Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML)

Many of the symptoms are caused because leukaemia can stop your body from making enough normal blood cells. Symptoms vary from person to person depending on the blood cells affected. Possible symptoms include:

• Tiredness (fatigue), shortness of breath, weakness, headaches, pale skin. This is caused by having fewer red blood cells (anaemia).
• Recurrent infections, high temperatures, fever. This is caused by not having enough healthy white blood cells.
• Blood in your urine, gums or stools (poo), unexplained bruising, tiny red spots on your skin. This is caused by not having enough platelets in the blood.
• Serious bleeding.
• Aching bones and joints. This is caused by having too many abnormal cells in your bone marrow.
• Weight loss and/or loss of appetite.
• Lethargy, lack of energy.
• Enlarged lymph nodes in your neck, underarm, stomach or groin.
• Enlarged spleen, poor appetite, swollen tummy or tummy pain.
• Sepsis - you may feel generally unwell, have a high or low temperature, or feel shivery.

Testing for AML when you have no symptoms is called screening. There is no leukaemia screening programme. This is because there have been no tests proven to help predict leukaemia. If you are worried about leukaemia, contact your family doctor (GP).