Your body’s Immune system plays a vital role for preventing you from harmful dirt around you. But at time, it can turn into a traitor. Overactive immune system can cause cyclic illness, which cannot be easily controlled. ITP blood disorder is the result of unhealthy body immunity. Educating yourself to handle and eliminate the intake of dangerous contaminates can make a huge difference in the functionality of immune system.

Researches reveal that many who are victims of blood disorder often have increased platelets. The things can only be normalized by learning to handle and taking some natural preventive measures. Though our prominent health experts are consistently experimenting and doing research to get the best prevention to it, however, it is you who have to initiate. No one else can do it except you.

Regular illness is the symptoms which alarm you of week immunity in your body. Continuous illnesses not do just harm you but push you into never ending cycle of prescription drug and treatment. Hence treating the symptom becomes your first priority. You are advised to visit doctors as soon as you find any symptom of ITP Blood Disorder otherwise your immune system may become disorientated that may over react to every small things.

Wondering why your immunity power declines as days pass. You live in highly toxic environment. Every time you are exposed to viruses, pollutants, harsh chemicals and bacteria. The food you eat; water you drink and the air you breathe, all are contaminated. Your body’s immune system gets overwhelmed and starts losing it strength. That is why you get sick frequently and ITP blood disorder takes place.

Immune system acts like a personal guard to the human body that prevents it from outside invaders. Taking natural preventive measures and your early action can help you overcome the problem fast. It will help in fast healing and boost up the body immunity. Taking health experts’ advice can be very much helpful in dealing with multiple threats your body experiences.

ORLANDO -- Two of the largest studies ever done in chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) continue to show efficacy and safety for two recently approved drugs, according to research presented at the annual meeting here of the American Society of Hematology.

An open-label extension study of romiplostim (Nplate) showed no new safety issues, no increase in adverse events over time, and stability in both dose and efficacy, according to David Kuter, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

A similar extension analysis of eltrombopag (Promacta) also demonstrated continued efficacy in increasing platelet counts and reducing bleeding, while showing no new safety signals, according to Mansoor Saleh, MD, of Georgia Cancer Specialists in Atlanta.

Both drugs target the thrombopoietin receptor and were approved in 2008 to treat immune thrombocytopenia. Romiplostim is administered subcutaneously once a week, while eltrombopag is given as a daily pill, subject to some dietary restrictions.

The romiplostim extension study began in August 2004 and closed in January 2010, enrolling a total of 292 patients over that time. When the trial closed, some patient had had up to 277 weeks of exposure to the drug, Kuter said.

The primary goal of the study was to assess long-term safety of romiplostim, but the researchers also analyzed response to the drug, the use of concomitant medications for ITP, and how the dose of the drug changed over time.

They found:

• 98% of patients reported at least one adverse event, but only 35% reported a treatment-related event and only 8% experienced a serious event related to the treatment.
• There were 16 deaths on the trial, including two -- caused by a heart attack and unstable angina -- that were considered to be related to the drug.
• There were 25 thromboembolic events, including seven thought to be related to the study drug. But there was no association with any particular platelet count and the events occurred with a wide variety of exposure duration.
• Of patients receiving concurrent ITP medication at baseline, 81% were able to discontinue or reduce their dose by more than 25%.
• The median of the average weekly dose of all patients was 4 mcg/kg, and after 12 weeks of therapy doses remained relatively constant, with 78% of patients getting within 2 mcg/kg of their most frequent dose at least 90% of the time.

Out of the 292 patients enrolled in the study, 91 discontinued. That figure includes 15 deaths and 25 withdrawals of consent; in addition, 11 patients withdrew due to adverse events, and another 11 withdrew to try an alternative therapy.

The eltrombopag study -- dubbed EXTEND -- included 299 patients who had taken part in a previous study of the drug, either in the placebo or study drug arm, Saleh said. The primary goal was to analyze long-term efficacy and safety; the study is still under way although 41% have withdrawn, mainly due to adverse events (11%), patient choice (11%), and lack of efficacy (10%).

The researchers found:

• 88% of patients reached a platelet count of at least 50,000 per microliter of plasma, regardless of baseline count, use of concomitant medications at baseline, or whether they had undergone a splenectomy.
• Platelet counts rose sharply in the first two weeks of treatment and then plateaued after four weeks.
• Within four weeks, bleeding scores dropped by 50%, and after that there was very little clinically relevant bleeding.
• 37% of patients stopped at least one concomitant medication.
• There were 21 thromboembolic events in 16 patients, similar to what is seen in untreated people with the condition. As with romiplostim, there was no association with platelet count.
• There was no indication of myelofibrosis associated either with dose or duration of therapy.
• 10% patients met at least one criterion for drug-induced liver injury, but the symptoms were mild, reversible, and were not associated with symptoms of liver damage.

The studies are the largest ever done in immune thrombocytopenia but don't give much guidance as to which drug to choose, according to Terry Gernsheimer, MD, of the University of Washington in Seattle, who was not part of the research but who was one of the moderators of the session at which the studies were presented.

The bottom line, she told MedPage Today, is that the difference between them will come down to patient preference.

"These are extremely active agents," Gernsheimer said, "and they appear to be relatively safe," with the important effect of allowing many patients to come off steroid therapy.

But their clinical use, she said, will probably depend on whether patients prefer a once-weekly injection or a daily pill that has to be taken at odd hours to meet dietary restrictions.

The studies seem small compared with those seen in some other disorders, but they're large enough to avoid any concerns that they lack statistical power, according to Bethan Psaila, MD, PhD, of Imperial College London. Psaila was not part of the studies but was the other moderator of the session at which they were presented.

The numbers are a reflection of the fact that many people with immune thrombocytopenia do well without therapy, so that severe cases are relatively rare, she told MedPage Today.

ITP is a common type of blood disorder that is usually found in the blood and its components. It stands for Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and its one of the disorders wherein there can be an abnormal decrease in the quantity of platelets in the blood. ITP blood disorder decreases the quantity of platelets in the blood, and as a result, the clotting system of body is numerous. Platelets are those blood cells that help blood to clot and stop bleeding and this disorder reduces its numbers in blood. This type of blood disorder can have many bad consequences on our body, like a decrease in the number of platelets that make one’s body prone to bruising and bleeding gums and sometimes even internal bleeding can happen. Thus, ITP blood disorder is considered to be one of the worst disorders ever known to mankind.

These disorders have such a brutal effect on one’s skin that their skin can turn purple because of this disorder. Idiopathic in ITP stands for “cause is unknown” and thrombocytopenic refers to the decreased quantity of the platelets in the blood. Purpura refers to purple color, i.e. one’s skin may turn purple if the effect of this ITP blood disorder is worse. According to the researches, ITP affects the children under the age group of 15 years and it affects 6 to 8 people from every lakh. ITP blood disorder is caused by a deadly and virus infection, so keeping one secure and in hygienic conditions can prevent ITP.