Why do platelets decrease?

I don't know if you have ever seen such people in daily life. Large bruises will appear on their bodies if they are touched lightly, and they will bleed profusely if they are bumped without paying attention, as if they are more fragile than glass. The reason for this situation may be that they suffer from simple thrombocytopenia. There are many causes of thrombocytopenia, and this disease is just one of them. Now let’s talk about platelets.

Platelets, red blood cells and white blood cells are the three main cells in human blood. Platelets are involved in blood coagulation. They cooperate with coagulation factors in the blood and can help stop bleeding in time when blood vessels are injured. Generally speaking, the platelet count in normal people is relatively stable. Under the influence of certain diseases, the platelet count will decrease to below the normal range. We call this condition thrombocytopenia. The editor is willing to recommend some relevant information to everyone to help everyone understand in advance the correct methods to use when facing the disease, avoid detours, reduce pain and unnecessary economic losses.

The main causes of thrombocytopenia are infection, malignant tumors, drugs, etc., which cause damage to hematopoietic stem cells or affect their proliferation in the bone marrow. These factors can also affect multiple hematopoietic cell systems, causing complications such as varying degrees of anemia, leukopenia, and a significant decrease in bone marrow megakaryocytes.

1. Viral infection leads to thrombocytopenia, such as measles, rubella, chickenpox, cat's claw fever, dengue fever, etc. can cause thrombocytopenia. If the virus invades cells, it will cause a decrease in platelets. The virus may also attach to platelets and destroy them.

2. The influence of genetic factors can also easily lead to thrombocytopenia in patients. In clinical medicine, there are many patients with thrombocytopenia, and their immediate relatives or families also suffer from thrombocytopenia. This proves that thrombocytopenia is a disease that may be inherited.

3. Thrombocytopenia caused by external physical and chemical factors. Antimetabolites, ionizing radiation, cytotoxic agents, alkylating agents and other physical and chemical factors are also the main causes of thrombocytopenia. Usually, thrombocytopenia symptoms occur when patients are undergoing treatment for malignant tumors. It can also cause immune reactions in patients or directly poison bone marrow cells, causing diffuse bone marrow damage and a decrease in the patient's whole blood.

4. The pathological factor of thrombocytopenia is that if the platelets are seriously retained in the spleen of the body, it is easy to cause the disease. Generally speaking, hypersplenism is a common clinical manifestation.

5. Influence of other diseases: The causes of thrombocytopenia come from many different factors, including aplastic anemia, acute leukemia, radiation sickness, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, immune thrombocytopenia, etc.

Summarize:

Causes of thrombocytopenia may include: insufficient platelet production in the bone marrow, leukemia, aplastic anemia, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, alcoholism, megaloblastic anemia, certain bone marrow diseases, platelet retention in an enlarged spleen, cirrhosis with congestive splenomegaly, myelofibrosis, platelet dilution, massive blood transfusion or blood exchange (few platelets in stored blood), extracorporeal circulation surgery, and excessive platelet consumption or destruction.