Polycythemia symptoms

How is polycythemia diagnosed? What causes PV disease? Polycythemia vera is a rare form of blood cancer. Learn more about the symptoms , causes, diagnosis, and treatment of polycythemia vera at WebMD.

Learn what the most common polycythemia vera (PV) symptoms are, including information on possible complications and what you should know about your blood counts and PV.

Read all this and more at VoicesofMPN. Symptoms of polycythemia can vary widely. In some people with polycythemia, there may be no symptoms at all. In secondary polycythemia, most of the symptoms are related to the underlying condition responsible for polycythemia.

Secondary polycythemia , also called secondary erythrocytosis, is the overproduction of red blood cells. Many of the symptoms of polycythaemia are caused by this sluggish flow of blood. It helps your immune system destroy cancer cells, and can improve some polycythemia vera symptoms.

Researchers are studying drugs that inhibit a gene linked to polycythemia vera and other treatments. In polycythemia , the levels of hemoglobin (Hgb), hematocrit (), or the red blood cell (RBC) count may be elevated when measured in the complete blood count (), as compared to normal. Find to health issues you can trust from Healthgrades. When you have polycythemia vera, your body makes too many red blood cells.

You might have extra white blood cells and platelets, too. The condition is also known as polycythemia rubra vera, primary. The symptoms of polycythemia vary depending on the cause and the presence of complications. Once the underlying cause is correcte symptoms of secondary polycythemia usually go away.

With polycythemia vera, the bone marrow makes too many red blood cells. The extra cells make the blood too thick. The clots can decrease the blood supply to organs, tissues, and cells. This may lead to blood clots.

But as the symptoms get worse, they can take a toll on you and affect your daily life. In a very small number of people, PV leads to other blood diseases, such as myelofibrosis (a disease in which scar tissue develops in the bone marrow) or leukemia. People with polycythemia vera may be asymptomatic.

A classic symptom of polycythemia vera is pruritus or itching, especially after exposure to hot water (such as while bathing), which may be due to abnormal histamine release or prostaglandin production. In approximately of patients, such scabies are present in polycythemia vera. PV increases the risk of abnormal blood clots, which could lead to a stroke. Your blood may become too thick. The red blood cells are mostly affected.

It can be due to an increase in the number of red blood cells (absolute polycythemia ) or to a decrease in the volume of plasma (relative polycythemia ). These may include itching following bathing, dizziness, and a flushing of the face and hands. Some people do experience symptoms that appear gradually. The signs and symptoms of PV may be similar to those of other myeloproliferative neoplasms. Although patients with PV may be asymptomatic for many years, the disease is associated with substantial symptom burden. Fatigue is the most common and most intense symptom reported.

The disease may not cause signs or symptoms for years. It may also result in the overproduction of white blood cells and platelets. Most of the health concerns associated with polycythemia vera are caused by the blood being thicker as a result of the increased red blood cells.