Article: Problems associated with too many red blood cells.(Life - Health)

Byline: DR. PAUL DONOHUE

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My husband just returned from the doctor with a possible diagnosis of polycythemia. Would you tell us its significance? Is it a form of cancer?

- W.B.

DEAR W.B.: Polycythemia (POWL-ee-sigh-THEME-ee-uh ) isn't cancer. It comes from a bone marrow that makes too many blood cells - red, white and platelets. Most attention is directed to the red blood cells. What pushed the marrow into this overproduction mode is something that has yet to be explained.

I'll bet the doctor discovered it not from symptoms your husband might have, but from blood work that showed a high red blood cell count.

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