question I encounter is "What could I have done to prevent this?" Prior to their diagnosis, none of my clients even heard about multiple myeloma, despite it being the second most commonly diagnosed blood cancer in the world. If you're wondering what cancer prevention looks like for multiple myeloma then look no further than body weight. Multiple myeloma (MM) affects 176,000 people worldwide every year. It is one of those cancers that is often under-reported therefore the actual number of new annual diagnoses may be higher than what is reported. MM patients have cancerous plasma cells. Plasma cells are cells of the immune system. These cells make antibodies to viruses, bacteria, and fungi that invade the body and cause infection. The disease process of