Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has Philadelphia chromosome positive chronic myeloid lukemia PH+CHML, a cancer of the blood and bone marrow.

What is Chronic Myeloid Lukemia?

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar reveals he has always kept his life private, but for this he wants to go public. “I’ve never been a person to share my private life. But I can help save lives. It’s incumbent on someone like me to talk about this.” Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA’s all time leading scorer.

Abdul-Jabbar was surprised to find out he had it, saying he was in good health. Abdul-Jabbar admits he has remained in shape after the NBA better than perhaps anyone in the league. Abdul-Jabbar - an early advocate of yoga - found out about the lukemai one year ago. He says his prognosis is good and he is responding well to treatment.

Chronic Myeloid Lukemia strikes 45000 adults per year with the median age of diagnosis as age 67. Cancer.org describes Chronic Myeloid Lukemia as follows:

“Many people with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) do not have symptoms when it is diagnosed. The leukemia is often found when their doctor orders blood tests for an unrelated health problem or during a routine checkup. Even when symptoms are present, they are often vague and non-specific.

“Signs and symptoms of chronic myeloid leukemia

“Symptoms of CML can include the following:

* weakness
* fatigue
* night sweats
* weight loss
* fever
* bone pain
* an enlarged spleen (felt as a mass under the left side of the ribcage)
* pain or a sense of “fullness” in the belly (especially after eating even a small meal)

“But these aren’t just symptoms of CML. They can occur with other cancers, as well as many non-cancerous conditions.

“Some patients have bone pain or joint pain caused by leukemia cells spreading from the marrow cavity to the surface of the bone or into the joint.”