The median age when AML is diagnosed ranges between 63 and 71 years in the UK, Canada, Australia and Sweden, compared with 40 to 45 years in India, Brazil and Algeria.AML accounts for about 90% of all acute leukemias in adults, but is rare in children. The rate of therapy-related AML (AML caused by previous chemotherapy) is expected to rise with an increase in the use of chemotherapy, an ageing population and more patients surviving their initial chemotherapy treatment; therapy-related disease accounts for just under 10% of all cases of AML. AML is slightly more common in men, with a male-to-female ratio of 1.3:1 to 1.4:1. Incidence is also seen to differ by ethnicity, with caucasians having higher recorded incidences and the lowest recorded incidences being in Pacific Islanders and native Alaksans.In the UK, AML accounts for 31% of all leukemia cases, and around 3,100 people were diagnosed with the disease each year in 2016–2018. History
The first published description of a case of leukemia in medical literature dates to 1827 when French physician Alfred-Armand-Louis-Marie Velpeau described a 63-year-old florist who developed an illness characterized by fever, weakness, urinary stones, and substantial enlargement of the liver and spleen. Velpeau noted the blood of this person had a consistency "like gruel", and speculated the appearance of the blood was due to white corpuscles. In 1845, a series of people who died with enlarged spleens and changes in the "colors and consistencies of their blood" was reported by the Edinburgh-based pathologist J.H.
Calfactant, also known as Infasurf, is an intratracheal suspension derived from the natural surfactant in calf lungs. It is used in premature infants with lung surfactant deficiency that causes infant respiratory distress syndrome (IRDS). Mechanism of action
Lung surfactant is essential for effective ventilation as it modifies alveolar surface tension. IRDS is caused by a lung surfactant deficiency. Calfactant serves as a substitute for the natural surfactant. == References ==