Low (very low) platelet count; any ideas?

[Guest guest]

Do any of you have any ideas about natural treatments for this,

particularly for someone who is very resistant to non-orthodox dietary and

medical ideas? We don't yet know anything more than the count, which is

about 1/3 of the bottom end of the " normal " range, and since " normal " is

often defined much too widely, at least on the low end, this is quite alarming.

Supposedly there are just two basic categories: an autoimmune reaction

against the platelets themselves, or some kind of bone marrow disorder

causing a drop in the production of platelets. Lupus and leukemia are both

possible causes.

The conventional therapy, at least as described here

http://www.diagnose-me.com/cond/C271923.html

sounds particularly alarming, except possibly for the last option, which no

doubt isn't widely available, particularly for those who don't have the

money to doctor-shop.

>Conventional Treatment

>

>Treatment is often aimed at inhibiting the immune system with

>corticosteroids such as prednisone. Because the spleen filters the

>platelet-immune complex it may be necessary to remove it in order to

>reduce the production of anti-platelet antibodies and slow the clearance

>of platelets from the system. In some people, however, more platelets are

>destroyed in the liver than in the spleen and in this case removing the

>spleen is less likely to result in remission. Note that after the spleen

>has been removed and the platelet levels elevated, the liver can take over

>the removal function and the platelet count can drop again.

>

>The acute manifestation can usually be controlled by a course of therapy

>using steroids to inhibit the immune response for a period of several

>weeks. Chronic autoimmune thrombocytopenia develops in a small percentage

>of patients. In that case, steroid therapy eventually fails (due to the

>side-effects from prolonged administration). Until recently, the main

>therapy for chronic autoimmune thrombocytopenia has been splenectomy,

>which is sometimes curative and at the very least reduces the disease severity.

>

>More recently, intravenous infusion of normal IgG to replace the body's

>anti-platelet IgG has been tried with some success and may replace

>splenectomy for some patients. This has also been proposed as an

>alternative to the initial therapy with prednisone. Other therapies are

>also being developed.

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