Many journal articles have been published about ITP. Most are written for medical professionals. If you can get past the vocabulary, they often contain helpful information. You can search medical journals and get copies at the National Medical Library and PubMed of the National Institutes of Health, your hematologist or local medical library. You can enter a selection profile on the Medfetch site and new journal articles will be sent to your e-mail address.
Some of the most popular journals are the New England Journal of Medicine, the British Medical Journal, and Blood (American Hematology Association)
Because there are so many articles, The New England Journal of Medicine provides collections. Here's their collection on thrombocytopenia.
Below are some selections from the thousands of journal articles available about ITP.
Can anti-D help avoid splenectomy?
"Does treatment with intermittent infusions of intravenous anti-D allow a proportion of adults with recently diagnosed immune thrombocytopenic purpura to avoid splenectomy?" Cooper, et. al. Blood, 15 March, 2002 vol. 90 no. 6.
View article in PDF format (if you don't have an acrobat reader download one here)
Treatment suggestions and their descriptions.
McMillan R.: Therapy for Adults with Refractory Chronic ITP.Annals of Internal Medicine 126:307-314, 15 Feb. 1997.
What are your chances of a remission following a splenectomy? Here are some statistics for this procedure and other treatments.
Stasi, et al.: Long-Term Observation of 208 Adults with Chronic Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura. 98: 436-442. The American Journal of Medicine.(plus other splenectomy articles)
Chinese Herbal Treatments
K. Yamaguchi, et al: Effects of Kami-kihi-to (Jia-Wei-Gui-Pi-Tang) on Autoantibodies in Patients wth Chronic Immune Thrombocytopedic Purpura, American Journal of Chinese Medicine Vol. XXI, Nos. 3-4, pp. 251-255
Duan Yu, et al: Treatment of Primary Thrombocytopenic Purpora by Modified Minor Decoction of Bupleurum, Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine 15 (2): 96-98, 1995.
Horikoshi-A. Shida-M. Abe-M. Hosokawa-Y. Sawada-S Horie-T. A case of Evan's syndrome in which thrombocytopenia and hemolysis was improved by Sairei-to. Japanese Journal of Clinical Hematology.
Shi Yu-min, Wu Qing-shong, et al. Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura in Children Treated wtih Replenishing Qi and Tonifying Kidney and the Changes in Thrombocyte Aggregate Function, Chin J Integr Med 11 (1), 1991.
What are your chances of getting Lupus if you have ITP?
Mestanza-Peralta M, Ariza-Ariza R, Cardiel MH, Alcocer-Varela J: Thrombocytopenic Purpura as Initial Manifestation of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. J Rheumatol 1997 May;24(5):867-870
Will Vitamin C work for ITP?
A. Brox, K. Howson-Jan, A.A. Fauser: Successful Treatment of Immune Thrombocytopenia with Ascorbic Acid; Immunohematology, 1988. (plus other abstracts)
Vitamina C Y Extractos de Achillea Millefolium Como Primera Linea de Terapia en el Tratamiento de Purpura Trombocitopenica" Rev Cubana Invest Biomed 2003: 22(1): 71-6 Dr.Enrique Gonzalez et al. View article in PDF format
