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Human Disease Project
Egan middle school
Polycythemia Vera
(P.V.)
By: Jake Klepper
Period 2
About the Author
• I am a student at Egan Junior High
School. I attend Mr. Schneider’s science
class. As you can see, my favorite
college is Cal. Go Bears!
Polycythemia Vera
• Polycythemia Vera or P.V. is a disease where
the bone marrow creates too many red blood
cells.
• Polycythemia means “many cells in the
blood”
• It is a rare or “orphan” disease that occurs
once in every 200,000 people
What are some symptoms?
• Some early symptoms include:
• Fatigue
• A feeling of fullness or bloating in your left upper
abdomen due to an enlarged spleen
• Chest pain
• Dizziness (including headaches)
• Blood clots
What are some symptoms?
Continued….
• Some major symptoms that include
blood clotting are:
• Stroke
• Sudden difficulty speaking or understanding speech
(aphasia)
• Sudden numbness, weakness, or paralysis of your
face, arm or leg — usually on one side of your body
How is it Diagnosed?
• For over 100 years P.V. has been known as a
disease of exclusions. That means that the doctors
ruled out every other known disease by use of bone
marrow biopsies, ultrasounds, CBC’s, and if the
patient didn’t have any abnormalities of those, then
they deduct it must be P.V. However, in March 2005,
a team of researchers discovered an indicator called
JAK 2 (a genetic mutation in the protein tyrosine
kinase). Now doctors just have to order a test to see
if the patient carries the JAK2 mutation and if it did,
then they know the patient has PV.
How does P.V affect the body?
P.V. does not affect the external outside of a
patients body.
Two kinds:
1. Polycythemia- increased amount of red blood
cells in the blood stream
2. Secondary- Polycythemia- limited oxygen due to
living at high altitude and/or smoking
Age group
• The age for someone with Polycythemia
Vera is from age 20-80. The mean or
average age is around 60 years.
It affects mostly older
people, but also young
adults and up.
60 year old man (Colonel Sanders)
Treatment
• Treatments include:
• Phlebotomy with a baby aspirin (low
dose to help thin the blood.)
• Heavier medication such oral
chemotherapy - Hydroxyurea
What are Phlebotomies?
Phlebotomies are usually the first option the
patient has. It involves a certain amount of blood
(usually averaging one pint) to be drawn from the
body. Because the blood is removed from the body,
there are less red blood cells to affect the patient.
Patients usually have phlebotomies more than once
and they can happen on a monthly basis for one’s
lifetime.
Any Cures??
Currently, there are seven clinical trials being
preformed around the world to test out new
medication and to see if any of them will be the key to
cure PV.
Because there is no exact cause that doctors
have found for P.V, there is no “target” cure or main
cure for the disease. Most patients use blood thinners
to tone down the red blood cells, but those drugs also
tone down the count of others cells such as white
blood cells. Those blood thinners are “general” drugs
or, not the exact drug that pinpoints red blood cells
but all cells.
One Normal Day
• Everyone with PV has it to a certain degree
so everyone’s “normal” day is different.
• For my dad, a normal day is taking his
morning pills, going for a run, then to work,
then at night he takes more pills, and once a
month he will take a blood test (CBC) to see if
everything is okay.
Is it Expensive?
• The medication for Polycythemia Vera is expensive,
but if you’re lucky enough to have insurance, it
covers most of the medication.
• With my dad’s splenectomy (removal of the spleen)
however, the insurance covered most of the
procedure but the overall total amount was still costly
for us.
• Overall, insurance covers most of the procedures,
medicine, etc. so it’s not typically too costly for our
family.
Conclusion
The main reason I chose this disease was
because my father has it and in some ways it has
changed my family’s life. During my research, I have
found that there are two types of Polycythemia Vera.
My main source of information was between the MPD
Foundation and my dad. I still would like to figure out
what causes the disease given the fact it is still
unknown. I do believe my downfall would be that
there is no exact cause for P.V. and that does take
away some great research topics that I could of used.
In conclusion I had a blast learning what and how
P.V. does and how it affects the people who have it.
Diagram 1
Diagram 1
explanation
• This graph shows the over-production of
red blood cells, white blood cells and
blood platelets
• Also it shows the B19 Parvovirus
Capside that might be the cause of P.V.
Diagram 2
P.V. Therapies
100.0%
90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
P.V Patients
Bone Marrow
Transplant
Radation
Splenectomy
Transfusions
Phlebotomy
Medications
Mesa et.al. Cancer 2007:109:68 -76
Bibliography
•
"canada.com ." canada.com - search. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar 2010.
<http://polycythemiaveraproducts.com/ html>.
•
"Medline Plus." Polycythemia vera: Medline Plus Medical Encyclopedia.
N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar 2010.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000589.htm.
•
"Polycythemia Vera." Polycythemia Vera. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar 2010.
http://www.som.tulane.edu/classware/pathology/Krause/PV/PV.html.
•
"Polycythemia vera." Polycythemia vera - MayoClinic.com. N.p., n.d.
Web. 14 Mar 2010. <http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/polycythemiavera/DS00919>.
•
Klepper, Sam. Intervew by Jake Klepper. 14 Mar 2010. Print.
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