Homeopathic treatment
Before delving into homeopathic treatment let us first discuss the conventional or allopathic treatment available.
Conventional or allopathic treatment of purpura depends on the severity of the patient's
condition. Treatment may include several types of medications and occasionally surgery
to remove the spleen.
Medications: Hematologists may administer immunoglobulins intravenously to try to
get a rapid increase in the platelet count. It usually works quickly to prevent
the spleen from destroying platelets, but usually does not have a long term effect
on ITP or idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. Immunosuppressive drugs such as steroids
may also be used to treat ITP. These decrease the body's production
of the antibody that attaches itself to platelets and leads to their destruction.
Hematologists carefully watch platelet counts during treatment.
Surgery: Occasionally the spleen may need to be removed in an operation called splenectomy.
This is most commonly done for patients who have a low platelet count despite taking
immunosuppressive drugs.
No matter what treatment is chosen, occasionaly idiopathic thromocytopenic purpura
or ITP recurs. Patients should watch carefully for symptoms.
Unfortunately, allopathic medicines offer no treatment for HSP or Henoch-Schonlein
Purpura. Steroids and chemotherapy are their best offerings and neither result in
a quick or permanent cure. Steroids provide absolutely no benefit but doctors continue
to prescribe them. The list of side effects of steroids is mile long. Side effects
like weight gain, fatigue, a swollen face, stomachache, nausea, lowered resistence
to infections, and mood swings.
Along with unpleasant and perhaps long lasting side effects, allopathic medicine
can often make us sicker. Acetaminophen can deplete glutathione levels decreasing
immunity and the body's ability to detoxify. Depleted glutathione levels have also
been implicated in autistic spectrum disorder. Accidental acetaminophen overdose
has been identified as the number one cause of acute liver failure in the United
States of America. Ibuprofen is creating serious adverse reactions in children who
are mildly dehydrated.
Usually, allopathic medicines do not cure illness. They simply suppress symptoms.
Antibiotics, steroids, even acetaminophen and ibuprofen can drive an illness deeper
so eventually a more serious issue may develop. A prime example of this is children
who develop asthma after using corticosteroid creams to treat eczema. Instead of
using the skin to express disease in the body, the lungs now become the target of
this expression. Some allopathic medicines can even create the need for more medication.
This is often seen in the elderly who are put on one medication after the other
when each new medication brings new side effects (symptoms). Thus each new 'symptom'
results in a new medication until they are on 5 or more different medications. This
is not to say allopathic medicine does no good or there is not a need for certain
medications. For may people allopathic medicine is a true life saver. But for many
others, it creates the ill health it endeavors to appease.
On the other hand homeopathy is a non toxic system of medicine used by millions
of people worldwide. Medicines are extremely dilute tinctures of natural substances.
These can be used to improve adrenal functioning, detoxify the body from drugs
such as prednisone, and address other imbalances, including emotional issues like
depression. Remedies are know to be patient specific rather than disease specific.
Many of the chronic illnesses experienced today are a result of suppressed symptoms
/ illness. Continued suppression makes the disease that much more complicated
and difficult to cure. Additionally we are already seeing antibiotics fail and more
and more virulent illnesses which do not respond to any allopathic treatment.
Thankfully homeopathy can frequently treat that which allopathic medicine cannot.
Many come to a homeopath as a last resort because all else has failed. Surely some
day homeopathy will be the medicine of first choice, not a treatment of last resort.
There are more than 100 homeopathy medicines which give great relief in purpura.
However, the correct choice and the resulting relief is a matter of experience and
right judgment on the part of the doctor. The treatment is decided after thorough
case taking of the patient. Thus remedies are designer made unlike allopathy in
which all patients receive the same surgery or drugs although trade name may be
different.
For online treatment, you may follow the following steps at Consult now.
What is purpara or ITP
Purpura is purple-colored spots and patches that occur on the skin, on organs, and
in mucous membranes, including the lining of the mouth. They are also known as blood
spots; skin hemorrhages.
It occurs when small blood vessels under the skin leak. When spots are very small,
they are called petechiae. Large purpura are called ecchymoses.
A person with purpura may have normal platelet counts (non thrombocytopenic purpuras)
or decreased platelet count (thrombocytopenic purpura).
Platelets (thrombocytes) are colorless blood cells that stop blood loss by clumping
together at the site of a blood vessel injury and forming plugs in vessel holes.
Causes & symptoms
Non thrombocytopenic purpura may be due to:
- Drugs that affect platelet function.
- Congenital cytomegalovirus.
- Congenital rubella syndrome.
- Fragile blood vessels (senile purpura).
- Pressue changes that occur during vaginal childbirth.
