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Myelodysplastic / Myeloproliferative Disorders
What are myelodysplastic / myeloproliferative disorders?
Myelodysplastic (my-eh-lo-dis-PLAS-tik)/myeloproliferative (my-eh-lo-pro-LIF-er-a-tiv) disorders are diseases in which the body produces too many or too few white blood cells.
Blood cells are produced in the bone marrow the soft, spongelike tissue in the centre of most bones. All blood cells start out as immature stem cells, which then grow into the 3 major types of mature blood cells:
- Red blood cells, which carry oxygen in the body
- White blood cells, which fight infection and other diseases
- Platelets, which help the blood to clot, preventing bleeding
Myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative disorders are complicated diseases that may take different forms. For example, the stem cells might not mature into healthy blood cells, leaving too few of one or more types of blood cell. Or, the stem cells might multiply too quickly, creating too many of one or more types of blood cell. In either case, the blood cannot function as it should.
The three main types of myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative disorders are:
- Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML)
- Atypical chronic myeloid leukemia (aCML)
- Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML)
Each of these disorders is very rare but can be life-threatening.
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