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BBC News presenter Maryam Moshiri has revealed she is living with blood cancer. <\/b><\/p>\n
Moshiri, who joined the BBC in 2003 and is one of the news channel’s best-known anchors, told the BBC she wanted to share her diagnosis to raise awareness about the disease. <\/p>\n
“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,” the 49-year-old said.<\/p>\n
“I’m going to have to spend the rest of my life being treated for this,” she added.<\/p>\n
Moshiri was diagnosed in November 2024 with polycythaemia vera (PV) – a rare, treatable blood cancer. Although it cannot be cured, it can be managed effectively.<\/p>\n
In PV, your body makes too many red blood cells, which makes the blood thicker than normal.<\/p>\n
It leads to a higher risk of developing blood clots, which can cause a stroke, heart attack or deep vein thrombosis (DVT).<\/p>\n
Symptoms can include headaches, confusion, dizziness and blurred vision.<\/p>\n
“I was told by my consultant that I have this incurable blood cancer,” she said. <\/p>\n
“Mostly I had no symptoms and that’s one of the problems with this disease.<\/p>\n
“The only reason mine was caught was because my GP was so fastidious in the way she did my routine blood tests and immediately sent them for further diagnosis.”<\/p>\n
As part of her initial treatment, the BBC News chief presenter underwent several “debilitating” hour-long sessions of venesections.<\/p>\n
Venesection is a procedure where a needle is put into a vein in the arm to slowly draw the blood out. <\/p>\n
This blood letting can be an effective way to reduce the thickness of the blood. <\/p>\n
“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,” she said. <\/p>\n
“After a while I started feeling extremely unwell and tired. I started losing my hair, I got itchy all over my body, but the main symptom was fatigue.”<\/p>\n
Later, Moshiri was able to get on an immunotherapy treatment called interferon through the NHS, and after some tweaks, she says she is in a better place.<\/p>\n
“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 said. <\/p>\n
“I think it’s really important people understand that this blood cancer is incurable but it’s manageable with the right treatment and you can lead a relatively healthy life.<\/p>\n
“It’s just a question of finding the right treatment and making sure it works for you.”<\/p>\n
She admits she is “not the person I was two years ago” but says she feels “much better”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n