Is a low blood platelet count serious?
Mrs Greycap has a blood disorder (ITP as mentioned above) which means that she often has a low platelet count. When she was diagnosed her platelet count was 7 and she had no symptoms/problems at all. Generally her count hovers around the 80 mark. Anyway, the doctors don’t seem to worry unless it drops below 20 and/or she has problems with bleeding. Even then her platelet count usually climbs back up on its own with no treatment. It really doesn’t affect her life at all apart from the occasional medical appointments. Which is all a roundabout way of saying that a count of 119, while below normal (150-400), doesn’t sound like anything to freak out about. It seems like people can get by on many fewer platelets than average. Plus, as others have said, you may well find that its an anomaly and your count will be back up by your next blood test.
Just to reassure the poster: There is no reason to believe you have ITP or any other problem based on what you posted here. If your physician (who knows more about you than all of us on AskMe combined) was concerned about ITP, leukemia, or some other problem he would be following up with other tests; if you are concerned call him and ask why he feels this is nothing to worry about. According to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, ITP affects 50-150 people per million each year, mostly children. Even though it is fairly common as blood disorders go you are unlikely to have it. Also, it is a diagnosis of exclusion, meaning that other causes of thrombcytopenia need to be ruled out before you can be said to have ITP; without other test results you cannot be said to have ITP. That is not to say there is nothing wrong with
