What does it mean if your blood count is low?
What does it mean if your blood count is low?
Low blood counts can have many causes, including vitamin deficiencies, bleeding, and rare bone marrow failure diseases like aplastic anemia , MDS and PNH. If your blood tests are abnormal, your doctor may do other blood tests or take a sample of your bone marrow to find out why.
Is low blood count serious?
The most serious complications of low blood cell counts include: Infection. With a low white blood cell count and, in particular, a low level of neutrophils, you’re at higher risk of developing an infection. And if you develop an infection when you have a low white blood cell count, your body can’t protect itself.
Should I worry about low blood count?
It may point toward or confirm a diagnosis, or show whether a treatment is working or not. Most often, a low white blood cell count is nothing to worry about.
Is 7 a low blood count?
A normal hemoglobin level is 11 to 18 grams per deciliter (g/dL), depending on your age and gender. But 7 to 8 g/dL is a safe level. Your doctor should use just enough blood to get to this level.
How do you know if your blood is low?
If you have a low red blood cell count, you may:
- Feel a little tired or very tired.
- Feel less alert or have trouble concentrating.
- Have a loss of appetite or lose weight.
- Have paler-than-normal skin.
- Have trouble breathing.
- Have rapid heartbeat.
- Have reduced ability to exercise or climb stairs.
What is a critical low hemoglobin level?
Hemoglobin (Hb or Hgb) is a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen throughout the body. A low hemoglobin count is generally defined as less than 13.5 grams of hemoglobin per deciliter (135 grams per liter) of blood for men and less than 12 grams per deciliter (120 grams per liter) for women.
How low is too low for red blood cell count?
Anemia is a medical condition in which the red blood cell count or the hemoglobin is less than normal. In men, anemia is typically defined as a hemoglobin level of less than 13.5 gram/100 ml and in women as hemoglobin of less than 12.0 gram/100 ml.
What can cause low blood count?
There are about as many causes for a low blood count or red blood cells as there are for white blood cells. Common causes include: Dietary iron deficiency. Internal organ blood vessel rupture. Peptic ulcer, which causes bleeding. Liver damage. External or internal hemorrhoids. Sickle cell anemia.
What does a low blood count mean?
A low blood count means that something in your blood is at abnormally low levels, such as red blood cells, white blood cells, hemoglobin or platelets. There are many causes of a low blood count which range the spectrum of medical severity from a simple infection to cancer.
What is a low blood count called?
A low count is called anemia. White blood cell count ( WBC ) measures the actual number of white blood cells in a given volume of blood. A low count can mean you have an increased risk of getting an infection. White blood cell differential (dif) looks at the types of white blood cells in your blood.
What to do about low blood count?
There are two common ways that dangerously low blood counts are treated. The first is medication. Your doctor may prescribe medications called “growth factors.” These particular drugs are used to encourage your body to produce more of the cells that you lack. The second treatment is a blood transfusion.