A CBC, or complete blood count, is a commonly ordered blood test that tells Doctors whether the patient is anemic, fighting off an infection, has leukemia, and many other diseases. Many patients get a CBC test to determine a baseline status for their overall health. A CBC is actually a panel of tests, each one examining different parts and aspects o the blood. The CBC usually includes the following:
• WBC (white blood cells)
• WBC differential- What types of WBCs are present
• RBC (red blood cells)
• Hemoglobin – measures the oxygen carrying protein in the blood
• Hematocrit – The percentage of RBCs in a given volume of whole blood
• Platelet count – Fluctuations can indicate different diseases and conditions and give insight to clotting time or bleeding times
• MCV (mean corpuscular volume) – the average size of your RBCs
• MCH (mean corpuscular hemoglobin) – average amount of hemoglobin within a RBC
• MCHC (mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration)- the average concentration of hemoglobin in a RBC
• RDW (Red cell distribution width) – a calculation of the size differences in RBCs
Many patients ask how they can ‘make’ their cell counts higher or lower to be within normal ranges. Unlike other tests like cholesterol where the patient can directly affect the results with lifestyle change, the CBC ranges cannot be affected this way unless the level is due to a deficiency (for example, someone with anemia can get vitamin B-12 shots and raise the number of RBCs in their blood).
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