Why are platelets in the blood lowered, what does this mean?

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Platelets are certain red blood cells that are fully responsible for prompt and timely blood clotting. Platelets, on average, live about ten days.

In adult men, women, in pregnant women, and in children older than one year old, the blood of the platelets present in the blood should be approximately 180-320 * 109 / L.

If the blood platelets are below normal, it means the presence of a disease called thrombocytopenia.

Reduced platelets in the blood - a symptom of anxiety and requiring detailed examination. The fact is that most often thrombocytopenia is found in diseases such as lupus erythematosus, liver cirrhosis, sepsis, as well as malignant tumor processes with metastasis. Therefore, if the level of platelets in the blood is significantly reduced, then a detailed diagnosis should be carried out without delay in order to find out what this means.

The main external symptoms of a decreased level of platelets in the blood can be attributed to a significant increase in the time that is necessary to stop any bleeding: in addition, the patient begins to show periodic processes of ejection of blood from the mucous membranes of the mouth and nose, spontaneous bruises appear in any part of the body.

What are the functions of platelets?

Thrombocyte cells in the vascular space serve as a kind of supervisor for his integrity. If the wall of the vessel, where they are at a particular time, is not damaged, the platelets move freely with the blood stream, being in a spherical shape.

Thus, being distributed in the bloodstream along the walls of the vessels and interacting with them, they participate in the :

• clot formation, the primary thrombus, which provides a temporary stop of bleeding from small vessels as a result of closure in the lesion site;
• maintenance of spasm( constriction) of vessels and in their nutrition( angiotrophic function);
  immune processes;
• fibrinolysis( clot dissolution).

It costs the inner lining of the vessel( endothelium) to disrupt its structure, as there are instant changes in the appearance of the platelet. It acquires stellate form, closing the defect of the endothelial layer. Thus, by overlapping one another, the platelets create a framework for the formation of a blood clot, which leads to the stopping of bleeding. At the same time they are allocated special coagulation factors, which contribute to faster blood clotting.

Causes of decreased platelets in the blood

So, why are platelets lower in the blood of an adult, and what does that mean? The low level of platelets in the blood of an adult person is characterized not only by a mild symptomatology, but also by very serious consequences, which adversely affect the further vital activity and well-being.

Reduction of platelets may indicate that:

1. Platelets are formed in small amounts;
2. Too intensively accumulate in the depot( in the spleen);
3. Destroyed by its own organism already in its mature state;
4. Part was lost during bleeding or is still lost if this bleeding is chronic.

Therefore, there are many reasons for lowering platelet levels in the blood, and among them there are both fairly simple and dangerous. Consider these:

1. Blood cancer leads to a drop in platelets. Excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages.
2. Werlhof disease, the causes of which have not yet been established.
3. Insufficient intake and deficiency in the body of vitamin B12.
4. Increased spleen( splenomegaly), which is caused by parasitic or infectious diseases.
5. Admission of a range of medications. Here we will clarify such drugs as heparin, quinidine, aspirin.
6. Heavy metal poisoning, most often this item refers to lead.
7. Violation of the production of megakaryocytes, associated with bone marrow damage and accompanied by inefficient platelet formation.
8. Platelets fall when transferred or existing infectious diseases, especially for hepatitis C, smallpox, or HIV.
9. Some of the autoimmune diseases lead to a decrease, primarily lupus. With an autoimmune disease, the body takes its own cells for a foreign microorganism, produces antibodies and begins to attack its own cells.
10. Toxic( exogenous - poisoning with benzene, gold salts, damage by ionizing radiation, endogenous - uremia, severe hepatic insufficiency) and allergic conditions. The latter can sometimes be provoked not only by harmful substances, but also by certain food products.

Provoke reduced platelet damage to the bone marrow, anemia, trauma and surgical interventions associated with blood loss. The reasons may be bad habits, in particular the abuse of alcoholic beverages. In women, the number of blood elements decreases with abundant menstruation and during pregnancy, the first month after delivery.

Complications of

Despite the relatively weak symptomatology of the problem, which in most patients may not manifest at all, in a number of cases, a lowered level of platelets causes very serious consequences for the body.

1. Bleeding internal organs.
2. Large blood loss after serious injury.
3. Hemorrhages in the retina and loss of vision.
4. Hemorrhages in the brain and death.

If you are diagnosed with a reduced level of platelets ranging from twenty to fifty * 10 ^ 9 units / liter of blood, then you will need an outpatient treatment. The drop in platelet count to 19 * 10 ^ 9 units / liter and lower - the signal for immediate hospitalization.

How to treat reduced platelets in the blood?

In most cases, special therapy is not required, it will be enough just to adjust the diet.

The diet should be enriched with such products:

1. Eggs and cheese;
2. Buckwheat porridge;
3. All varieties of fish;
4. Red meat, cooked in any form;
5. Liver( preferably beef);
6. Boiled meat broths, sausages and pâtés;
7. All kinds of greens( dill, celery, parsley, spinach);
8. Rowan berries, bananas, pomegranate, rose hip, apples of green varieties, nuts
9. Salads from nettles, cabbage, beets, carrots, bell pepper, seasoned with sesame oil;
10. Simultaneously it is recommended to refrain from using various pickles, marinades, alcohol, spices.

In the event that a significant decrease in the platelet count is found in the body, a dangerous chronic form may develop or a severe bleeding may occur. In this case, the doctor can prescribe glucocorticoid hormones and immunoglobulin therapy. These funds very quickly and actively increase the blood count in the blood of platelets, but they are used only in critical situations.