BBC News Presenter Maryam Moshiri Reveals Blood Cancer Diagnosis
BBC News presenter Maryam Moshiri has revealed she is living with blood cancer. Moshiri, one of the corporation's best-known news anchors, shared her diagnosis to raise awareness about the disease.
"It's been two years since my diagnosis and I've felt that I've started to understand the disease a lot better and the way it affects my life. I've got a handle on it to a degree now, so I felt it was really important to raise awareness," she said.
Moshiri was diagnosed with polycythaemia vera (PV) - a rare, treatable blood cancer. Although it cannot be cured, it can be managed effectively. PV causes the body to produce too many red blood cells, making the blood thicker than normal, increasing the risk of blood clots.
*"I was told by my consultant that I have this incurable blood cancer," she revealed. Mostly I had no symptoms, and that's one of the problems with this disease."
Her initial treatment involved several "debilitating" hour-long sessions of venesections, a procedure where blood is drawn from the arm.
"In about a space of five months, I had venesection seven or eight times. So you can imagine my iron levels hit the floor and I felt even more exhausted."
Later, Moshiri began immunotherapy treatment with interferon, which has improved her condition.
"I've only needed one venosection in about 15 months, so that's been really good. The last couple of months have been better than the last two years."
She emphasizes that while the blood cancer is incurable, it is manageable with the right treatment, allowing patients to lead relatively healthy lives.
Moshiri, a mother of three, has had to adjust to her condition, sometimes missing family events or playtime with her children due to exhaustion. However, she feels much better and hopes to continue covering the biggest news stories while living with her condition.