Childhood Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Essay Example

Among the most controversial health issues affecting young children at present include childhood acute myeloid leukemia. It could be realized that it is because of this controversy that researches have been pushed through in order to establish a more defined understanding of the ailment thus improving current procedures of curing the said medical issue. Leukemia is a malignant disease of the blood or a neoplasm that is characterized by the replacement of bone marrow with leukocytes (Viana, 2003). In other words, leukemia is a form of cancer that appears in about 3000 children in the United States every year. This type of leukemia is known as childhood acute myeloid leukemia. Exactly how a child becomes a victim of leukemia is not clear. However, this essay will explain the basic points of understanding that could be taken into account especially in dealing with the ailment among children; thus empowering afflicted families to survive the challenges.

Leukemia’s main characteristics include abnormal white blood cells known as leukemia cells that attack the bone marrow and crowd out normal white blood cells. This can lead to anemia, bleeding, and all types of infections and inflammations. These cells also spread to the lymph nodes and other body organs and cause serious swelling and pain. Generally, leukemia is grouped according to how fast it appears and spreads in the bone marrow and elsewhere in the body. It is either acute or chronic with the first appearing rapidly and the second appearing slowly. Leukemia can also be lymphocytic or that which attacks white blood cells or myelogenous which attacks red blood cells or platelets (Viana, 2003). This characteristic is most closely associated with childhood acute myeloid leukemia.

Childhood acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a “cancer of the blood and bone marrow” and is also called acute myelogenous leukemia, acute myeloblastic leukemia, acute granulocytic leukemia, and acute nonlymphocytic leukemia. These types of cancer which are deemed as acute in nature almost always become worse rapidly if left untreated. Some of the most prominent characteristics and traits of childhood acute myeloid leukemia includes the replacement of healthy red blood cells in the bone marrow with unhealthy myeloid stem cells or lymphoid stem cells. When myeloid stem cells invade the bone marrow, they create one of three types of mature red blood cells–those that carry oxygen to the body, white blood cells that help to fight off infections and diseases, or blood platelets that are used to help stop bleeding, such with a serious cut. Most of the time with AML, the myeloid stem cells become immature white blood cells known as myeloblasts or abnormal white blood cells.

In conclusion, it could be realized how devastating the news of a child acquiring such ailment would be for the parents.  The overall description of leukemia among children is indeed crucial enough to be understood properly. Thus, care for the child will involve intensive physical and emotional support during all phases of the disease, especially during treatment times. Parents must also be prepared for a battery of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures with the goal being to properly identify the exact type of childhood leukemia and how to effectively treat it.

Works Cited

American Cancer Society. Childhood Acute Myeloid Leukemia. http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/cid/documents/webcontent/003095-pdf.pdf. (Retrieved on September 14, 2015).

American Cancer Society. Leukemia–Acute Myeloid (Myelogenous). http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/cid/documents/webcontent/003110-pdf.pdf. (Retrieved on September 14, 2015).

Viana, M (et al). (2003). Acute myeloid leukemia in childhood: fifteen-year experience in a single institution. Jornal de Pediatria.