Acute Myelocytic Leukemia: Symtomps and Causes

What is acute mylocytic leukemia (AML)?

Acute myelocytic leukemia (AML) is one of the acute cancer of leukemia which impacts the white blood cells, mainly attacking the granulocyte or monocyte types. Apparently, no confirmation can be found related to the name of acute, but in the first time this illness was found, the discovery of this cancer was progressed rapidly, so that it is called chronic or acute. Acute myelogenous leukemia and acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL) are other names for AML and refer to the identical disease.

The cells that make up blood are produced in the bone marrow and the lymph system. The bone marrow and the lymph system is the spongy tissue found in the large bones of the body. The lymph is a milky fluid that contain cells, and this includes the spleen, thymus, and tonsils. In acute leukemias, the bon marrow which makes stem cells mature to form RBCs, WBCs, or platelets. During this process, the maturation of the white blood cells is interrupted which affects the uncontrollable production of normal red blood cells and platelets as well.

Acute leukemias are of two types: acute lymphocytic leukemia and acute myelogenous leukemia. Different types of white blood cells are involved in the two leukemias. In acute lymphocyctic leukemia (ALL), it is the lymphocytes that become cancerous, while the AML is indicated by the uncontrollable growth of monocytes and/ or granulocytes.

Causes and symptoms of acute mylocytic leukemia (AML)

AML is neither contagious nor inherited. However, people who suffer from certain genetic disorders, such as Fanconi anemia, Klinefelter syndrome, Patau syndrome, Bloom syndrome, and Down syndrome, are at greater risk of developing AML than the general population. A child with Down syndrome is roughly 14 times as likely as the average child to develop leukemia.

Any person who has been exposed to radiation at high doses is at heightened risk of developing AML, as are people exposed to benzene, a chemical used in the manufacture of plastics, rubber, medicines, and certain other chemicals including petrochemicals. Another group of people at increased risk for developing AML are those who have been treated for cancer previously. The number of treatment-related cases of AML is increasing particularly in survivors of childhood and adolescent cancers such as Hodgkin's disease, lymphoma, sarcoma, testicular cancer and breast cancer.

The symptoms of AML are generally vague and non-specific. A patient may experience all or some of the following symptoms:

• weakness or chronic fatigue
• fever of unknown origin
• shortness of breath
• weight loss that is not due to dieting or exercise
• frequent bacterial or viral infections
• headaches
• skin rash
• non-specific bone pain
• easy bruising
• bleeding from gums or nose
• blood in urine or stools
• enlarged lymph nodes and/ or spleen
• abdominal fullness

A small minority of patients with AML have a tumor of leukemic cells at diagnosis. Such a tumor may appear in the lung, breast, brain, uterus, ovary, stomach, prostate, or certain other places in the body. Some children with AML present to their doctor with very few symptoms. Anemia is usually present, and this symptom may include fatigue, dizziness, headache, paleness of the skin, or, infrequently, congestive heart failure. Easy bruising, bleeding gums, and nosebleeds may be present, as may fever. There may be swollen gums, bone pain or joint pain, or rarely, an actual tumor. Some infants with AML have skin disorders.