The Big Deal About Primary Thrombocythemia
There is a blood disorder that can make an individual feel a tingling in the fingers, hands or feet as well as perhaps to feel a coldness in them too. They may feel dizzy, weak or fatigued. Primary thrombocythemia is a disorder in which the bone marrow produces too many platelets, which can lead to abnormal blood clotting and bleeding. Currently there is no known cause for the blood disorder but there are blood tests that can detect when a person has primary thrombocythemia.
Thrombocythemia is usually diagnosed by blood test but doctors will usually do a bone marrow biopsy to verify the diagnosis.
Individuals with thrombocythemia are given treatments that are designed to suppress the production of platelets and that usually will help relieve the symptoms.
The symptoms are related to blockage of small and larger blood vessels that can cause blood clots. It is usually the older patients that experience the blood clots that cause blockage in the larger vessels that can lead to stroke or heart attack. They will feel sensations in their hands and feet that are abnormal feelings and is usually what prompts them to seek medical attention.
The individual may also notice frequent nosebleeds or the doctor may feel an enlarged spleen or liver upon palpation during a physical examination. The patient may here a doctor or hematologist say that his/her platelets are “clumping”.
There are actually two different thrombocythemia’s – primary and secondary. Your doctor will explain which one you have. One major difference between the two is that primary thrombocythemia has an unknown cause and secondary thrombocythemia has a known cause. Your doctor will look for other medical conditions that you have that may contribute to the increased platelet count. One condition that your doctor will want to rule out when diagnosing you is myelocytic leukemia. This disease is a blood disease and it can also make your platelet count increase to abnormally high counts.
Doctors and hematologists will treat thrombocythemia by giving the patient medications such as hydroxyurea and anagrelide to decrease the platelet count. This will thin out the blood and decrease the likelihood of blood clots. Once the platelet count is once again within the normal range for platelets the doctor will adjust the medication so that the platelet count will stabilize and remain as much as possible within the normal range this requires frequent blood tests to check this count.
Other treatments may be used in combination with the drug therapy and may include plateletpheresis, which is a procedure that removes platelets, and then the blood is returned to the person receiving the treatment. This procedure is normally reserved for emergency situations.
So, what is the big deal with thrombocythemia? As you may have guessed, if the blood disorder is not caught in time blood clots can form and if they do so in large vessels leading to the lungs, brain or heart the patient can be in grave danger.
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