Myelodysplasia (or MDS) is a clonal blood-related malignancy, which does not respond to treatment very well. The disease is presented with cytopenia of all three types of blood cells (red, white, and platelets).

When the disorder in the production of blood cells continued, the different types of blood cells will have an abnormal count and the bone marrow will begin to deteriorate. The MDS syndrome patient will have low or high amount of any or all of these blood cells (red, white, and platelet).

MDS occurs in 5 per 100,000 people; at age 70 and up, about 30 per 100,000. Therefore, MDS cases may grow in number as the population ages.

Physical symptoms include: fatigue, infectious disorders, bleeding, and abnormal pallor.

Without treatment (and even with treatment), patients living with MDS may develop to progressive cytopenias or acute myeloid leukemia(AML). According to medical reports, about one third of patients diagnosed with MDS develop AML, which is commonly known as secondary AML.

Survival chances of patients with MDS were derived from the percentage of bone marrow blasts, the number of cytopenias, and the presence of cytogenetic abnormalities. These are divided into 4 risk categories:

*5.7 years median survival – low risk category

*When median risk is 3.5 years, this is considered intermediate risk

*Another intermediate risk is 1.1 years median risk.

*Median survival of less that 6 months is considered high risk

There are both genetic and environmental factors that can cause MDS. Prolonged exposure to benzene, a known carcinogen, is a factor in the development of MDS. Benzene is used in the manufacturing of such commercial goods as sodas, cigarettes, gasoline and many more. People exposed to benzene though handling, inhaling or ingesting it are usually unaware the the harm it can do.