How Is ET Treated?
This depends upon the patient and whether there have been symptoms or complications. The current treatment options include nothing, baby aspirin, interferon, anagrelide or hydroxyurea alone or in combination. Our 92 year old ET patient, Ben, was never been bothered by his disease other than a recent prolonged bleeding episode after a shopper in a hurry ran into him with her grocery cart and removed a serious chunk of skin and flesh. He also periodically complained of skin sensations-tingling, feeling like something is crawing on his skin. He was only been treated with very brief cycles of Hydrea to rapidly reduce platelet counts when he has needed surgery. He was put on baby aspirin for a while but developed nose bleeds. His daughter, Joyce, on the other hand had a stroke and thrombophlebitis which led to her diagnosis and at times when platelets were not well controlled, experienced visual disturbances including transient vision loss and other symptoms associated with her ET. While Be
