ITP Support Association

The ITP Support Association is the sole UK charity providing information and advice to those with ITP, and their families. Run primarily by volunteers with just one paid part-time worker it publishes a quarterly newsletter, provides numerous publications on ITP issues, organizes annual patient conventions, seminars for health professionals and funds research into the causes and best management of this frightening disease.
Immune Thrombocytopenia is a frightening rare disorder in which the body’s immune system destroys platelets in the blood. Unlike autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and MS it is not progressive as the risk of bleeding exists from the day the disease develops. It can arise in anyone at any age, and affects three to four thousand adults and children in the UK.
Its symptoms vary from one sufferer to another but include nose bleeds, mouth blisters, heavy periods, large multi colour bruises, fatigue and, on rare occasions, spontaneous bleeding into major organs. Treatments, which all have their dangers and drawbacks, only temporarily raise the platelet count, but do not cure the disease.