Platelets

About Low Platelets

Low platelet count, or thrombocytopenia, is an abnormally low count of platelets, the blood particles that prevent blood loss by aiding in the formation of blood clots. A normal platelet count is defined as 150,000 to 350,000 platelets in one...

Platelets & Vitamins

Blood flow is necessary for survival, thus mechanisms exist in the body to ensure that blood flow is maintained. Hemostasis is the mechanism used by the body to sustain blood flow; its components include clotting factors, platelets, substances...

Nutrition for Platelets

Blood contains a variety of cells, including red and white blood cells and platelet cells. Platelets are the cells involved in blood clotting, or coagulation, which normally occurs when blood vessels are breached and leak blood. As such, platelet...

Food Affecting Platelets

Platelets are tiny bodies in your blood that can clump together to stop bleeding and form scabs when you're injured. They can sometimes stick together in your bloodstream as well, forming clots. Blood clots can lead to heart attack or stroke. Some...

How to Increase Platelets by Eating

Platelets, also called thrombocytes, are blood cells that are essential for many normal functions of the body, such as blood clotting. According to the Mayo Clinic, low blood platelets, or thrombocytopenia, means a person does not have enough of...

How to Boost Platelets Naturally

Platelets are the sticky little soldiers of the blood stream. First to arrive at any cut, scrape or bruise, these lifesaving red blood cells stick together and form a blood clot that stops a razor nick from turning into a hemorrhage. The platelets...

Caffeine's Effect on Platelets

According to CBS News, caffeine is America's fuel. More than 50 percent of Americans drink three to four cups of coffee a day, which works out to more than 330 million cups. But that's just coffee. If you include things like tea and caffeinated...

What Foods Help Platelets?

Your blood contains a number of specialized cell types, which perform a range of functions to support the continued health of your cells and tissues. Among these specialized cells are platelets, which help control the thickness of your blood and...

Amino Acids & Platelets

When you get a cut or abrasion that penetrates your skin, you may bleed for a little while. But before long, the bleeding slows and then stops as a scab begins to form. Your body's remarkable ability to recover from a flesh wound begins with the...

Diet for Low Platelets

Platelets are clotting mechanisms and, ideally, you should have between 150,000 and 400,000 such cells per cubic millimeter of your blood, according to the website Chemocare. Many things can affect your body's production of platelets, including...

What Foods Will Increase Platelets?

Platelets are microscopic blood compounds that are produced by your bone marrow. When you cut your skin, they are responsible for blood clotting. The lower your blood platelet count, the more your body is susceptible to continuous bleeding and...

Causes of Elevated Platelets

Originating in the bone marrow, platelets play an important role in blood clotting. Normal platelet counts range between 150,000 and 400,000/mm3. Thrombocytopenia means the count falls lower than this and thrombocytosis means the platelet count...

Platelets & Vitamin B12

Vitamin B-12 is a large molecule that is complexed with the metal cobalt, which gives this vitamin its alternate name: cobalamin. Having normal levels of the vitamin B-12 is essential for optimal health. Levels that are too low may lead to...

Platelets & Diet

When you cut or wound yourself, your body mobilizes its natural defenses to facilitate healing. Among its healing tools are platelets, cell fragments that play a vital role in blood clotting. Normal human platelet counts range between 150,000 and...

Blood Platelets & Vitamin K

Vitamin K is essential for many types of normal biological processes, one of which is blood clotting. The "K" of vitamin K was taken from the German word "koagulation," the English translation of which is "coagulation." Coagulation is the...

Foods That Affect Platelets

Platelets are substances in your blood that are characterized by sticky surfaces and irregular shapes. When a tear in skin occurs, platelets gather at the wound site to stop the flow of blood by forming a substance called fibrin. Certain foods...

What Are the Causes of High Platelets?

Platelets are also called thrombocytes. They are the type of blood cell involved in forming blood clots. They circulate throughout the bloodstream, but in just seconds after a blood vessel has been damaged, platelets go to the injured site. Once...

Vitamins That Can Raise Platelets

Platelets, or thrombocytes, are cells that are vital to your blood's ability to clot. While a low platelet count, or thrombocytopenia, can arise from a variety of conditions, a variety of vitamin supplements can help prevent and treat this...

The Effect of Omega-3 on Platelets

Omega-3 fatty acids affect cardiovascular function in several ways. They can help reduce cholesterol and thereby lower your risk of developing atherosclerosis. They can also affect clotting by impacting platelet function. The latter effect means...

What Are the Dangers of Low Platelets?

Low platelets may result from a number of factors, but often this condition occurs in cancer patients from radiation and chemotherapy treatments. Most commonly known as thrombocytopenia, low platelet levels compromise your body's ability to...

A Diet for Blood Platelets

When your body starts to lose blood from an injury, colorless and sticky platelets start helping clot the blood at a wound site to prevent excessive bleeding. Thrombocytopenia is a condition that means having a low level of blood platelets. It...

Symptoms From High Platelets

Platelets are cell fragments made by bone marrow that help the blood clot to prevent bleeding and help wounds to heal. While high platelet count can be due to underlying infection, it may also be a sign of a serious bone marrow disorder such as...

Blood Platelets & B-12

The term anemia is most commonly associated with iron intake. When your iron supply is low, hemoglobin levels diminish because iron is the central component of hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is responsible for carrying oxygen in the blood and delivering...

Shark Cartilage & Low Platelets

If you have a low platelet count, medically termed thrombocytopenia, you can experience excessive bleeding either when you injure yourself or from unknown causes. Platelets, small blood cell fragments, help your blood clot. Numerous disorders can...

What Are the Treatments for Low Platelets in Infants?

Low platelets in infants can have a variety of causes and multiple effects. The clinical name for low platelets is thrombocytopenia, and indicates a platelet count of less than 150,000 per microliter of blood. Many babies, especially those who are...

Drugs & Supplements That Interfere With Platelets

Platelets, also known as thrombocytes, are blood cells produced in the bone marrow. Platelets help wounds heal and prevent bleeding by forming blood clots. The normal platelet count is 150,000 to 350,000 per microliter of blood, and a low platelet...

How to Increase Platelets Through Nutrition

The smallest components of blood, platelets are formed within the bone marrow. Certain foods and micronutrients nourish the growth and development of blood cells through their impact on the marrow. Increasing the platelet count, or measurement of...

Foods to Increase Blood Platelets

Blood platelets are irregular-shaped bodies in the blood that form clots when needed to prevent excessive bleeding. The Franklin Institute states that when the body starts bleeding, blood platelets, along with vitamin K, the mineral calcium and a...

How to Eat Healthy to Increase Platelets

Platelets, also known as thrombocytes, are irregular shaped blood cells. While they do not contain any traces of DNA, the presence of platelets and a sufficient number of them is essential for blood clotting. Blood that does not clot properly is...

Components of Human Blood Donations (Video)

Plasma, platelets, and red blood cells can all be donated with human blood. Learn the components of human blood donations in this free video clip from a blood donation center.

Blood Donations & Cancer Patients (Video)

Most blood donations go to cancer patients. Learn how and why blood donations help cancer patients in this free video clip from a blood donation center.

Hemophilia Health Video (Video)

Hemophilia is a genetic disorder characterized by a deficiency of clotting factors in the blood. Learn more about the causes, symptoms, and treatments of hemophilia in this free health video.

Automated Blood Donation Collection (Video)

Curious about donating automated blood collections? Learn about automated blood donation collections in this free video clip from a blood donation center.