Polycythemia vera is a type of blood cancer. It causes your bone marrow to make too many red blood cells. These excess cells thicken your blood, slowing its flow, which may cause serious problems, such as blood clots.
Primary polycythemia (polycythemia vera) can't be prevented. However, with proper treatment, you can prevent or delay symptoms and complications. Sometimes you can prevent secondary polycythemia by avoiding things that deprive your body of oxygen for long periods.
or Joint pain
Rapidly developing
Recurrent
common
Numbness or tingling in legs, feet, or buttocks
or Numbness or tingling in shoulders arms or hands
Skin rash and redness
At hands, At face, At feet
Occurs or worsens after hot bath
or Bluish discoloration of the skin
There's no cure for polycythemia vera. Treatment focuses on reducing your risk of complications. These treatments may also ease your symptoms:
1-Blood withdrawals
The most common treatment for polychythemia vera is having frequent blood withdrawals, using a needle in a vein (phlebotomy). It's the same procedure used for donating blood. This decreases your blood volume and reduces the number of excess blood cells. How often you need to have blood drawn depends on the severity of your condition.
2-Treatments to reduce itching
If you have bothersome itching, your doctor may prescribe medication, such as antihistamines, or recommend ultraviolet light treatment to relieve your discomfort.
3-Drugs that reduce the number of red blood cells
If phlebotomy alone doesn't help enough, your doctor may suggest medications that can reduce the number of red blood cells in your bloodstream.
4-Heart medications
Your doctor will also likely prescribe medications to control risk factors for heart and blood vessel disease, including high blood pressure, diabetes and abnormal cholesterol
If you have Polycythemia Vera, then a visit to a hematologist is highly recommended.