How do white blood cell, red blood cell, and platelet counts affect health status?
March 31, 2021
How do white blood cell, red blood cell, and platelet counts affect health status?
White blood cells, red blood cells and platelets are often seen in the results of blood tests at health checkups and physical examinations. Do these numbers have any effect on your health?
In this article, we talk about blood cells. We will also discuss some of the items to watch out for in blood tests.
About White Blood Cell Count
White blood cells, the famous blood cells, play a role in immunity to kill foreign substances such as viruses and bacteria when they enter the body. If your white blood cell count is within the normal range, there is nothing to worry about, but if your white blood cell count is low, you may be suspected of having a serious infection, which means that your immune system is not functioning well.
If they are slightly higher than the normal range, the values may be high because the white blood cells are killing bacteria that have entered the body due to a cold, etc.
However, if the white blood cell count is abnormally high, you need to be careful. Especially in leukemia, the number of leukemia cells explodes like tumor cells.
About Red Blood Cell Count
Red blood cells are the most abundant cells in the blood. Red blood cells are responsible for transporting oxygen throughout the body by means of hemoglobin. If your red blood cell count is in the normal range, you are healthy, but if it is low, you are anemic, which is not good for your health.
Another item in the blood test is the hematocrit, which is the percentage of red blood cells in the blood, expressed as a percentage. If this number is low, it can also be considered anemia.
On the other hand, if you have too many red blood cells, you may have a disease called polycythemia vera. Polycythemia vera is a condition in which there are too many red blood cells in the blood and the viscosity of the blood increases, making it easier for blood clots to form, which may lead to myocardial infarction or cerebral hemorrhage.
About Platelet Count
Platelets play a role in stopping bleeding when we are injured.
When platelets are low, bleeding may not stop or even a slight bruise may cause blue bruises (internal bleeding).
There is a disease called idiopathic thrombocytopenia, which causes low platelets. In this disease, the organ called the spleen, which is responsible for eliminating old blood cells, may have become too large. In such cases, the overly enlarged spleen may be surgically operated on.
On the other hand, if there are too many platelets, there is a risk of myocardial infarction or cerebral hemorrhage due to blood clots, just like when there are too many red blood cells.
Numbers to watch out for
Blood test items are introduced in another article, but there are other items that are related to oxidative stress.
CRP (C-reactive protein)
CRP is an item used to check if there is inflammation in the body. If this value is high, it means that there is inflammation somewhere in the body.
People with high CRP levels invariably also have elevated oxidative stress levels in their bodies.
HbA1c (hemoglobin A1c)
This number shows the average blood sugar level over the past three months or so. In other words, it measures how much sugar is bound to the hemoglobin in red blood cells.
Therefore, if the HbA1c value is higher than normal, diabetes is diagnosed. And in the case of diabetes, the oxidative stress level in the body will always be high.
Finally.
High or low blood cell counts are not necessarily good for your health. If your blood cell count is in the normal range, there is nothing to worry about, but if it is extremely high or low, it is recommended that you consult a doctor as soon as possible.
In addition, if your blood test results show that the values related to oxidative stress are higher than the normal range, lowering oxidative stress may improve your health.
Reference
What kind of lifestyle causes oxidative stress?
