Blood Platelets - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Low blood platelets counts are the most common cause of bleeding disorders. Because blood plateletss playa vital role in blood clotting, this disorder poses a serious threat to the body’s ability to control bleeding.
The prognosis depends on how well the person responds to treatment of the underlying cause. For example, in drug-induced blood platelets shortage the person may recover immediately if the offending drug is withdrawn.

What Causes It?

A shortage of blood plateletss may be congenital (present at birth) or, more commonly, acquired. In either case, the condition usually results from decreased or defective production of blood plateletss in the bone marrow (as occurs in leukemia, aplastic anemia, or poisoning with certain drugs) or from increased blood platelets destruction outside the marrow caused by an underlying disorder (such as cirrhosis of the liver, disseminated intravascular coagulation, or severe infection).
Less commonly, a low blood platelets count results from sequestration or blood platelets loss. An acquired low blood platelets count may result from the use of certain drugs.

What are its Symptoms?

A blood platelets shortage typically produces a sudden onset of red spots or bruising on the skin or bleeding into any mucous membrane. Nearly all people with this disorder lack other symptoms, although some may complain of malaise, fatigue, and general weakness. In adults, large blood-filled blisters characteristically appear in the mouth. In a severe low blood platelets count, hemorrhage may lead to rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, loss of consciousness, and death.

How is it Diagnosed?

The doctor obtains a history (including a drug history), performs a physical exam, and orders coagulation studies to provide information on blood platelets count and bleeding time. If increased blood platelets destruction is causing the low blood platelets count, bone marrow studies are ordered.

How is it Treated?

The preferred treatment is to eliminate the underlying cause or, in a drug-induced blood platelets shortage, to discontinue the offending drug. Other possible treatments may include giving corticosteroids or immune globulin to increase blood platelets production. Blood platelets transfusions are helpful only in treating complications of severe hemorrhage.

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Volvulus - Symptoms and Surgerry

What is this condition?

Volvulus is a 180-degree or more twist of the intestine. The twist pinches blood vessels and cuts off the blood supply to that section of the bowel.

What causes it?

The twist may be caused by an unusual curve in the intestine, something swallowed, or an adhesion. In some cases, however, the cause is unknown. The most common site, especially in adults, is the S-shaped section of the intestine before it reaches the rectum. In children, volvulus usually occurs in the small bowel.

What are its symptoms?

Without immediate treatment, volvulus can lead to strangulation of the twisted bowel loop, loss of blood supply, deterioration, perforation, and fatal peritonitis when the bowel material infects the abdominal cavity.

How is it diagnosed?

The doctor will recognize the person’s description of sudden, severe abdominal pain and can probably feel the bulge of the intestine. Other special tests include the following:

• Barium enema X-ray shows typical volvulus shapes.
• The person’s white blood cell count will be higher than normal.

How is it Treated?

Surgery is recommended for children with midgut volvulus. For adults with lower colon volvulus, the doctor will use a scope to check for packed feces. If possible, the doctor removes the blockage by inserting a scope or a long rectal tube to deflate the bowel.

If volvolus surgery is required and the bowel is distended but healthy, the surgeon will untwist the bowel. If there’s tissue damage, the damaged part will be cut away and the healthy intestine reconnected.

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Treatment Options for Treatment of the Disease

What is this Condition?

Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, a low platelet count that results from platelet destruction by the immune system, may be acute or chronic. The acute form usually affects children between ages 2 and 6; the chronic form mainly affects adults under age 50, especially women between ages 20 and 40.
The prognosis for the acute form is excellent; nearly 4 out of 5 people recover without treatment. The prognosis for the chronic form is good; remissions lasting weeks or years are common, especially among women.

What Causes it?

Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura may be an autoimmune disorder, because antibodies that reduce the life span of platelets have been found in nearly all persons with this disorder. The acute form usually follows a viral infection, such as German measles or chicken pox, and can follow immunization with a live virus vaccine. The chronic form is often linked to immune disorders such as lupus. It’s also linked to drug reactions.

What are its Symptoms?

symptoms include red or purple spots on the skin and mucosal bleeding from the mouth, nose, or gastrointestinal tract. Hemorrhage is rare. Purpuric lesions may occur in vital organs, such as the lungs, kidneys, or brain, and may prove fatal.
The acute form usually begins suddenly and without warning, causing easy bruising, nosebleeds, and bleeding gums. The chronic form begins gradually.

How is Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura Diagnosed?

Results of lab tests, including platelet count and bleeding time, suggest the diagnosis. Anemia may be present if bleeding has occurred. Bone marrow studies may also provide important information.

How is it Treated?

The acute form may be allowed to run its course without intervention, or it may be treated with glucocorticoids or immune globulin. For the chronic form, corticosteroids may be the initial treatment of choice. People who fail to respond within 1 to 4 months or who need a high dosage are candidates for surgical removal of the spleen. The platelet count typically increases spontaneously after this procedure.

What can a Person Suffering with this Disease Do?

Avoid aspirin and Advil, which can cause bleeding.

