ITP Splenectomy -What is the Spleen and Do You Really Need It?
If you have Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura and Low blood platelets and a splenectomy has been recommended by your doctor, I am sure that you are probably most distressed by the thought of spleen removal.
No one wants to go under the knife! So therefore I recommend that you be aware about just how important the spleen really is.
Most people don't pay it much notice unless they injure it or hear of someone injuring there spleen during an accident of some type.
Most people have heard of the term "ruptured the spleen".
Because the spleen is so soft and mushy it can't be repaired by surgery and in those cases, when injured, is removed to stop the large loss of blood.
The spleen, located just behind and under the rib cage on the left hand side of the body, is a soft, purplish organ about the size of your heart which is likened to a sponge that can hold up to about three gallons of blood.
Out of all the organs located in your abdomen, the spleen is the organ that can be injured the easiest and also the most often.
But what does the spleen do? Well for starters...
it serves as a blood reservoir in case of an emergency.
Three gallons of blood could come in handy in a bleeding crisis.
When a person suddenly loses a lot of blood, the spleen contracts, forcing additional blood into circulation.
Filtering worn out platelets and red and white blood cells from the blood is another very important function.
To get rid of these spent cells and platelets, the spleen breaks them down, disposes them as waste and returns much needed iron to the blood.
In cases such as infectious mononucleosis, the spleen becomes overactive and swollen.
The spleen plays an important role in the last few months of life in the womb.
It manufactures red blood cells for the fetus.
After the baby is born, that function is taken over by the bone marrow.
However, the spleen can revert back to its fetal function in the case of a bone marrow breakdown.
Another job of the spleen is to store your blood platelets (the part of the blood that helps us clot our blood).
This is where a large percentage of the body's platelets are normally found, ready to be sent where they are needed.
Probably the most important role of the spleen is to bring the spleen's lymphocytes into contact with the blood.
If the blood contains any virus, bacteria or parasite or other foreign invader, the T-cell lymphocytes of the spleen become activated.
This contact between the blood and the lymphocytes causes them to attack the foreign invaders or produce antibodies directed against them.
But for some bizarre reason, in the case of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, the spleen starts destroying the blood platelets treating them like they were the foreign invaders and then the platelets are destroyed .
This is why doctors recommend spleen removal as a "cure" for ITP.
If there is no spleen then it can't destroy it's platelets, but at what cost? The spleen plays a vital role in our life and without it some of these functions would be lacking.
No one wants to go under the knife! So therefore I recommend that you be aware about just how important the spleen really is.
Most people don't pay it much notice unless they injure it or hear of someone injuring there spleen during an accident of some type.
Most people have heard of the term "ruptured the spleen".
Because the spleen is so soft and mushy it can't be repaired by surgery and in those cases, when injured, is removed to stop the large loss of blood.
The spleen, located just behind and under the rib cage on the left hand side of the body, is a soft, purplish organ about the size of your heart which is likened to a sponge that can hold up to about three gallons of blood.
Out of all the organs located in your abdomen, the spleen is the organ that can be injured the easiest and also the most often.
But what does the spleen do? Well for starters...
it serves as a blood reservoir in case of an emergency.
Three gallons of blood could come in handy in a bleeding crisis.
When a person suddenly loses a lot of blood, the spleen contracts, forcing additional blood into circulation.
Filtering worn out platelets and red and white blood cells from the blood is another very important function.
To get rid of these spent cells and platelets, the spleen breaks them down, disposes them as waste and returns much needed iron to the blood.
In cases such as infectious mononucleosis, the spleen becomes overactive and swollen.
The spleen plays an important role in the last few months of life in the womb.
It manufactures red blood cells for the fetus.
After the baby is born, that function is taken over by the bone marrow.
However, the spleen can revert back to its fetal function in the case of a bone marrow breakdown.
Another job of the spleen is to store your blood platelets (the part of the blood that helps us clot our blood).
This is where a large percentage of the body's platelets are normally found, ready to be sent where they are needed.
Probably the most important role of the spleen is to bring the spleen's lymphocytes into contact with the blood.
If the blood contains any virus, bacteria or parasite or other foreign invader, the T-cell lymphocytes of the spleen become activated.
This contact between the blood and the lymphocytes causes them to attack the foreign invaders or produce antibodies directed against them.
But for some bizarre reason, in the case of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, the spleen starts destroying the blood platelets treating them like they were the foreign invaders and then the platelets are destroyed .
This is why doctors recommend spleen removal as a "cure" for ITP.
If there is no spleen then it can't destroy it's platelets, but at what cost? The spleen plays a vital role in our life and without it some of these functions would be lacking.
