Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been diagnosed with acute immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), a bleeding disorder in which the immune system destroys platelets, which are necessary for normal blood clotting, according to medics.
“The blood disorder is easily treatable in Pakistan,” a doctor on the medical board treating the incarcerated politician at Lahore’s Services Hospital told The Express Tribune. “Nawaz Sharif has been put on IVIG,” he said, adding that Nawaz would recover in a week’s time.
IVIg, or Intravenous immunoglobulin, is a treatment that combines immunoglobulins donated by different people and is given by a drip. “He [Nawaz] does not have aplastic anaemia and his haemoglobin and WBC (white blood cells) count are normal. Platelets are low, though,” said the doctor, who is privy to the former premier’s treatment and health issues.
The doctor added that Nawaz’s bone marrow is functioning normally and is making healthy blood cells as it should in addition to a normal level of reticulocytes.
What is ITP?
Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura is an immune disorder in which the blood doesn’t clot normally. This condition is now more commonly referred to as immune thrombocytopenia (ITP).
ITP can cause excessive bruising and bleeding. An unusually low level of platelets, or thrombocytes, in the blood results in ITP. Platelets are produced in the bone marrow. They help stop bleeding by clumping together to form a clot that seals cuts or small tears in blood vessel walls and tissues. If your blood doesn’t have enough platelets, it’s slow to clot. Internal bleeding or bleeding on or under the skin can result.
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