Risks Factors of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
There is a lot of debate around the main cause of lymphoma, and researchers have been unable to find it; a great number of factors are responsible for raising the risk of having non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. These risk factors include;
Drugs that weaken the immune system
Consumption of certain drugs such as Azathioprine, mycophenolate mofetil, anti-TNF drugs, ciclosporin, and methotrexate suppresses the immune system’s activity. Patients that have had organ transplants in the past are at higher risk of having non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma when they consume these drugs. These drugs should only be used when prescribed by medical doctors, and instructions and guidelines are given should be followed to prevent weakening of the immune system. The immune system can also be suppressed by smoking, alcohol, and unbalanced nutrition.
Exposure to certain viral and bacterial infection
Different kinds of viral and bacterial infections are responsible for increasing the risk of patients’ lymphoma. Viruses responsible are Epstein Barr infection, human T-lymphotropic virus 1(HTLV-1) [5], Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, human herpesvirus 8, hepatitis c, and HIV, while examples of bacteria are helicobacter pylori [6] caused by an ulcer. The immune system tries to fight against these infections by producing lymphocytes. Excess production of these cells eventually leads to lymphocytes with defective DNA structure causing lymphoma. Epstein Barr virus (EBV) [7] is responsible for 40% of lymphoma cases.