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Doctor insights on: Polycythemia Vera Treatment Diet

Phlebotomy: If greater than age 65, may add hydrea (hydroxyurea). Phlebotomy is the standard therapy. ...Read more

You should not.: P. Vera can cause abnormal blood clots to form and this can lead to a risk of pulmonary embolism while you are having surgery. You should not proceed with elective cosmetic surgery until the condition has been ruled out. ...Read more

Not often: Polycythemia vera is caussed by multiple factors. Typicall the treatment is theraputic phlebotomy but if you had any condition that would be negatively affected by the plebotomy or physician preference you might have this done. Consider the cuase of the condition also would affect the treatment. ...Read more

A Few: Polycythemia vera is the overproduction of red blood cells by the bone marrow. Complications result from formation of blood clots due to the increased thickness of the blood. Therefore, this is where treatment of the disorder is aimed.

Blood can be drawn at intervals (phlebotomy) to decrease its thickness, and some patients are given Aspirin to reduce the risk of blood clots. ...Read more

She needs a speciali: A good specialist is what she needs first. You should seek the advice of a hematologist who works in a major cancer center. P. Vera has some new treatments(jak2 inhibitors) which are in clinical trials. Interferon(has some activity and can be beneficial but it is an older treatment which has many serious side effects and it is very expensive. Too alpha-2b) also called introna) ask for this bran. ...Read more

Decr risk clotting: Keeping the hematocrit in a normal range (hct <45% in men & 42% in women) can decrease the risk of thrombosis (blood clots) in polycythemia vera (pv). Phlebotomies can reduce the hct. For patients at high risk for thrombosis (age >60 or hisotry of thrombosis) phlebotomy can be combined with Hydroxyurea to lower hct. Keeping WBC in the normal range may also be important. ...Read more

Annual physical : P vera is not considered an inherited disease-meaning that there are no genes that cause the disease that are passed on from parent to child. It is probably related to aging, and it is not necessarily a terminal diagnosis, but some cases are more severe and require more treatment than others. Annual physicals that include complete blood counts will usually pick up an increase in red cells. ...Read more

Depends: It can be a primary problem treated with removal of blood (thereby reducing iron) or it may be due to extrinsic factors (high altitude, smoking, carbon monoxide poisoning, etc) in which case avoiding the factor may be the treatment. ...Read more

Polycythemia vera: Phlebotomy (blood removal) will be needed to maintain your blood at certain level to prevent stroke or blood clot. In addition, Aspirin is recommended if there is no risk of bleeding or other contraindication. For patients with high risk to develop stroke/clot (age>60 or prior history of clot)- medication called-hydroxy-urea- is also recommended. Discuss with your hematologist. ...Read more

Maybe blood draw: Depends on how high the blood count and whether symptoms are present. Also, if pcv is caused by something (secondary polycythemia), that cause needs to be addressed. Smoking, sleep apnea, hemochromatosis are common causes of secondary pcv. If primary and symptoms exist the main treatment is phlebotomy — drawing blood off regularly to decrease the hemoglobin. ...Read more

PCRV is a : Myeloproliferative disease associated with too many red blood cells. Polycythemia -- too many cells -- ruba -- red -- vera -- true. ...Read more

Iron rich: Iron rich foods may help if avoided but is symptomatic treatment is advisable. ...Read more

Polycythemia: Polycythemia rubra vera and polycythemia vera are the same thing — a myeloproliferative disorder which causes production of too many red cells (and usually white cells and platelets also). Polycythemia or erythrocytosis just means someone has too many red cells, whether due to prv, high altitude, sleep apnea, emphysema, certain cancers, or certain congenital abnormalities of red cell production. ...Read more

Polycythemia: Ruba vera or too many cells of the red blood in latin is an acquired, not genetic, disease in the myeloproliferative category. That means the body regulation of blood cell production is off, and in your case you make too many rbcs. Rare at 29 but not impossible. Stay on the plan with your hematologist -- easily and successfully treated. ...Read more

No prevention: True polycythemia vera cannot be prevented. The bone marrow decides to produce more red blood cells. This is not affected by diet or lifestyle. Secondary polycythemia is caused by smoking, dehydration or high altitude. ...Read more

Not that I know of.: The big changes of this are elevated rbc count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, and decreased ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate). The elevations come without decrease in volume, and can be up to 70-80% for hematocrit, and 8-9 million rbc count. Changes in RDW may be from so many rbc's in the system, but even if they do occur, do not apparently have effect on prognosis or relevance to the cause of this. ...Read more

No: Treated with phlebotomy with or without hydroxyurea. No foods affect the blood. Hope this helps. ...Read more

No: Nope.