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Thalassemia - Causes and Symptoms of Thalassemia

In this disorder an inherited defect prevents the formation of normal amounts of hemoglobin A, the type of hemoglobin that is found in the red blood cells after the first few months of life. As a partial compensation, the cells contain hemoglobin F, a type of hemoglobin that is usually found only in newborn babies. However, only a relatively small amount of hemoglobin F is made in adults who have thalassemia, so their red blood cells contain less hemoglobin than normal. In addition, the majority of the red blood cells produced in this condition are destroyed within the bone marrow, and those that remain can survive only a short time.
The full-blown form of the disorder, called thalassemia major, occurs only if you inherit the defect from both of your parents. It produces severe anemia. When you inherit the defect from only one parent, the result is the thalassemia “trait.” This rarely causes any symptoms or disability.

What are the symptoms?

The symptoms of thalassemia major are similar to those of hemolytic anemia . They include paleness, tiredness, weakness, breathlessness and palpitations, or increased awareness of your heartbeat. A child who has the disease will be relatively inactive and will also be unable to keep up with his or her playmates.

What are the risks?

Thalassemia trait is several times more common than thalassemia major. Both forms of the disorder are relatively common in per­sons from the Mediterranean area, the Middle East and the Far East.
If you have the trait, you are at little or no risk. If you have thalassemia major, repeated blood transfusions are needed to treat the anemia. This treatment eventually causes a build-up of iron in your body, which damages the liver and the heart. Atone time, this led to death from liver or heart failure. There is now a treatment available that makes it possible to remove the iron.

What should be done?

If you or your child displays any of the symptoms described, see your physician, who will consider the possibility of thalassemia, especially if this disease is known to run in your family. Initially the doctor will arrange for a blood sample to be taken and tested to confirm or reject this possibility.
If you have any form of the disease in your family, even as the trait, and you are considering having a child, be sure to see your physician about the possibility of your child being affected by the disease.

What is the treatment?

The underlying genetic defect that causes thalassemia cannot now be cured. If you have the disease, regular blood transfusions throughout your life will relieve the symptoms of anemia, and it is now possible to use only young red cells in the transfusions. These survive longer, and therefore you can reduce the frequency of the transfusions. Also, you need a drug that causes your body to eliminate excess iron.

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Sickle-Cell Anemia - How to Cope up with Sickle-Cell Anemia?

In the inherited disease called sickle-cell anemia, the red blood cells contain an abnormal hemoglobin, called hemoglobin S. If you have this disease, you have no normal hemoglobin in your red blood cells, because you have inherited a sickle-cell gene from each of your parents. This condition must be distinguished from sickle-cell trait, in which you inherit only one sickle-cell gene from one parent. Then you have red cells that contain half normal hemoglobin and half hemoglobin S, and your health is not impaired. In addition to hemolysis, or premature destruction of red blood cells, hemoglobin S causes red cells of persons with sickle-cell anemia to become deformed in shape, or “sickled,” especially in parts of the body where the amount of oxygen is relatively low. These abnormal blood cells do not flow smoothly through the capillaries, or smaller blood vessels. They may clog the vessels, and prevent blood from reaching the tissues. This blockage causes anoxia, or lack of oxygen, which makes the sickling worse. Attacks of this kind are called sickle-cell “crises.” They can be very painful.

What are the symptoms?

If you have sickle-cell anemia, you will have all the symptoms of anemia . In addition, you may have occasional sickle-cell crises, which produce attacks of pain in the bones and abdomen. You may also develop blood clots in the lungs, kidneys, brain, and most other organs.
How often crises occur varies a great deal from one person with the disease to another. Crises are more likely to occur during infections and after an accident or injury. They also occur with anesthesia and surgery if appropriate precautions are not taken.
Both the sickle-cell trait and sickle-cell anemia are virtually unknown except in people of African descent and in persons from parts of Italy, Greece, Arabia and India. About 1 in every 1000 black Americans has sickle-cell anemia.

What are the risks?

There is virtually no risk from sickle-cell trait, but a man and woman who both have the trait can produce a child with sickle-cell anemia. If you have sickle-cell anemia, you risk painful crises. Abnormalities of bone growth and severe infection from certain bacteria may also occur. Severe sickle-cell crises can damage most organs in your body by impairing blood flow, and this damage can lead to death from heart failure kidney failure or stroke.

What should be done?

If you or your child displays any of the symptoms described, see your physician, who will consider the possibility of sickle-cell anemia, especially if the disease is known to run in your family. Analysis of a blood sample will disclose whether the disease is present.
If you are of African descent and you are considering getting married or having a child, it is wise for you to be tested for sickle-cell trait. Because the trait is relatively common in the black population, about 6 of every 1000 black couples will have the capability of producing a child with sickle-cell anemia.

What is the treatment?

There is now no cure for an inherited disease such as sickle-cell anemia, but the symptoms can be treated. Crises of acute pain are the most common problem. These are treated with painkillers, and you often have to be admitted to the hospital for them. It is extremely important that you do everything possible to maintain good health, and that you obtain prompt treatment for infections, injuries and other illnesses. Also, you should see a physician regularly who is thoroughly familiar with the disease. Special precautions are necessary before you have any surgery, including dental surgery. Also, you should not fly in an un pressurized airplane or be at altitudes above about 6000 feet, at least not without special precautions and instructions.

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