Listen to this articleA complete blood test is recommended by doctors to evaluate the overall health and in the detection of a number of disorders such as anemia (deficiency of iron), infections, and leukemia.
According to health experts, a complete blood count test measures several components in the blood. These include:
Hemoglobin: it is the protein present in red blood cells that carries oxygen.
Red Blood Cells: Red blood cells carry oxygen.
White Blood Cells: White blood cells fight all the infections occurring in the body.
Platelets: These cells help a lot with the clotting of blood.
Any change in the count of blood cells, an increase or decrease can reveal a number of medical conditions that are underlying. But it can only be found out by getting a CBC test done.
Why is it Performed?
There are a number of reasons why this blood test is undertaken. These can be:
For Overall Review of Health
Medical experts and doctors can recommend an individual to take a blood test as a part of routine tests. This not only monitors the general health issues but also can help in finding different acute disorders like leukemia.
Diagnosis of Medical Diseases
Your doctor can suggest you get a complete blood count test if you are experiencing fatigue, fever, bleeding, or weakness. A blood test can help you get a proper diagnosis of serious medical issues and the cause behind the medical issues. If there is an infection suspected, then your healthcare expert might suggest getting a blood test to confirm the presence of infection. Other diseases and conditions that are detected by CBC test include:
- Mineral and Vitamins deficiencies
- Problems causing extremely low or extremely high count of white blood cells
- Disorders such as thalassemia, sickle cell anemia, and agranulocytosis
Monitoring of Medical Condition
If there is a medical issue or disease already diagnosed, a CBC test can help monitor the condition of the body and the disease.
Complete Blood Count test reveals to your provider:
- The size and the shape of your blood cells
- New blood cells being created in the body
- The exact number of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets
How to Prepare for a CBC Test?
No special preparation is needed for this test. Only a blood sample is taken from the veins of the arm by inserting a needle.
What does a CBC Test Measure?
A CBC test measures the blood count and evaluates red and white cells along with platelets. It measures other many aspects of blood like:
CBC with Differential
The CBC differential test measures all five kinds of white blood cells by looking at the total number of each cell present.
Hematocrit
Hematocrit describes and evaluates the concentration of red blood cells present in the body.
CBC Without Differential
This test only counts the total number of white blood cells present in the body.
Hemoglobin
Hemoglobin is measured through a CBC test and i is a protein that carries oxygen in the blood cells.
Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV)
If the red blood cells appear bigger than the usual size, the MCV will be higher. This can occur due to a deficiency of vitamin B12. If the size of the cells is relatively smaller, then it means that you have a certain type of anemia.
Results of CBC Test
There are two columns that are present in the CBC Test reports. One is c allied as the reference range and the other one is results. If the results come under the bracket of reference range then it means that your tests are normal. But if they are too below or higher than the reference range then it means you are suffering from a serious health condition.
There are different types of reports provided by different labs. And the unit of the reference range can vary from lab to lab. But the range does differ in gender, age, and sex in all the laboratories.
Conclusion
A complete blood count can measure different medical conditions in the body. Your healthcare provider can also recommend getting the test done if you are already under treatment. In case of serious issues, it is important to ask the healthcare provider before getting the tests done. It is better to get detected earlier before the condition worsens, so it is important to get tests done as soon as the doctor recommends.
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