A routine blood test reveals many indicators. One of them is ESR. This term is used to indicate the erythrocyte sedimentation rate. Some patients who do not understand medical concepts may hear the word soy instead of ESR. There are times when the "soy" in the blood is increased or decreased.
What can cause such changes? We will try to understand this issue.
How is the analysis carried out?
An anticoagulant is added to the blood in the test tube. In this state, the test material is left in a dark place for one hour. Under the influence of gravity, red blood cells gradually settle to the very bottom. An hour later, the laboratory assistant measures the height of the formed column of plasma in the upper part of this tube. The following indicators are considered normal: 1-10 mm / hour in men and 2-15 mm / hour in women. This analysis plays an important role in the diagnosis of a number of pathologies.
Increased rate
So, why is soy in the blood increased? The reasons for this change are many. First of all, these are inflammatory processes, especially with regard to infectious or purulent diseases. The next reason is ailments associated with improper metabolism, as well as tumors, syphilis, rheumatism, tonsillitis, tuberculosis, thrombosis and cirrhosis. The increased content of "soy" in the blood is also observed with anemia. With the aggravation of the course of the disease, as a rule, this indicator only increases. Therefore, it is very important to observe the growth (or decrease) of ESR in dynamics.
An exception can only be pregnancy. In young women, during the period of bearing the baby, as a rule, "soy" in the blood is increased several times. And that is the norm. An increase in this indicator can also be caused by non-inflammatory diseases, such as anemia, various pathologies of the kidneys and liver, as well as malignant tumors, heart attack or stroke, frequent blood transfusions or even vaccine therapy. Fractures and bone injuries, intoxication, post-shock state, collagenoses, hyperfibrinogenemia can also cause changes in this laboratory indicator.
ESR reduction
Slow down sedimentation rate usually occurs with some liver diseases, stomach pathology. Also, this symptom may indicate a condition such as erythrocytosis. With this disease, there is an increased content of red bodies in the blood, which leads to its excessive viscosity.
Children
If the "soy" in the blood is increased by 20-30 units in children, this indicates the severity of the course of inflammatory processes.
At the same time, a thorough examination of the child is mandatory. In babies up to two years, the norm is 5-7 mm / h, after 2 years - 8 mm / h. In older children, this figure is 12-15 mm / h. After a disease, ESR does not immediately return to normal.
As a rule, it may take a month and a half to restore red blood cells. Therefore, after thirty days, a second analysis should be submitted. Thanks to this, more accurate conclusions can be made regarding the degree of development of the disease. Various non-infectious factors can also cause the child to have a condition in which there will be an increase in soy. These include helminthiasis, vitamin deficiency, teething, taking drugs based on paracetamol, etc.