Elevated platelets are a symptom that you should pay attention to.

In the overwhelming majority of cases, the program of any laboratory examination of a patient with diseases of virtually any organ or body system begins with a clinical blood test. In this study, a study is made of the cellular composition of the blood, as well as the study of the properties of these cellular elements. It is the changes in the hematopoiesis system that occur most quickly and are one of the first to signal a looming problem, and the results of a clinical blood test can reveal changes in one, two or three hematopoietic sprouts, so you need to pay attention to both reduced and elevated platelets, white blood cells or Erythrocytes.

Changing the number of platelets - an excuse to be on the alert

In the human body, platelets have an important function - these colorless cells take a direct part in blood clotting processes, respectively, with changes in the number of these cells, there are violations in the blood coagulation system. Elevated platelets, regardless of the cause of this condition, can lead to the formation of thrombi, whereas a reduced number of these cells causes the development of bleeding or hemorrhage under the skin. Normal values for adult patients are peripheral blood platelets in the range 180-320 * 109 / L, whereas in children, especially in the period of newborn and early age (up to 3 years), blood platelet is almost always elevated in a clinical blood test.

Undoubtedly, most patients are worried by a sharp decrease in the number of platelets below the age norm, although even with severe thrombocytopenia, critical consequences for the body develop when their number drops below 20 * 109 / L and practically never worries if platelets are increased. The causes of this condition can be different - from the appearance of physiological blood thickening with excessive loss of fluid through the skin or mucous membrane of the intestine or airways, for example, in hot weather or the occurrence of intestinal disorders, up to those moments when elevated platelets indicate the occurrence of diseases of the body.

Increased number of platelets as a symptom of disease

In the vast majority of cases, increased platelets occur in the pathology of bone marrow hematopoiesis, and this symptom can manifest itself both in the defeat of only the platelet sprout and in the total damage to the bone marrow, for example in the development of myeloproliferative diseases (chronic leukemia, myelodysplasia, subleukemic myelosis).

Much less often, an increased number of platelets occurs after surgical interventions in which, for one reason or another, the spleen has to be removed - for example, with her injuries, tumors, or diseases, in which the platelet count was constantly decreasing, and the removal of the spleen was an operation of desperation. Increase in the level of platelets in this case occurs because it is the spleen under normal conditions that becomes a "cemetery" of these blood cells, and in the liver, the utilization of red blood cells takes place to a greater degree.

Very rarely, elevated platelets become symptoms of some viral diseases, but this thrombocytosis comes very quickly and can only be detected if the analysis is taken accidentally during the active spread of the virus in the body.

Thrombocytosis. Do I need to heal it?

In the overwhelming majority of cases, an increased amount of platelets is needed only with a sharp increase in them, which threatens the development of thromboses. In order to make a decision in each specific case, it is necessary to carry out a dynamic observation of the parameters of a clinical blood test, and, with the progression of thrombocytosis, a sternal puncture and trepanobiopsy of the wing of the ilium are performed. A bone marrow examination and bone structure study helps to understand whether an increased number of platelets is a variant of the physiological norm or the first symptom of a dangerous disease.