Leukemia Essay

Acute Myeloid Leukemia is one of the three types of leukemia that can form in the blood and bone marrow. Mostly called AML, it is the most common type of acute leukemia that is found in adults over 65 years but can increase with age. Acute Myeloid Leukemia starts in the bone marrow but can travel inside the blood. It is defined as the cancer of myeloid, which can be related to the bone marrow, line of blood cells which is caused by rapid growth of abnormal white blood cells that pile up in the bone marrow. It disrupts the production of normal blood cells. The three different types of blood cells that AML would be in are red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets which are a small colorless cell fragment. This type of cancer can get worse quickly if it is not treated or discovered. One interesting fact about AML is that they are classified as different names like acute granulocytic leukemia, acute myelioblastic leukemia, acute myelogenous leukemia, and acute nonmphocytic leukemia.

More than 15,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with it each year. Many researchers don’t have a clear cut reason what can trigger AML but they do have some assumptions. Smoking and exposure to radiation are two of the main ones that could cause AML to happen. Past chemotherapy could trigger AML to either start again or to begin for the first time. Genes and blood disorders can be a factor especially if there is a history of the two in your family. People who are exposed to benzene, which is used as a starting material to make other materials or is used in gasoline and cigarette smoke, have a high risk. Some other people believe that people who are overweight may be at risk. Drinking alcohol while pregnant is one other theory some re...

... middle of paper ...

...f the damaged or diseased stem cells. One other type of therapy patients can do is targeted therapy which is a type of medication that blocks the growth of the cancer cells by fight with targeted molecules that are needed for tumor growth. This therapy is said to be effective than other treatments and less harmful to the cells. Treatments vary depending on cancers and other diseases but many treatments are used to treat different things and types.

Acute Myeloid Leukemia is a rare and most common type of leukemia that is found in adults. It can be cured but the treatments vary and survival rate depends on many factors. People have a 24% of a five-year survival rate. Many people don’t get AML until they are over 65. Other factors like weight and lifestyle depends on your survival rate. AML can be a deadly disease if not treated or not discovered in the early stage.