Acute Myelogenous Leukemia: The Most Common Form of Leukemia
Acute myelogenous leukemia or AML is a type of cancer that targets the blood and the bone marrow. The blood cells inside the human body are composed of platelets called red blood cells and white blood cells. AML patients have a lack sufficient amounts of red or white blood cells; in some cases the said cells materialize at an abnormal or uncontrollably rapid pace, which results in the illness progressing and developing inside the human body.
Statistics in recent times indicate that in the United States alone, every year there are approximately 11,900 new cases diagnosed. Studies also indicate that the average age of a person suffering from AML is 65; the studies further show that acute myelogenous leukemia is most commonly developed through benzene exposure, and is not contagious or hereditary.
What is Benzene?
Benzene is a dangerous chemical used in manufacturing processes and is used as an additive in other chemicals. Benzene is found in oil, dyes, plastic and rubbers and there are also small amounts of benzene found in detergents, drugs and pesticides. Even being exposed to a minimal amount of benzene is linked to different forms of cancer such as acute myelogenous leukemia. It continues to be a risk in the industrial workplace. People who have been exposed to benzene have experienced confusion, lightheadedness, and anemia.
Benzene exposure can lead to health complications such as:
*Leukemia and other forms of cancer
*Development of anemia
*Feeling dizzy and confused
*Immune system depressed
Acute Myelogenous Leukemia’s Symptoms
Patients who suffer from acute myelogenous leukemia are commonly unaware that they have been exposed to benzene. This is exposure often occurs through accidental ingestion or inhalation due to the nature of their work, or in their immediate surroundings. Benzene exposure over a prolonged period of time can result to acute myelogenous leukemia and other fatal diseases, which are sadly oftentimes diagnosed too late for the fatal end-results to be reversed.
Patients who have acute myelogenous leukemia experience the following symptoms:
*Pain in the bone or joints
*Extreme tiredness and breathlessness
*Reccuring infections
*Abdominal swelling
