Hello!
I had gone through your query and understand your concern.
Polycythemia vera is a disorder of the bone marrow. It mainly causes too much production of red blood cells, although the numbers of white blood cells and platelets are also increased.These excess cells thicken the blood and cause complications, such as such as a risk of blood clots or bleeding.
Polycythemia vera isn't common and it usually develops slowly.
Possible complications of polycythemia vera include:
-Blood clots (because the blood is thicken than normal).This can cause a stroke, a
heart attack, or blockage of an artery in your lungs (
pulmonary embolism) or a
deep vein thrombosis.
-Problems due to high levels of red blood cells.
-Enlarged spleen (
splenomegaly)
-Skin problems (itching,burning and
tingling sensation in skin).
The most serious possible complication of this disease is
acute leukemia.
Polycythemia vera is a chronic condition that can't be cured.
The goal of treatment is to reduce the thickness of the blood and prevent bleeding and clotting.
This treatment can prevent complications from this disease and decrease or eliminate the disease's symptoms.
Treatment include:
-Phlebotomy,which is a method that is used to decrease blood thickness. One unit of blood (about 1 pint) is removed weekly until the hematocrit level is less than 42.
-If phlebotomy alone doesn't help , medications, such as hydroxyurea, to suppress bone marrow's ability to produce blood cells may be used
-Low-dose of aspirin to reduce the risk of blood clots.
Hope my answer has helped.
Take care
Dr.Rovena