My hematologist said people can live a normal life span with ET and taking HU. People get various side effects, such as HU causes some muscle pain for me, and a little bit of digestive stuff. It was causing my hair to fall out by the handful, but that stopped when I started taking essential amino acids for something else. Within a couple of weeks my hair was no longer falling out and was growing back in. I found out that certain amino acids can help with hair growth. I use Doublewood brand, Essential Amino Acids, taking 1 capsule 6 days a week.