What is the full form of ITP

ITP: Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura

ITP stands for Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura. It is also known as immune thrombocytopenic purpura. It is a bleeding disorder in which the platelet count becomes very low. It usually occurs when a person?s immune system starts working against its own body and destroys platelets which are responsible for normal blood clotting. So a person suffering from ITP may bruise or bleed easily due to the shortage of platelet in the blood. It can affect people of all ages and affects women more often than men.

Symptoms:

• Easy or excessive bleeding than usual
• Bruising areas on the skin due to bleeding under the skin
• Bleeding gums
• Blood in urine or stool
• Heavy menstrual bleeding

Diagnosis

There are various health conditions that may cause low platelet count. To find out if the low platelet count is due to ITP, the healthcare specialist may study the symptoms, medical history and perform a physical examination including the following tests.

Complete blood count (CBC): It is a blood test used to determine the blood cells including platelets. In the blood sample of a person with ITP, the RBCs and WBCs count are usually normal but the platelet count is low.

Bone marrow exam: It is performed to check if the bone marrow producing sufficient platelets or not. So, this test is used to rule out the other possible reasons for low platelet count.

Types:

It is of two types: Acute ITP and Chronic ITP.

Acute ITP: It is temporary or short-term ITP that lasts less than 6 months and mainly affects children. It often occurs due to a viral infection.

Chronic ITP: It is long lasting, may continue for 6 or more months. It mainly affects adults, mostly women than men.

Treatment

like how often and how much a person is bleeding and how low is the platelet count. Its treatment gives emphasis on increasing the number of platelets or to slow down the loss of platelets.

The acute (short-term) ITP often goes away within few weeks or months. Medicines are often used as the first course of treatment. The mild cases of ITP usually don't require any treatment except regular monitoring of the platelet levels along with medication. As the platelet count rises the frequency of the medicines may be reduced. In severe cases of ITP, when medicines are not able to maintain the platelet level, the spleen may be removed to slow down the destruction of the platelets.