Condition

How thick or liquid the blood is in your body affects your health. Having blood that is too thick, for example, has a greater chance of developing coronary heart disease, stroke and other heart diseases. Then, what about thin blood? What causes blood to become thin, and what are the risks to health?

Thin blood can occur due to several conditions, namely due to experiencing thrombocytopenia, hemophilia, or also experiencing vitamin K deficiency. In these conditions there is a blood clotting disorder or decreased function of haemostasis. The blood of the sufferer is not effective in clotting, so bleeding or bleeding often occurs.

What is thrombocytopenia?

Thrombocytopenia is a thin blood condition that occurs due to an insufficient number of platelets or platelets, blood cells that play an important role in the blood clotting process.

In the bloodstream there are various types of cells that flow. Each type of cell has an important role respectively. Red blood cells help deliver oxygen throughout the body. White blood cells help the immune system fight infection. Platelets help blood clot.

A normal platelet count is 150,000-450000 platelets per microliter of blood. If there are less than 150,000 pieces of blood per microliter it is considered thin blood. Low platelet levels in the blood can cause health problems.

In rare cases, the platelet count can be so low that it can cause fatal internal bleeding. This complication is particularly pronounced when the platelet count falls below 10,000 platelets per microliter. Bleeding can occur in the brain and digestive tract.

What causes low blood platelets?

Dilute blood itself is basically not a disease, but a condition that may be the result of certain health problems, for example:

• Disorders of the spinal cord, so it doesn't produce enough platelets.
• Nutritional deficiencies, especially a deficiency in iron, folic acid, vitamin K, or vitamin B-12.
• Infection. There are several common infections that cause low platelet counts, namely HIV, hepatitis C, mumps, and the rubella virus (German measles).
• Pregnancy. Approximately 7-12% of pregnant women experience thrombocytopenia nearing the day of the birth of their child. The cause is still not known with certainty.
• Cancer. Blood cancer (leukemia) or lymphoma cancer can damage the spinal cord and damage the body's stem cells. Even cancer treatment will also damage stem cells. When stem cells are damaged, they do not grow as healthy blood cells.
• Autoimmune disease, as Immune Thrombocytopenia (ITP), lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis.
• Genetic Conditions. There are several genetic conditions that cause a low platelet count in the body, such as Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome and May-Hegglin syndrome.
• The spleen stores too many platelets. One third of the body's platelets are stored in the spleen. If the spleen is enlarged, most of the platelets can accumulate in the spleen so that the number of platelets circulating in the blood is insufficient. An enlarged spleen is often caused by cancer, cirrhosis, and myelofibrosis.

Dilute blood can also appear as a side effect of certain drugs, such as heparin, quinine, antibiotics containing sulfa, and some anti-seizure drugs such as dilantin, vancomycin, rifampicin.

What are the signs and symptoms of thrombocytopenia?

The symptoms of thrombocytopenia depend on your platelet count. Some of the symptoms that may occur include:

• Bruises
• Nosebleeds or bleeding gums
• Bleeding that doesn't stop, even though the wound is old
• Heavy menstrual bleeding
• Bleeding from the rectum (anus)
• There is blood in the stool or urine
• Fatigue

In more serious cases, you can experience internal bleeding. Symptoms of internal bleeding are:

• There is blood in the urine (for example, blood red or blackish brown urine such as cola)
• Bloody stools (for example, blood-red or black stools like tar)
• Vomits blood or is dark in color

Who is at risk for thrombycytopenia?

Watery blood can be owned by children and adults at any age. However, this group of people has a higher risk of developing thrombocytopenia.

• People who have cancer, aplastic anemia, or an autoimmune disease
• People who are exposed to certain chemical toxins
• Have a reaction to a treatment
• Have a certain virus
• Genetic conditions that have problems with thrombocytopenia
• Alcohol drinkers
• Pregnant women

How is thrombocytopenia treated?

The main goal of treatment is to prevent death and disability caused by bleeding. In severe cases of thrombocytopenia, the doctor may prescribe treatments such as corticosteroid drugs (for example, prednisone), blood or platelet transfusions, or splenectomy.

Splenectomy is a surgical removal of the spleen, which is a second-line treatment when drug therapy is ineffective. This operation is mostly performed on adults who have immune thrombocytopenia (ITP).

Meanwhile, cases of thin blood caused by hemophilia cannot be completely cured - the symptoms can only be controlled with hormone therapy or blood plasma transfusions. Physical therapy may also be needed as a form of rehabilitation for joint damage caused by hemophilia.

Is there a way to prevent the condition thrombocytopenia?

Thrombocytopenia due to hemophilia cannot be prevented, because hemophilia is a genetic condition inherited from parents. However, for cases of thin blood caused by other risk factors, you can take the following precautions:

• Avoid drinking alcohol, which slows down platelet production
• Avoid contact with toxic chemicals such as pesticides, arsenic, and benzene which can inhibit platelet production.
• Avoid drugs that can affect your platelet count. Talk to your doctor about the possibility of changing the type of medication or reducing the dose, if your condition requires these drugs.
• Vaccinating to prevent viral infection, especially vaccines for mumps, measles, rubella, or chickenpox (MR vaccine and Mumps vaccine).

Thin blood can also indicate that you have hemophilia

Hemophilia is a rare genetic disorder that causes blood to not clot, due to a lack of a protein that plays a role in blood clotting. According to the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH), about 1 in 10000 people are born with hemophilia.

Hemophils make it easy for you to bleed because the blood takes longer to clot. Patients with hemophilia can also experience painful joint swelling due to bleeding seeping into the joints. Complications of hemophilia can be life-threatening if not treated properly, including cerebral hemorrhages.