Mandy Moore Reveals Rare Blood Disorder Diagnosis—What to Know About ITP
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Mandy Moore revealed she has a rare blood disorder, immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP).
The This Is Us star, 38, was diagnosed with the condition after delivering her son Gus last year. Due to the disorder, she will deliver her second child “unmedicated.”
It’s characterized by a low blood platelet count, which affects the blood’s ability to clot.
A little over a year after delivering her son Gus in what Mandy Moore called a “harrowing” first birth, the This Is Us star is approaching baby number two’s due date. And like the first birth, she will endure it “unmedicated,” she recently told Today Parents, because she has a rare autoimmune disorder called immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), which causes low blood platelet levels, making an epidural unsafe.
“My platelets are too low for an epidural,” she shared. “It was awful [before]. But I can do it one more time. I can climb that mountain again.”
Last Thursday, Moore gave fans a health update regarding her diagnosis, per Today. “I am fine. I just have to continue to get my blood checked—my platelet levels checked—throughout pregnancy. They’re low, but they’ve always been low,” she said. “But I’m all good. Everything’s good.”
What causes ITP?
According to the National Library of Medicine, ITP is a blood disorder caused by a reaction in which the immune system destroys platelets by mistake, affecting the blood’s ability to clot. Past research shows it’s a pretty rare condition in pregnant women, appearing in one or two of every 1,000 pregnancies. It’s often compared to gestational thrombocytopenia, which characterizes a low platelet count during the second half of pregnancy. Moore previously shared on Instagram that she underwent testing for both conditions, and was diagnosed with ITP when her platelets remained low after she gave birth.
How is ITP diagnosed?
A complete blood count, blood smear, and bone marrow test are all part of an ITP diagnosis, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. A test to check for antibodies that attack platelets is sometimes also required.
ITP symptoms and treatment
Symptoms of ITP include heavy menstrual periods, easy bruising, bleeding into the skin that appears rash-like, and abnormal nose and gum bleeding, per the National Library of Medicine. Treatment options often include steroids, high-dose gamma globulin infusions, and other medications. It’s unclear if Moore underwent any of those, but she did share with followers that she attempted to boost her natural platelet production through diet with dark leafy greens and lentils. Even then, she admitted that her levels “weren’t great,” per Us Weekly.
“I wish medication was an option—just the idea of it being on the table is so nice,” the actress told Today of her upcoming delivery. “But we’ll just push forth like we did last time.”
In a March 2021 episode of Dr. Berlin’s Informed Pregnancy podcast, the 38-year-old detailed her difficult first delivery and how ITP played a part. She explained that her platelets began to drop “exponentially,” which kept her from getting an epidural. Moments later, Gus’ heart rate began to drop and tensions heightened. “One second, everything was fine. Then the next second, it was like, this is happening. And literally, I pushed harder than I had. And it went from no baby to a full body out in seconds,” she said.
“Grueling” pain and all, she didn’t hesitate to say she’d do it all over again to be a mom. “I’ve never felt this kind of love,” she gushed. “It was like the world stopped again, and you’re not aware of anything else that’s going on. That’s why the tearing, all of it, it doesn’t exist. It doesn’t matter. You just have your baby on you. And I couldn’t imagine anything else mattering.”
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