Polycythemia is a medical term used when the red blood cell count increases in the blood. Or the same could be understood as the decreased volume of plasma in the blood. There are two kinds of Polycythemia Polycythemia Vera & secondary Polycythemia. The former is the result of the bone marrow disorder. It is the bone marrow is where the red cells are produced. When the bone marrow produces more red cells the same would result in Polycythemia Vera; whereas, the latter is caused to people who are living at high altitudes due to lack of adequate oxygen and due to smoking as well.
The cause of the Polycythemia Vera is primarily due to the malfunctioning within the bone marrow. This is quite a rare medical condition and is seen affecting men when they are in their 60’s. The actual cause is still not clear and there are researches going to find out the same. This could be genetic as well. It could be linked to secondary causes like tumors releasing erythropoietin and chronic hypoxia.
The sign and symptoms of Polycythemia Vera would differ from person to person. In some cases there would be no signs or symptoms getting to the surface. The other symptoms of Polycythemia would be Headache, Breathlessness, Weakness, General itching, Facial redness, Enlarged spleen, Enlarged liver, Tiredness, Disturbed vision, Dizziness, Flushing, Bloodshot eyes, Bleeding spleen. The sign and symptoms of Secondary Polycythemia would be more to do with the underlying factors of this problem rather than of the symptoms of Polycythemia itself like for example, chronic lung diseases.
The risk factors for Polycythemia are long standing smoke, exposure to carbon monoxide, living at high altitudes; people with genetic mutations are more prone to get affected.
Like any other medical condition the treatment of Polycythemia would be depended upon the cause of Polycythemia. Phlebotomy which means letting blood or drawing blood is an indispensable part of the treatment procedure. Medication is used to control the situation as well. However, these drugs would have side effects and therefore the use of the same is limited.
In case the Polycythemia is not treated and it is allowed to expand its wings, this problem can lead to many other medical conditions like – the blood would become thicker. This would lead to higher risk of thrombus. This means that the clots would lead to stokes, heart attacks and like which eventually push the patient towards death. The untreated Polycythemia could lead to blood cancer as well. It can over burden the kidney and the kidney can fail as well due to this exhausting over burdening.
Polycythemia can be prevented as well. The Polycythemia caused by exposing oneself to smoke or carbon monoxide could be avoided the situations which have this risk involved. By controlling factors which can lead to heart failure, high blood pressure and diabetes, Polycythemia could be prevented. Having said that all the different kinds of Polycythemia could be prevented by the above mentioned.
Author Resource:-
http://www.womenscenter.com/ Dr. James S. Pendergraft opened the Orlando Women's Center in March 1996 to provide a full range of health care for women.
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