Thrombocythemia and thrombocytosis essentially means you are suffering from the same health outcome just for different reasons. What these conditions have in common is your blood contains a higher than normal number of platelets. These two distinct conditions are so named because platelets are also referred to as thrombocytes.
So what is their basic difference? What’s causing them.
Causes
Thrombocythemia is the term used when another health condition or factor is not the cause for your high platelet count. Instead, your problem arises from faulty stem cells in the bone marrow making too many (usually abnormal) platelets and why this over production occurs frequently isn’t known. Although, a genetic mutation can be the cause for it.
Thrombocythemia is part of the myeloproliferative group of disorders, which also includes polycythemia, myelofibrosis and myelogenous leukemia. Should the abundance of platelets not happen in conjunction with another blood cell disorder, then it is designated as primary or essential thrombocythemia.
In the event your high platelet count is caused by another condition or situation, then it is labeled thrombocytosis, aka secondary thrombocytosis. With this condition your platelets are normal. And thrombocytosis is far more common than thrombocythemia.
Diseases, conditions or contributing factors that can cause your platelet count to rise include:
- inflammation
- drug reaction
- spleen removal
- hemolytic anemia
- iron deficiency anemia
- strenuous physical activity
- infectious disease ~ tuberculosis
- inflammatory disease ~ connective tissue, IBD
- cancer ~ lung, intestinal, breast, ovarian, lymphoma
For some, the high platelet count was their first indication of cancer.
Symptoms
For many, their thrombocytosis or thrombocythemia cause no symptoms and is generally discovered in the results of a routine blood test. When excessive platelets do cause a problem, then your symptoms are typically associated with blood clots and excessive bleeding. Symptoms are more likely to occur if you have thrombocythemia because your platelets are abnormal and the count can be extremely high.
A broad range of symptoms can be caused by a blood clot depending on where it occurs, yet some of them are:
- nausea
- fainting
- dyspnea
- seizures
- dizziness
- headache
- weakness
- chest pain
- temporary vision changes
- peripheral burning, numbness, tingling
As with any condition causing blood clots, you are at a higher risk of suffering from a transient ischemic attack or stroke.
Symptoms you may notice due to excessive bleeding are:
- nosebleeds
- bruise easily
- bloody stools
- bleeding gums
- prolonged bleeding after medical procedure, tooth extraction
Another reason for bleeding with very high platelet counts is von Willebrand disease.
Again, if you have thrombocytosis then the chances you’ll experience any symptoms associated with blood clots or bleeding is substantially lower, unless you have severe atherosclerosis.
Treatment
Treatment for thrombocythemia may not be necessary if your condition is stable and you have no symptoms. There are drugs and procedures available should complications arise from clotting and bleeding symptoms. Low dose aspirin is a drug used to thin your blood to help prevent blood clots. Drugs that can be used to decrease your platelet count include hydroxyurea (most commonly used), interferon-alpha and anagrelide. And plateletpheresis is a procedure used in emergencies to quickly reduce your platelet count by removing them.
Treatment for thrombocytosis primarily focuses on correcting its fundamental cause.