understanding bloodwork results

ticknor · Newbie Joined: 13 May 2005 Posts: 20

Laboratory tests are tools helpful in evaluating the health status of the person who done it. It is important to realize that laboratory results, for example blood work results, may be outside of the so-called normal range for many reasons. These variations may be due to such things as race, dietetic preference, age, sex, menstrual cycle, etc. Since there are so many things I could know and understand about blood work results, I want to hear some, and remember at least some of those.

sumida · Silver Member Joined: 08 Nov 2002 Posts: 335

The complete blood count or CBC typically has several parameters that are created from an automated cell counter. The most relevant are White Blood Count or WBC is the number of white cells. High WBC can be a sign of some infection and some types of leukemia. Low white counts can be a sign of bone marrow diseases or to enlarged spleen, or in HIV infection in some cases. Hemoglobin or Hgb is the amount of oxygen carrying protein contained within the red blood cells. The hematocrit is the percentage of the blood volume occupied by the red blood cells. In most labs the Hgb is actually measured, while the Hct is computed using known measurement. Low Hgb or Hct suggest an anemia, which can be due to nutritional deficiencies, blood loss, and destruction of blood cells internally. Mean Corpuscular Volume or MCV helps to diagnose a cause of an anemia. There are so many other parameters in blood work results, which you could ask your doctor about.

understanding bloodwork results

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