Thrombocytosis is a condition where the body produces too many platelets in the blood, which can lead to clotting problems. It can be primary or secondary and caused by various health conditions or medications. Symptoms include numbness, bleeding, and unusual clotting. Treatment options include aspirin, anagrelide, and platelet apheresis. Long-term struggles can lead to myelofibrosis, which requires treating individual symptoms.
Thrombocytosis is a health condition in which the body produces too many platelets in the blood. An individual can develop primary thrombocytosis, in which the condition has no known cause, or secondary thrombocytosis, in which the condition develops due to another health problem. Health conditions that can cause secondary thrombocytosis include hemolytic anemia, cancer, inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, heart attack, infections, surgery, kidney disorders, or allergic reactions. Some medications can also cause secondary thrombocytosis, including tretinoin, vincristine, and epinephrine.
Individuals who develop this condition often experience no symptoms and the disease is diagnosed during a routine blood test. For those experiencing symptoms, they include numbness in the hands or feet, headache, chest pain, weakness, vision changes, fainting, bleeding from the nose, gums, mouth or digestive tract, and bruising.
Adding too many platelets to the blood can create problems with the function of platelets in the body. Blood platelets are the portion of blood responsible for sticking together to form clots when an injury occurs. An overabundance of platelets can lead to clotting problems in the body. The most serious symptom of this disease is the development of unusual clotting, which can lead to heart attacks and strokes.
A patient who experiences symptoms of thrombocytosis or shows an elevated platelet count in a routine blood test will undergo a procedure known as a bone marrow aspiration. In this process, the healthcare professional will remove and examine a sample of bone marrow. If the patient has no symptoms of thrombocytosis, your doctor will monitor your condition, but no treatment is required.
For those patients who experience symptoms related to their condition, a variety of medical treatments are available. Aspirin is used to prevent clots from forming. Drugs such as anagrelide are used to slow down the bone marrow’s production of platelets. In individuals with severe cases of thrombocytosis, a procedure known as platelet apheresis is performed. In platelet apheresis, a special machine is used to draw blood from the body. The machine filters out the excess platelets and the other blood components are returned to the body.
Long-term struggles with this condition can lead to a rare condition known as myelofibrosis. In this condition, the bone marrow is eventually replaced with scar tissue. Myelofibrosis causes symptoms such as anemia, fatigue, weakness, and an enlarged spleen and liver. Treatment for myelofibrosis typically requires treating the individual symptoms that the patient is experiencing.
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