Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura

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© Copyright 2006 Sheila Curtis

The following pages have nothing to do with sweet kittens or my cat breeding hobby. These pages are about ITP and our experience of it. Thousands of people both adults and children worldwide suffer with ITP or it's uglier sister TTP. Writing these pages has been good therapy for me and may also help to raise some awareness of this disorder.
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ITP is a fairly rare autoimmune disorder. No-one really knows what triggers it but it can follow a viral or bacterial illness, medicine, vaccines or be part of an underlying problem of different condtions. ITP is not contagious or genetic and can be found in both children and adults. 80% of children will recover fully within 6 months. There is currently, no known "cure". A small amount of cases can be fatal but the danger lies in direct association with the platelet count. Monitoring the count by regular blood tests is one of the best management tools. Counts of below 50 put the sufferer at risk of bruising and/or bleeding. Counts below 10 are classed as an emergency.