As below: Polycythemia vera is a type of cancer of the bone marrow where your blood cells (white/red cells, platelets are produced). It is one of the chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms where there is a clonal proliferation of myeloid cells. In PV there is an elevated red blood cell mass (RCM). This can cause high Hct >= 32 in W. Also Platelet count & White blood cell count could be elevated too. ...Read more

Definitions: Polycythemia vera is a clonal proliferation of mutated cells. This makes it a tumor. There are by definition no benign tumors of the blood-forming as it is the nature of these cells to spread throughout the body and to go other tissues. Unlike solid cancers, "p vera" will not destroy organs by direct invasion. It is unlikely to kill until it acquires additional mutations and transforms. ...Read more

Easy to check: Polycythemia vera is a myeloproliferative disorder and is unlikely to be hereditary in nature. However, it is easy to check by looking at a CBC (complete blood count). If the rbc mass, hemoglobin and hematocrit are elevated then further w/u can be instituted; if they are normal then occasional monitoring can be done. ...Read more

Blood cancer: P vera is a form of blood cancer and affects the bone marrow. Any disease affecting the bone marrow may interfere with the normal production of white cells and make the person prone to infections. Consult this site for more info: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/polycythemia-vera/home/ovc-20307463 ...Read more

Depends.: Prv patients are advised to take Aspirin for clot prevention. Anticoagulants like warfarin or xarelto have specific indications such as treatment for a blood clot or stroke prophylaxis in heart disease. I would not use it outside those indications because of greater bleeding risk vs aspirin. No published data on xarelto in prv but should be ok for proper indications. ...Read more

PV&life expectancy: Life expectancy of patients with polycythemia vera (especially if younger than 50 years) was reduced compared with the general population. It is very important to follow up with your hematologist and keep your hematocrit to less than 45% to reduce risk for thrombosis/clotting. Best of luck. ...Read more

No: My understanding is that Jakafi (ruxolitinib) would not have benefit in JAK-negative PV. Overactive JAK pathway signaling is a key driver to the excess cell production seen in polycythemia vera. Jakafi (ruxolitinib) blocks or inhibits this pathway. Apparently there are a few people, such as yourself, for whom this JAK pathway is not the principle mechanism. Other treatments need pursuing. Good wishes:) ...Read more

Polycythemia vera: Your bone marrow is over-producing red blood cells. Because of that your blood can get very viscous (gooey?) and can clog up in small vessels, say in the brain or lungs and thus cause small infarcts or strokes. So every once in a while you will have to be bled to reduce the number of red blood cells in your blood stream. It is the opposite of anemia(too few RBCs). ...Read more

Erythroid hyperplasi: Erythroid hyperplasia is an excess of red blood cell precursors in the bone marrow. This is can be due to benign/reactive or neoplastic processes. Polycythemia vera is a primary bone marrow disease in which too many red cells (erythroid cells) are produced due to mutation in a cell line. Diagnosis is made on blood findings. This is chronic disease (not same as acute leukemia) but needs treatment ...Read more

No: Polycythemia vera is a cancer of the red blood cells and needs to be treated.
Exercising is good but you need to consult your doctor if there is the slightest chance of any underlying disease. ...Read more

It is a cancer: Polycythemia vera is a cancer, albeit one that is usually not very aggressive. See this site for more info.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/polycythemia-vera/basics/definition/con-20031013 ...Read more

Erythroid: You've got a lot of young red cells in your marrow, and you're going to get some more labs to see whether you have polycythemia vera, a sort-of-serious illness related to some leukemias but easier to manage. Best wishes. ...Read more