Low Platelets, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

By Kenneth Kee

Low Platelets (Thrombocytopenia) is a medical disorder in which the blood has a fewer than normal number of blood cell fragments called platelets.
Platelets are produced in the bone marrow together with other kinds of blood cells.
They stick together (clot) to seal small cuts or breaks on blood vessel walls and stop bleeding that may happen if a blood vessel is damaged.
Because a clot also is known as a thrombus, platelets also are called thrombocytes.
The normal platelet count in adults varies from 150,000 to 450,000 platelets per micro-liter of blood.
A blood cell count of less than 150,000 platelets per micro-liter is fewer than normal.
If the blood platelet count drops lower than normal, you have thrombocytopenia.
When the blood has too little platelets, mild to severe bleeding can happen.
If there is not sufficient platelets, bleeding can happen inside the body (internal bleeding) or underneath or from the skin (external bleeding).
Purpura is caused by bleeding from small blood vessels under the skin.
People who have low platelets may have bleeding that produces tiny red or purple dots on the skin.
These tiny pin-sized red dots are known as petechiae.
The causes of a low platelet count are:
1. The body's bone marrow does not produce sufficient platelets.
2. The bone marrow produces sufficient platelets but the body antibodies damages and destroys the platelets or makes use of the platelets.
3. The spleen contains too many platelets in its organ tissues.
Mild thrombocytopenia frequently may not need treatment.
If the disorder produces or place it in danger of severe bleeding, medicines or blood or platelet transfusions may prevent bleeding.
Less frequently, the spleen in patients may require surgical excision.
The overall outcome for people who have the disorder is good, particularly if the cause of the low platelet count is detected and treated.

Today I have a patient who was found to have low platelets (34,000 per micro-liter blood) as compared to normal (150,000 to 400,000) on a pre-employment medical examination.
He said that he bruises easily after an injury.
He had no fever or infection such as dengue fever which can lower blood counts.
He has no enlarged spleen or liver which may suggest Immune Thrombocytopenia Purpura,
However his brother also has low platelets which suggest hereditary thrombocytopenia or low platelets.
I reassured him and suggested avoiding skin or body injuries which in the case of low platelets may cause excess bleeding.

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Low Platelets
Chapter 2 Causes
Chapter 3 Symptoms
Chapter 4 Diagnosis
Chapter 5 Treatment
Chapter 6 Prognosis
Chapter 7 Petechiae
Chapter 8 Purpura
Chapter 9 Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia Purpura
Epilogue

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Oct 12, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370370023

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

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