ITP Support Association

Synehurste
Kimbolton Road
Bolnhurst
Bedfordshire
MK44 2EW

Tel: 0844 777 0559
Web: www.itpsupport.org.uk
Best time to telephone: anytime between 8am and 10pm, answerphone when not available.

Immune (Idiopathic) Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP) is a blood disorder in which the body's immune system destroys the platelets in the blood. In Britain ITP affects around 400 children a year with 75% recovering fully within three months. ITP is less common in adults with around 120 new cases each year.

The ITP Support Association was founded in 1995. Its aims are to promote the welfare of patients with ITP and to work with the medical profession to assist the advancement of knowledge about and treatment of ITP and to fund research into ITP. The Association is a registered charity and has leading specialists as its medical advisors. The Association is non-profit making, funded entirely by donation and staffed by volunteers. The Association provides the following:

• Patient support.
• Advice on referrals for difficult cases.
• A telephone contact network with other sufferers or parents.
• Original easy-to-read publications and videos about ITP and associated interests.
• A quarterly newsletter The Platelet which contains news and up-to-date information from Britain and abroad and a questions and answers section.
• Feedback to clinicians, specialists and drug companies on general patient concerns.
• An annual convention for ITP sufferers to hear talks given by specialists on ITP related matters.
• Sponsors a clinical specialist ITP nurse to answer patient's medical enquiries.
• Medical seminars for health professionals.

Publications, which are available from the contact address above, include the following:

• Know About ITP
• What's It Called (available in three editions for childhood, teenage, or adult sufferers)
• Protocol for Dentists
• Aspirin a list of products containing acetylsalicylic acid
• Factsheet on Splenectomy and Infection
• Guidelines for Management of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura
• School guidelines

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