Acute Myeloid Leukemia Symptoms

Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Introduction

Acute myeloid leukemia or AML is a form of cancer that grows fast affecting your blood and bone marrow. The word leukemia is derived from Greek language that means ‘white blood’ and is used to indicate an increase in abnormal white blood cell growth.

What are Acute Myeloid Leukemia Symptoms?

The bone marrow helps your body fight many infections. The abnormal cells damage its functioning making you more prone to infections. Those affected with AML have uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells within the bone marrow which start replacing normal healthy blood cells.

You are also prone to increased risk of bleeding, one of the many acute myeloid leukemia signs, as the population of healthy blood cells starts to fall dramatically. As a result, there is a rise in numbers of leukemia cells, symptoms begin to appear.

Some of the acute myeloid leukemia signs and symptoms:

• Increased weakness
• Fever
• Loss of appetite
• Pale appearance (overall)
• Easy bruising
• Bleeding nose
• Bleeding from gums
• Bone tenderness or pain
• Breathing problem (shortness of breath)

As the leukemic white blood cells bring about a reduction in normal white blood cell count that fights infection, you can develop fever and become more prone to frequent infections.

Moreover, you may feel unwell and your condition may gradually start to deteriorate. Nonetheless, there may also be other less common signs such as swelling of the gums.

There is also a marked decrease in red blood cells count (that transport oxygen throughout the body) and this can lead to anemia.

You start to feel tired even while performing normal tasks. You may become weak, feel short of breath or your overall appearance may start looking pale.

The platelets are responsible for controlling bleeding. Decreased numbers (due to acute myeloid leukemia) can make you more prone to bleeding or bruising.

Among chief signs of acute myeloid leukemia, high numbers of leukemic cells can cause pain (that can range in severity) in the bones or can lead to painful joints.