Acute Myeloid Leukemia Symptoms
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a subtype of leukemia in which immature blood cells fail to mature and therefore fail to carry out their normal functions.
This disease also goes by the following very similar-sounding names:
- Acute myelogenous leukemia
- Acute myelocytic leukemia
- Acute myeloblastic leukemia
- Acute granulocytic leukemia
Acute Myeloid Leukemia Symptoms
Most of the symptoms associated with acute myeloid leukemia are known as "non-specific symptoms," meaning that they are not exclusive to this disease. Having one of them does not mean a person has AML. Rather, these non-specific symptoms can be found in a host of other diseases and disorders:
- Pale skin
- Unexplained bruising
- Petechiae (pinhead-size red spots) under the skin
- An inability or staggered ability to heal from minor cuts
- Fatigue, lack of energy
- Shortness of breath when carrying out normal everyday things
- Mild unexplained fever
- Night sweats
- Swollen gums
- Frequent minor infections
- Unexplained loss of appetite, subsequent weight loss
- Aching in bones or joints
- Discomfort coming from the upper left side of the stomach
This last symptom might indicate a swollen spleen, something a doctor can determine through clinical exam.
A host of these symptoms does not mean one has developed acute myeloid leukemia. Following an exam by a physician, a patient suspected of having AML will likely require some blood tests, a bone marrow biopsy, and finally, confirmation from a pathologist, who uses several lab techniques to determine the specifics of a cancer.
There are approximately 14,000 new diagnoses of AML in the United States each year. It is generally a disease that affects older people, since the median age at diagnosis is 66. It is an aggressive disease that requires immediate treatment following diagnosis.