DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Would you please provide information on a high platelet count? I am 84 and need to know if this is serious. — C.P.

ANSWER: Platelets, also called thrombocytes, are small blood cells that initiate clot formation. They plug broken or cut blood vessels. Without platelets, we would bleed to death. An excess number of platelets is called thrombocytosis.

Thrombocytosis is found in many conditions such as polycythemia, iron deficiency anemia, lupus and some cancers, such as leukemia and lymphomas. These names may be foreign to your ears, but your doctor knows about them and knows what to look for in considering them.

Ask the doctor if he or she is of the opinion that you have essential thrombocytosis, a high platelet count without a discoverable cause. If that is the case, then experts in this field tell us to focus on the patient and not the platelet count. An elevated platelet count in a person who has no symptoms and is not at high risk of heart problems doesn’t require immediate therapy. Such a person can be followed.

Symptoms to be aware of are headaches, chest pain, blood clots and bleeding.

Should any suggestion of trouble arise, the doctor can begin treatment that lowers the count.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My husband has been suffering with psoriasis for more than 60 years. He has tried many treatments, with varying results. Right now he is on Remicade infusions. His psoriasis is better, but he has sore spots all over his body. The dermatologist tells us they are cancer spots resulting from all the ultraviolet light treatments he has gotten through the years and the sun exposure he has had. Don’t they recommend this anymore?

What can he do? He is also on Coumadin (a blood thinner), so sometimes the sores bleed. His dermatologist recommends cutting them out. He is 87 and does not want any cutting. Can you help? — J.T.

ANSWER: Ultraviolet treatments are still used for psoriasis, but the manner in which they’re given differs from the way they used to be given. That cuts down the chances of developing skin cancers.

I’m not sure what your husband’s skin lesions are. They might be actinic keratoses, flat or elevated red skin blotches with a surface that looks similar to the surface of a wart. These precancerous lesions often can be taken care of by applying 5 FU cream to them or freezing them.

Basal cell skin cancer is another possibility. It starts out as a waxy growth on the skin, and it has a central depression, making it appear a bit like a volcano. Sometimes basal cell cancers can also be treated with medicines applied directly to them.

Squamous cell skin cancers are dangerous because they can spread to other parts of the body. They begin as dull red patches with tiny bright-red streaks running through. They eventually form a little hill, and then they become an open sore. Surgery is the recommended treatment.

Skin-cell surgery isn’t as daunting as your husband might think. The pain is minimal. Your husband doesn’t need an anesthetic to put him to sleep. He returns home after the procedure, which can be done in stages if he has many sores. Ask your husband to reconsider his stand on getting these things removed. He’ll regret that he didn’t. My grandfather has a sore on his nose that he neglected. He lost one half of his nose as a result. The sore was a skin cancer.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: When doctors speak of electrolytes, what are they talking about? — C.C.

ANSWER: They’re talking about sodium, potassium chloride and bicarbonate, all chemicals that carry an electric charge. The positively charged sodium and potassium cancel out the negatively charged chloride and bicarbonate to keep the body electrically neutral.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Readers may also order health newsletters from www.rbmamall.com.