It is difficult to find such a person who never in his life would have to face the need to take a clinical blood test. Decoding the PDW in it can be confusing. Most likely, many have not even heard of this.
A complete blood count is the main minimum of any examination during preventive examinations, before starting any treatment, in order to clarify the diagnosis and
register for pregnancy. This study gives a complete picture of the state of human health: inflammatory and infectious processes, anemia. So what do the indicators of clinical analysis in the blood mean, both familiar to our hearing and not so?
What is a blood test?
Blood is a biological fluid that penetrates every cell of the human body. It migrates through our body, so by its condition and chemical parameters, you can see how healthy our body is. Based on the results of the analysis, the doctor evaluates how these or other organs and systems work. There are certain chemicals in the blood, the level of which is indicative for a specialist. Blood can be donated capillary and venous. Accordingly, the first surrenders from the finger, and the second from the vein. The most common study is a general blood test. There are many other studies of this biological fluid in which you can see the level of sugar in it, the amount of hormones needed, the condition of the liver and other organs. Specialists pay particular attention to the hemoglobin in the blood. It is vital for humans, as it supplies all organs and cells with oxygen, without which various chemical reactions in them are hindered.
How to prepare for it?
It is necessary to prepare for any laboratory test. It is better to take a blood test on an empty stomach, 8 hours before the analysis, excluding fats from the diet. To obtain reliable results, before the study, you must refrain from drinking alcohol. For the delivery of a general blood test, special training is not required, since it will be informative without it. Other blood tests require a special regimen before analysis.
Information About Our Health Blood Test
A clinical blood test includes the determination of hemoglobin, white blood cells and the formula, red blood cells, platelets, ESR, if necessary - hematocrit, color indicator, the beginning and end of coagulation.
The norm of red blood cells in the general analysis of blood in the beautiful half of humanity is from 4.0 to - 5.0, among the stronger sex - 4.5 to 5.5. These shaped elements of human blood are a biconcave plate. The red blood cell lives 110-120 days. The number of red blood cells can be normal, increased and decreased. An increase in red blood cell count is called erythrocytosis. It occurs mainly with a thickening of the blood or an increase in the number of red blood cells. Reduced red blood cell count is called erythropenia. It can occur after significant blood loss.
Hemoglobin is part of the red blood cell. It is measured in order to find out about the degree of blood saturation with hemoglobin. It fills the blood with oxygen, which means it is important for breathing. A normal hemoglobin level for men is considered an indicator from 120 to 170 grams per liter. For women, a hemoglobin level of 110 to 150 grams per liter is considered normal. If the patient has reduced hemoglobin, this condition is interpreted as anemia, which indicates a lack of iron and vitamin B 12. The increase in hemoglobin is not so common. It can cause blood clotting, it increases in athletes, with erythrocytosis, in people living in highlands.
White blood cells are white blood cells. Normally, their number ranges from 4 to 9. Their main function is protective. In inflammatory, infectious and oncological malignant processes, this indicator rises, which is called leukocytosis. If white blood cells are less than normal, then this condition is called leukopenia, which occurs after chemotherapy, a decrease in immunity and other pathologies in the body. The leukocyte formula is also important : neutrophils, which normally make up from 45 to 70 percent of all leukocytes, lymphocytes - from 19 to 37%, monocytes - from 3 to 10 percent, eosinophils - 1-5 percent, basophils - up to 1%.
ESR - erythrocyte sedimentation rate - normally in women is from 1 to 15 millimeters per hour, in men it is from 1 to 10 millimeters per hour. An increase most often indicates an inflammatory, infectious or oncological focus in the body.
Platelets are involved in the blood coagulation system, fibrinolysis. Thrombocytosis or an increase in the number of platelets in the body may indicate blood loss, observed after removal of the spleen, with myelogenous leukemia. Thrombocytopenia or a decrease in platelet count is an indicator of congenital and acquired hematopoietic pathologies.
What is PDW in a blood test?
Currently, more than twenty indicators are known that help the doctor to draw the most accurate conclusions about the patient’s health status. Among these, the PDW platelet index is a blood test, the decoding of which sounds like "the width of the distribution of platelets by their volume." It characterizes the heterogeneity of various cells, including a change in their size. In other words, blood cells have different sizes, and it is precisely the number of macro- and microthrombocytes that confirms this blood test. Deciphering PDW helps to identify many serious pathologies in the body.
Blood should be taken on an empty stomach for analysis from a finger. Whole blood is placed in a test tube into which an anticoagulant is added in advance. Currently, the study is carried out on analyzers, which in addition to this indicator can give another 24. It is very important to correctly pass a clinical blood test. Deciphering PDW depends on many factors, such as eating, overload, pregnancy, the day of the menstrual cycle. Therefore, you should donate blood on an empty stomach, eliminate stress, hard physical labor, do not conduct research during menstruation.
There is also such a thing as accounting for the SD index on a PDW blood test. Deciphering PDW-SD, an indicator of platelet heterogeneity, brings the result closer to ideal accuracy. SD in this case is the standard deviation. It is taken into account when calculating the index.
Why do you need to know this indicator?
It's no secret that it is very important to correctly interpret the blood test. Decoding PDW has important diagnostic and prognostic value. For example, the growth rate is taken into account in myelodysplastic diseases. Also, its deviations from the norm allow us to differentiate anemia and other disorders in the body.
PDW: what is the norm in adults?
Normally, in an adult, platelets are distributed by volume by 15-17 percent. In this indicator, slight deviations are allowed - up to one two percent, which depend on the individual characteristics of each organism.
The rate of the indicator for children
When deciphering all indicators of a clinical blood test, the patient's age is taken into account. The PDW index is not an exception - a blood test, a transcript, the norm of which in children is assessed in comparison with other indicators.
PDW is not yet sufficiently studied, but its data are taken into account when confirming many pathologies, especially malignant processes of blood and blood-forming organs in children. Average values that are normal for children under 18 years of age range from 10 to 15 percent of the total platelet count.
PDW: blood test (transcript). Elevated level
To conduct a study is only half the battle: the correct decoding of a blood test is important. Total PDW increases with pathologies such as:
- inflammatory processes;
- large physical exertion;
- disturbances in the liver;
- heart disease
- splenectomy;
- malignant processes, especially with bone marrow metastasis;
- severe blood loss;
- lead poisoning;
- various anemia;
- corticosteroid treatment;
- Alzheimer's disease;
- postoperative period.
Physically, with PDW above the norm, a person will feel unwell and weak, dizzy, disability may decrease.
PDW: blood test (transcript). Low level
For many pathologies, setting the correct diagnosis and prescribing adequate treatment helps determine not only an increase, but also a decrease in the level of PDW. This index is lowered when:
- leukemia;
- radiation sickness;
- myelodysplastic syndrome;
- DIC;
- viral diseases;
- sepsis
- the use of cytostatics;
- megaloblastic anemia;
- cirrhosis, chronic hepatitis.
Nowadays, having common concepts about many things is important. But it is even more important to evaluate your knowledge adequately. Having insights and deep knowledge is not the same thing. Therefore, you need to understand that PDW is a blood test, a transcript whose norm and value are well known only to a specialist. The person himself should not make any serious conclusions about the studies and their indicators, you need to go to a medical institution.