A risk factor is something that raises your chances of getting a health problem.

You can have MDS with or without those listed below. The more you have, the greater your chances of getting it. Ask your doctor what you can to do lower your risk.

MDS is most common in people aged 65 years and older. MDS also happens more often in men than women. But, women are more likely to have a type of MDS that is caused by a certain problem in the genes.

MDS risk is also higher for:

• Smoking—When you smoke, many harmful chemicals get into the body. The risk is higher with the number of cigarettes smoked and years as a smoker.
• Certain inherited diseases such as:
  • Down syndrome
  • Fanconi anemia
  • Neurofibromatosis type 1
• Exposures such as:
  • Having a job in the petroleum, rubber, and agriculture industries, and using certain chemicals such as benzene.
  • Radiation from a nuclear bomb fallout.
  • Radiation therapy, mainly if given with chemotherapy.
  • Certain tests during doctor or dental visits such as x-rays or scans (radiation builds up in the body during a lifetime).
• Chemotherapy to treat other types of cancer. This is mainly true of people who had Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, or acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) as a child.