What CBC is all about?

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What CBC is all about?
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About CBC

• Our body is made up of millions of cells, which
  group together to form different organs. Some
  cells function in their individual form and move
  throughout the body via blood. Complete Blood
  Count (CBC) is all about these cells present in
  the blood, which can help determine health
  problems. It helps diagnosing many components and
  features of a persons blood which includes
• Red Blood Cells (RBC)
• White Blood Cells (WBC)
• Hemoglobin
• Hematocrit, the proportion of RBC to the fluid
  component, or plasma present in blood
• Platelets, which aid in blood clotting

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Why is it required?
A doctor can ask for the CBC blood test for the
following reasons Routine check up - A doctor
can ask for CBC in order to monitor your overall
health, to collect basic information or any
health disorder. Diagnose disease or infection -
If you are visiting a doctor and complain about
weakness, fever or bruises, then they can ask you
to go for this test. Monitor recovery - If you
are on medication and recovering from some
disease, you can be asked to get a CBC. Check
severity of disease - It helps in determining the
severity of some health problems.
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Result and its interpretation

• The results of CBC count can vary on the complete
  blood cell count. Deranged values of its various
  components could indicate any of the following
  health conditions
• Iron deficiency
• Vitamin mineral deficiency
• Heart ailments
• Bone Marrow problems
• Cancer
• Infection

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Here are some examples

• Hemoglobin and hematocrit
• If the levels are below normal, the person may
  have anemia and results in tiredness and
  weakness. Chronic anemia causes breathlessness
  and is a stress on the heart thus making a
  person prone to heart failure.Whereas a high
  count could happen because of
• Dehydration
• A kidney problem
• Heart/ lung disease/ high altitude
• Smoking

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Low count of hematocrit could occur, because of

• Autoimmune diseases
• Blood loss or hemorrhage
• Chronic kidney problem
• Leukemia or other blood cancer
• Inadequate diet and nutrition

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WBC Count

• A low White Blood Cell (WBC) or leukopenia can be
  caused by a medical condition, like cancer, bone
  marrow cancer or any autoimmune disorder. Certain
  cancer treatments like chemotherapy and drugs can
  also decrease the number of WBC. Leukopenia in
  fact a pancytopenia ( lowering of all cell
  components in peripheral blood) can occur in Vit
  B12 deficiency anemia.
• A low count of WBC or leukopenia indicates
• Autoimmune diseases
• Bone marrow failure
• Liver disease
• Drug induced
• Vit B12 deficiency

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A high count of WBC or leukocytosis indicates

• Infectious diseases
• Blood cancer or leukemia ( here immature cells
  are seen on examination under the microscope on a
  PBF/PBS ie peripheral blood film examination
  test)
• Physical stress and adrenaline injection
• Tissue damage like burns
• Low level of hemoglobin indicates
• Anemia of various types
• Blood loss

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Platelet Count
Platelet count that is lower or higher than the
normal range is usually a sign of an underlying
medical problem. If someone has a low platelet
count, he or she could be at higher risk of
bleeding, however, if someone has a high count of
platelet, he or she would be at increased risk of
developing clots.
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DIAGNOSIS
A pathologist is capable of interpreting your CBC
results and guiding you further. If any
derangement is found, the pathologist would make
a PBS (peripheral blood smear) and look at all
the cells in your blood. These cells also
represent your bone marrow status. RBCS maybe
large/ normal or small this will type your
anemia and its cause. WBCs are counted
individually. A hundred cell count is done by a
pathologist and while he/she does this, she is
able to look for abnormal cells which may herald
a deadly disease like leukemia (cancer of the
blood). Different age groups have different
number of the main five types of WBCs. Increased
neutrophils indicate infection, increased
lymphocytes indicate viral/ tuberculosis etc.
Increased eosinophils indicate allergy and so on.
And if blasts are seen, their detection is a
serious thing. They need to be counted and an
increase of 20 of blasts indicate acute leukemia
and prompt action towards treatment is then
required. Thus peripheral blood film along with a
CBC is a very informative and cheap test
(although laborious for the pathologist!). Only a
human computer i.e your pathologist can read your
PBS no machine can do so!
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Message
Get your CBC done atleast once a year if
abnormal consult a pathologist. Get a CBC and a
PBS done if feeling breathless, getting fever off
and on non healing ulcers in mouth, bleeding
gums lately do not wait for your annual CBC in
such cases.
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Contact Us
Amulya Path Labs Sco 73-74-75, 3rd Floor, Shri
Gurudev Block Sector 17D, Chandigarh India,
160017 Phone No 91 70 875 00017 Email
amulyalabs_at_gmail.com Website www.amulyalabs.com