Chemotherapy is sometimes but not always needed for polycythemia.
Most often blood draws and cancer medicines are used to treat polycythemia.
The most common treatment for polychythemia vera is having frequent blood withdrawals, using a needle in a vein (phlebotomy).
It's the same procedure used for donating blood.
This decreases your blood volume and reduces the number of excess blood cells.
In order to treat and cure polycythemia you need to have medical treatment although some things you can do naturally can help prevent polycythemia from getting worse which include.
Exercise daily. Staying active will help keep your blood flowing and prevent clots.
Take cool baths to prevent skin irritation.
Keep warm.
Drink a lot of water.
Try not to hurt your feet.
Treat itchy skin.
Shield your skin from the sun.
The difference between polycythemia and erythrocytosis is that erythrocytosis is the increase in RBCs relative to the volume of blood while polycythemia is the increase in both RBC concentration and hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen to the body's tissues.
In some cases polycythemia can and does cause Heart Failure.
Polycythemia vera can be fatal if not diagnosed and treated.
It can cause blood clots resulting in a heart attack, stroke, or pulmonary embolism.
It is sometimes OK to take Vitamin B12 with polycythemia but you should speak with your doctor before you do as the vitamin B12 can cause overproduction of red blood cells.
Vitamin B12–deficiency anemia, also known as cobalamin deficiency, is a condition that develops when your body can't make enough healthy red blood cells because it doesn't have enough vitamin B12.
Your body needs vitamin B12 to make healthy red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.
The symptoms of secondary polycythemia include.
Fatigue.
Headache.
Dizziness.
Blurred vision.
Anorexia.
Weakness.
Reduced mental acuity.
Secondary polycythemia most often develops as a response to chronic hypoxemia, which triggers increased production of erythropoietin by the kidneys.
The most common causes of secondary polycythemia include obstructive sleep apnea, obesity hypoventilation syndrome, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Polycythemia vera is a form of chronic leukemia or blood cancer.
Polycythemia vera transforms to acute leukemia (blast phase) 10 years after diagnosis in about 10% of cases.
Polycythemia can cause weight loss which is unexplained weight loss.
Common symptoms of polycythemia include.
Lack of energy (fatigue) or weakness.
Headache.
Dizziness.
Shortness of breath and trouble breathing while lying down.
Vision problems, such as double vision, blurred vision, and blind spots.
Inability to concentrate.
Night sweats.
Face and becomes red and warm (flushed)
Polycythemia can be caused by stress.
Apparent polycythaemia is often caused by being overweight, smoking, drinking too much alcohol or taking certain medicines including diuretics (tablets for high blood pressure that make you pee more).
Polycythemia vera is a type of blood cancer. It causes your bone marrow to make too many red blood cells.
These excess cells thicken your blood, slowing its flow, which may cause serious problems, such as blood clots.
Polycythemia vera is rare.
Apparent polycythaemia may improve if the underlying cause is identified and managed.
On average people with polycythemia can live for 10 to 25 years with treatment if they are 60 or under.
Without treatment that same person with polycythemia may only live 6 months to a few years depending on how far progressed the polycythemia is.
Polycythemia is a type of blood cancer that is usually caused by a change in the JAK2 gene, which causes the bone marrow cells to produce too many red blood cells.
The affected bone marrow cells can also develop into other cells found in the blood, which means that people with PV may also have abnormally high numbers of both platelets and white bloods cells.
Symptoms of polycythemia include lack of energy (fatigue) or weakness, headaches, dizziness, shortness of breath, visual disturbances, nose bleeds, bleeding gums, heavy menstrual periods, and bruising.
The most common treatment for polychythemia vera is having frequent blood withdrawals, using a needle in a vein (phlebotomy).
It's the same procedure used for donating blood.
This decreases your blood volume and reduces the number of excess blood cells.
Median survival in patients with polycythemia vera (PV), which is 1.5-3 years in the absence of therapy, has been extended to approximately 14 years overall, and to 24 years for patients younger than 60 years of age, because of new therapeutic tools.
Recent studies estimate the average life expectancy after diagnosis with polycythemia vera to be about 20 years.
The average age of death is about 77.
The most common cause of death is complications from blood clots (about 33%).
Advancing cancer is the second most common cause (15%).
Often, the first test used to diagnose PV is a CBC.
The CBC measures many parts of your blood.
This test checks your hemoglobin (HEE-muh-glow-bin) and hematocrit (hee-MAT-oh-crit) levels.
Hemoglobin is an iron-rich protein that helps red blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body.
In rare cases, polycythemia vera may eventually progress into a form of leukemia known as acute myeloid leukemia.