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Good news for people with clotting disorder.


Patients with the bleeding disorder called immune thrombocytopenic purpura
1. a small hemorrhage in the skin, mucous membrane, or serosal surface.
2. a group of disorders characterized by the presence of purpuric lesions, ecchymoses, and a tendency to bruise easily.purpu´ric

allergic purpura , anaphylactoid purpura Henoch-Schönlein p.
 (ITP ITP - Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura
ITP - IML (Information Markup Language) Transport Protocol (for Simputer)
ITP - Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura (blood disorder)
ITP - Implementation Training Package
ITP - Improved Transmission Performance
ITP - In-Tank Precipitation (nuclear waste)
ITP - In-Target Probe
ITP - Incidental Take Permit
ITP - Increment Training Plan
ITP - Independent Transmission Provider (electric power)
) harbor antibodies that sabotage production of the platelets responsible for proper blood clotting blood clotting, process by which the blood coagulates to form solid masses, or clots. In minor injuries, small oval bodies called platelets, or thrombocytes, tend to collect and form plugs in blood vessel openings. To control bleeding from vessels larger than capillaries a clot must form at the point of injury. The coagulation of the blood is also initiated by the blood platelets.. ITP patients often feel fatigued and bruise so easily that they look battered. The most common treatment is a regimen of harsh steroids to suppress the rogue antibodies. Some patients have their spleens
accessory spleen  a connected or detached outlying portion, or exclave, of the spleen.
diffuse waxy spleen  amyloid degeneration of the spleen involving especially the coats of the venous sinuses and the reticulum of the organ.
floating spleen , movable spleen one displaced and abnormally movable.
 removed to relieve the aberrant
1. Deviating from the usual course, as certain ducts, vessels, or nerves.
2. Deviating from the normal; untrue to type.
3. Out of place; ectopic.

ab·erran·cy n.
 immune reaction. These therapies leave patients susceptible to serious medical problems.

Scientists now report that ITP patients may soon be able to boost their platelet production with fewer side effects, thanks to two oral drugs that are nearing the end of clinical trials. Two other drugs in earlier testing also show promise, researchers reported in December 2006 at a meeting of the American Society of Hematology in Orlando, Fla.

James B. Bussel of the Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City presented findings from two trials that together included 231 ITP patients. Roughly three-fourths of the participants getting a full dose of the new drug eltrombopag (Promacta) experienced a rise in platelets sufficient to restore healthy clotting, he says.

In another promising trial, a drug called AMG531 (SN: 1/1/05, p. 14) boosted platelet counts to healthy levels in 31 of 36 ITP patients, reports David J. Kuter of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

In preliminary tests in healthy adults, two other drugs, known as AKR AKR - Address Key Register
AKR - Anime Kingdom Rebirth
AKR - Auroral Kilometric Radiation
AKR - Vehicle Cargo Ship
-501 and SB559448, increased platelet counts, other researchers reported.

"Patients say they know when their platelets are low because it feels like somebody pulled the plug on them" Bussel says. If eltrombopag and AMG531 gain regulatory approval, they would improve an ITP patient's quality of life and would ease "the realistic fear of bleeding" he says.
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Title Annotation:BIOMEDICINE
Publication:Science News
Date:Jan 13, 2007
Words:284
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