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Polycythemia vera is a neoplastic disease of the bone marrow in the course of which there is an excess of red blood cells. It may be accompanied by an increase in the number of platelets and leukocytes. It is a very dangerous disease because it can turn into acute myeloid leukemia. It is called the red devil among diseases because it appears in hiding, and its first symptoms are often confused with weakness, anemia, exhaustion or stress. The body – literally – becomes poisoned with too many blood cells. The peripheral blood counts allow the diagnosis of abnormalities accompanying the disease.
Polycythemia as a disease
Polycythemia vera, or Vaquez-Osler disease, is a blood disease belonging to myeloproliferative diseases, i.e. those in the course of which there is an overproduction of one or more morphotic components of the blood. In polycythemia vera overproduction of all essential blood components – red blood cells (erythrocytes), granulocytes (a type of leukocytes – white blood cells) and platelets, with a predominance of erythrocytes, can occur. The disease is most often diagnosed between the ages of 40 and 80, and the peak incidence is at the age of 60. Only about 5 percent. patients are diagnosed with the disease before the age of 40.
The reasons
The causes of polycythemia vera are unknown. It has been scientifically shown that ionizing radiation is a factor that increases the risk of its development. There is also a genetic predisposition to develop polycythemia vera. In this case, the disease is caused by a mutation in the JAK2 tyrosine kinase gene.
symptoms
First, there are symptoms related to an increasing number of red blood cells (erythrocytes) and platelets, and an increased volume of blood circulating in the vessels. In polycythemia, blood cells can be produced not only in the bone marrow but also in other organs (such as the liver and spleen), which leads to their enlargement. In many patients polycythemia vera is diagnosed accidentally during the blood count. Too much red blood cells in the blood can make the blood thicker.
You may complain of headache, dizziness, tinnitus, visual disturbances, and bluish-red discoloration of the feet and hands, accompanied by burning sensation (erythromelalgia). Many patients experience itching of the skin that is intensified after a hot bath, and symptoms of gastric ulcer or duodenal ulcer are common. Venous or arterial thrombosis, bleeding or gout symptoms may occur more often than in healthy people.
The non-specific symptoms present in the advanced stage of the disease are: weakness, weight loss, abdominal fullness, abdominal pain due to enlargement of the spleen and liver.
Treatment
All patients with polycythemia vera are treated with blood bleeds and antiplatelet drugs, i.e. acetylsalicylic acid at a prophylactic dose of 75 mg daily (or sometimes oral anticoagulants). It is not possible to cure polycythemia vera completely, but in properly treated patients over 65 years of age, the disease does not shorten the survival time. However, in younger patients, the survival rate is shorter, mainly due to the conversion of polycythemia vera to marrow fibrosis or acute leukemia.
| Name of the disease / condition | Tufted tufted duck |
| Wstęp | Polycythemia vera is a blood disease in which there is an excess of red and white blood cells and platelets. It is a very dangerous disease because it can turn into acute myeloid leukemia |
| symptoms | Overproduction of red and white blood cells and leukocytes |
| causes | There is also a genetic predisposition to develop polycythemia vera |
| leczenie | Blood drains |
| prognosis | Possibility of turning into leukemia |
| prevention | Lack of information |
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