Re: ITP vs DIC
ITP - Immune Thrombocytopenia Purpura is an autoimmune disease where the body makes antibodies to the platelets and tags them for destruction. The trouble isn't producing platelets - the bone marrow usually shows normal production - it's the antibodies the immune system makes. The diseasea can go into remission after treatment with drugs like Prednisone, IVIG, Danazol, Winwhro, or now sometimes Rituxan. It isn't quite understood yet what triggers it. Some medications cause it, othertimes viruses or chemical exposure.
I have the disease, and I had a splenectomy in 1995 that kept me in remission until 2003 when a bad bout of the flu caused my immune system to start producing the antibodies. Now whenever I have a relapse, I treat with low dose Prednisone. The trend in treating people with ITP is not to get and keep their counts at regular standards 150,000 - 450,000, but to keep them at a level where they are not symptomatic (ie, active bleeding, unusually bad bruising.)
I don't know what DIC is. Hope this helps.