Myeloproliferative Disease

 Myeloproliferative disease is a group of diseases caused by too many red blood cells, white blood cells or platelet cells in the bone marrow. A person with myeloproliferative disease can experience a variety of symptoms, including shortness of breath and pale skin, until the body feels weak.

Myeloproliferative disease is divided into 6 types, which are distinguished based on the abnormalities that occur. The six types of myeloproliferative disease include:

• Myelocytic leukemia (granulocytes) (chronic LGK). Indolent cancer (slow growing) is caused by an imperfect white blood cell count in the bone marrow and blood.
• Polycythemia vera. High levels of red blood cells, both in the bone marrow and in the blood, cause blood to thicken.
• Mielofibrose. A condition in which there are many red blood cells and imperfect white blood cells in the body.
• Essential thrombocytemia. Increase the number of platelets or platelets in the blood.
• Chronic neutrophilic leukemia. The patient's blood contains many white blood cells called neutrophils.
• Chronic eosinophilic leukemia. There are many types of white blood cells called eosinophils in the bone marrow, blood, and other body tissues.

Each type of disease requires different treatments. If not treated properly, this condition can cause complications, including periostitis.
Symptoms of myeloproliferative disease
Myeloproliferative disease symptoms in each patient is different, depending on the condition. Myeloproliferative disease can be characterized by the appearance of:

• hard to breathe
• Pale or reddened skin
• The body feels weak
• Headache
• Night sweats
• Bleeding easily
• Easy bruising
• fever
• Sensitive to infection

Causes of myeloproliferative disease

Basically, blood contains red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets, each of which has a different function. Red blood cells have the function of carrying oxygen and carrying it throughout the body. White blood cells function to protect the body from pests, and platelets to control bleeding.

These three substances were originally produced by bone marrow. In people with myeloproliferative disease, the bone marrow is disrupted, producing too many damaged blood cells.

The exact cause of this disorder is not yet known because the bone marrow produces damaged blood cells. However, it seems that this disease is caused by changes in genes, viral infections, substance poisoning and radiation exposure.
Diagnosis of myeloproliferative disease

The diagnosis of myeloproliferative disease is quite difficult, requiring continuous examination. The diagnostic process begins by examining the symptoms and the general state of health of the patient. After completion, the test will continue with additional tests.

Support tests used in the diagnostic process vary, adjusted for the results of examinations performed by doctors. Some tests that can be used to diagnose myeloproliferative disease are:

• Blood test. During this test, the doctor will draw the patient's blood to be taken and further examined in the laboratory.
• Bone marrow aspiration. Bone marrow aspiration examination is done by taking samples from the patient's bone marrow and then testing in the laboratory.
• Gene analysis. This test uses blood or bone marrow samples to detect the presence or absence of chromosome changes. 

Treatment of myeloproliferative disease

Myeloproliferative disease is a disease that is difficult to cure completely. Manipulation is done to restore blood under normal conditions.

This disease must be treated by an oncologist. Each type of myeloproliferative disease requires different treatments, depending on the patient's condition.

Several methods are used to treat myeloproliferative disease, namely:

• Give medicine. Doctors can prescribe drugs based on prednisone and danazol if the patient has anemia, or anagrelide, which is used to prevent blood clots in patients with high platelet counts.
• The process of bleeding or blood. This treatment method involves taking several hundred cm3 of blood, which is almost the same thing as being a blood donor. In this way, the excess red blood cells in the body can be reduced.
• Chemotherapy. In this method, treatment consists of administering a special drug that is able to kill excess blood cells.
• Gene therapy. The treatment recommended by a doctor may be the administration of drugs to prevent or correct gene abnormalities.
• hormone therapy. The doctor will give additional hormones that prevent the bone marrow from producing excessive blood cells.
• Stem cell transplantation. Stem cell transplantation or bone marrow transplantation is the only treatment with high potential for the treatment of myeloproliferative disease. In this procedure, the patient's bone marrow replacement is achieved by implanting healthy bone marrow from a donor.
• Radiotherapy. Patients will be exposed to strong X-ray exposure from outside and inside the body using special tools. Radiation therapy or radiotherapy reduces the number of blood cells while eliminating the symptoms experienced by the patient.

If myeloproliferative disease is classified as a mild disease, intensive care is not needed. In some cases, doctors only give aspirin to prevent blood clots.
Complications of myeloproliferative disease
Complications of myeloproliferative disease vary depending on the type of disease. If the type of the disease is myelofibrosis, then several complications can occur, namely:

• Spleen infarction, a disorder in the circulatory system of the spleen organs.
• Osteosclerosis, bone growth occurs abnormally.
• Periostitis, inflammation of the tissue around the bone.

In addition to the three diseases above, complications of myelofibrosis can also be portal hypertension. Portal hypertension is a condition characterized by increased pressure on the portal vein, the blood vessels that carry blood to the liver.

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