Sports

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid (CML) Leukemia

by Jordan Yerman | November 10, 2009 at 07:33 am

479 views | 12 Recommendations | 1 comment

Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid (CML) Leukemia, a rare form of cancer of the white blood cells. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA's all-time leading scorer, is the inventor of the Sky Hook, which pretty much every kid has attempted on the school basketbal court at least once.

In Kareem Abdul Jabbar's case it showed up during a checkup as his white blood cell count being much higher than expected. CML is a clonal bone marrow stem cell disorder but its highly treatable and the survival rate is such that Kareem can expect to live a normal life.

CML is treatable, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is currently on oral medication. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar says that he wants to draw attention to CML in the same way as Magic JOhnson drew mainstream attention to living with HIV.

He is a paid spokesman for the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis, which makes a drug that treats the illness.

More on CML here.

0 See all footage | View Slideshow

Share: email story | add to any | | facebook | stumbleupon

recommend This comment thread is now closed

margaretdian

at 10:17 on November 10th, 2009

Hoping for a good continuous report for this fine man. Often part of the reason for high white blood cell counts is also because of the anemia the exposure to glycol ether causes (Exposure looks like 'the flu) High white blood cells are also part of the advance anemia not often found by doctors, or if so, they don't suspect exposure to glycol ethers for causing AIHA. valdezlink.com/re/flu/swine/glycolether.htm