- Vasculitis such as Henoch - Schonlein purpura.
Thrombocytopenic purpura may be due to:
- Drugs that prevent platelets from forming.
- Hemangioma.
- Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP).
- Immune neonatal thrombocytopenia.
- Meningococcemia.
The commonest one is idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), also called immune
thrombocytopenic purpura, is a bleeding disorder in which your blood has difficulty
clotting due to an unusually low number of platelets.
People with ITP or idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), because of their low
platelet count, tend to bruise easily and bleed longer when injured. Nosebleeds
and bleeding gums also are common.
ITP or idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura is often divided into two categories
: Acute and Chronic. Acute ITP is the most common form and occurs most frequently
in children, typically after a viral infection. It usually goes away on its own
within 6 months. Chronic ITP lasts longer than 6 months and is more common in adults.
Treatment depends on signs, symptoms and platelet count. The goal of treatment for
both children and adults is to create a safe platelet count and avoid bleeding complications.
Signs that typically indicate a low platelet count include:
- Easy or excessive bruising (purpura).
- Superficial bleeding into your skin that appears as a rash of pinpoint sized reddish
purple spots (petechiae), usually on your legs.
- Prolonged bleeding from cuts.
- Spontaneous bleeding from your gums or nose.
- Blood in urine or stool.
- Unusually heavy menstrual flow.
- Profuse bleeding during surgery.
Serious or widespread bleeding indicates an emergency and requires immediate care.
Who gets ITP
There are two types of ITP. One type affects children, and the other type affects
adults. In children, the usual age for getting ITP is 2 to 4 years. Most adults
with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura or ITP are young women, but it can occur
in anyone. ITP does not run in families.
How Does ITP affects children
Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura or ITP is different in children than in adults.
Most children with ITP have a very low platelet count that causes sudden bleeding.
The usual symptoms are bruises and the tiny red dots on the skin. Nosebleeds and
bleeding gums are also common.
How does ITP affects adults
In most adults, ITP lasts much longer than it does in children. At the time of diagnosis,
most adults have noticed increased bleeding and easy bruising for several weeks,
or even months. In women, increased menstrual blood flow is a major sign.
Many adults have only mild thrombocytopenia. In fact, quite a few people have no
bleeding symptoms. They are only diagnosed with ITP when their blood is checked
for another reason and a low blood platelet count is found.
Another one Henoch Schonlein Purpura or HSP is a disease that causes small blood
vessels in the skin to leak because of inflammation. The primary symptom is a rash
that looks like many small raised bruises on the legs. The rash is most often on
the legs and buttocks, but it can appear on other parts of the body. Some people
with Henoch Schonlein purpura or HSP also develop abdominal pain or joint pains
(arthritis). The kidneys may be affected as well, causing blood or protein in the
urine. HSP can occur any time in life, but it usually happens in children between
the ages 2 and 11.
In most cases, HSP lasts 4 to 6 weeks, with no long term consequences. Sometimes
symptoms come and go during this time period. About one in three people have more
than one episode (recurrence) of HSP. Recurrences usually occur within a few months
and are usually less severe than the initial episode. Even when it lasts longer
than a few months, HSP can still resolve completely. The primary symptoms of HSP
is a rash that looks like many small raised bruises on the legs.
HSP has 4 main symtoms:
- Rashes and bruising.
- Abdominal pain.
- Arthritis.
- Kidney involvement.
Diagnosis
The diagnosis of ITP is one of exclusion. First, one has to make sure that there
are no other blood abnormalities except for low platelet count and no physical signs
except for signs of bleeding.
You will be asked when you first noticed the lesion and whether you noticed other
lesions on your body. Any family history of a bleeding disorder or easy bruising.
What medications you are taking, if any, and describe your diet. You will be asked
about recent trauma or transfusions and the development of associated signs, such
as epistaxis, bleeding gums, hematuria and hematochazia. And about systemic complaints
that may suggest infection, such as fever and in the case of female patient the
doctor would ask for any heavy menstrual flow. Your entire skin surface will be
examined to determine the type, size, location, distribution, and severity of purpuric
lesions as well as the mucous membranes.
Then, the secondary causes (usually 5-10% of suspected ITP cases) should be excluded.
Secondary causes could be leukemia, medications (quinine, heparin and so on), lupus
erythematosus, cirrhosis, HIV, hepatitis e, congenital causes, anti phospholipid
syndrome, von Willebrand factor deficiency and others.
In addition to taking medical history and performing a physical examination, your
doctor may order the following tests when checking for idiopathic thrombocytopenic
purpura or ITP:
- Complete blood count.
- Blood smear.
- Bone marrow examination.