What is thrombocytopenic purpura?
Thrombocytopenic (throm-bo-si-to-PE-nik) purpura (PER-pu-rah) is a bleeding disorder where there are too few platelets in the blood. Platelets are blood cells that help stop bleeding by sticking together to form a clot. Thrombocytopenic purpura is also called immune or idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) and may affect women more often than men. Affected people may not know that they have ITP early in the disease. Signs of bleeding may develop slowly over a long period of time. ITP is often a mild disease, but there may be times that bleeding can be severe and life-threatening. Diagnosing and treating ITP as soon as possible is important in controlling your ITP. What causes thrombocytopenic purpura? Caregivers do not exactly know what causes ITP. It is thought that problems in the body’s immune system may cause ITP. The immune system is the part of the body that fights infection. Normally, the immune system makes antibodies or substances that destroy germs, such as virus and bact
