Nasty side effects

[springa]

My mom has a medical condition that is basically the opposite of hemophilia - she has a platelet count that is much too high. She took medication for this for over a year, but then they took her off of it a couple of months ago. It turns out now that it apparently did a good job of reducing her platelet count, but it also reduced her red blood

Comments

[zanzara]

Best wishes to your mom. How did they discover her condition? Does it have a name?

[springa]

The technical term for her condition is thrombocytosis - the body just makes too many platelets. She was first diagnosed with it several years ago. I believe that way it was first discovered was this - mom sometimes develops bruise-like markings on her skin in places where she hasn't had anything happen that should cause a bruise. This actually happens because all the extra platelets will sometimes cause tiny clots to spontaneously form in tiny blood vessels just under the skin. The clot blocks the vessel, and it bursts open. This causes the bruising effect. She told her doctor about it, and they suspected this disorder and did a platelet count that showed the platelet levels were almost 10 times higher than normal level. The greatest danger from this is that it increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes, both of which are basically caused by blood clots.