INTRO
Polycythemia Vera (PV) is a slow growing blood cancer that causes the bone marrow to over produce blood cells. It is a chronic progressive Myeloproliferative Neoplasm (MPN) primarily characterized by an elevation of red blood cells ("Polycythemia Vera (PV)," 2014).
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
Most people with PV don’t experience symptoms, but those who do will undergo headache, weakness, excessive sweating, painful swelling of one joint (often the big toe), difficulty breathing when you lie down, numbness, tingling, burning or weakness in your hands, feet arms or legs, a feeling of fullness or bloating in their left upper abdomen due to enlarged spleen ("Polycythemia Vera," 2014), vertigo, tinnitus, visual disturbances, angina pectoris and intermittent claudication (Nagalla, 2014). Most of these symptoms are causes by the increased amount of RBC and in some cases, decreased oxygen levels. …show more content…
The mutation that is most commonly found in people with PV is in the JAK2 protein which is called the JAK2 V617F mutation ("Polycythemia Vera," 2014). The JAK2 gene provides instructions for making a protein that promotes the growth and division cells ("Polycythemia Vera," 2013). This protein is especially important for controlling the production of blood cells from hematopoietic stem cells. JAK2 gene mutations result in the production of a JAK2 protein that is continuously turned on, which increases production of blood cells and extends their survival (Calvo, 2013). Although this is the most common mutation seen, there are others found in people with PV. It is still unknown the role these other mutations play in the development of the disease. Researchers are still unsure what causes these mutations seen in Polycythemia or the roles they play in the development of the disease, but they do believe it occurs after conception meaning it acquired rather than
Polycythemia Vera (PV) is a slow growing blood cancer that causes the bone marrow to over produce blood cells. It is a chronic progressive Myeloproliferative Neoplasm (MPN) primarily characterized by an elevation of red blood cells ("Polycythemia Vera (PV)," 2014).
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
Most people with PV don’t experience symptoms, but those who do will undergo headache, weakness, excessive sweating, painful swelling of one joint (often the big toe), difficulty breathing when you lie down, numbness, tingling, burning or weakness in your hands, feet arms or legs, a feeling of fullness or bloating in their left upper abdomen due to enlarged spleen ("Polycythemia Vera," 2014), vertigo, tinnitus, visual disturbances, angina pectoris and intermittent claudication (Nagalla, 2014). Most of these symptoms are causes by the increased amount of RBC and in some cases, decreased oxygen levels. …show more content…
The mutation that is most commonly found in people with PV is in the JAK2 protein which is called the JAK2 V617F mutation ("Polycythemia Vera," 2014). The JAK2 gene provides instructions for making a protein that promotes the growth and division cells ("Polycythemia Vera," 2013). This protein is especially important for controlling the production of blood cells from hematopoietic stem cells. JAK2 gene mutations result in the production of a JAK2 protein that is continuously turned on, which increases production of blood cells and extends their survival (Calvo, 2013). Although this is the most common mutation seen, there are others found in people with PV. It is still unknown the role these other mutations play in the development of the disease. Researchers are still unsure what causes these mutations seen in Polycythemia or the roles they play in the development of the disease, but they do believe it occurs after conception meaning it acquired rather than