In my articles I try to give a perspective of health that covers the true function and physiology of particular body systems and how they relate in health and disease. The topics I address are what I encounter in practice on a daily basis.

One such subject is that of the standard blood test. Many people who go to the doctor have their routine blood workup, and often they bring me the results and have questions. Knowledge is power, so I encourage this. In this article I will cover some of what you will see in a routine CBC and what the various components mean. Always consult with your healthcare provider if you have questions and never be afraid to ask, ask, ask.

Remember that with all blood tests there are given reference ranges. Most ranges are set by what would be found in healthy individuals. Ideally you would want there to be 95% of healthy individuals in the normal range (that means 5% of “healthy” falls outside the range). As I have mentioned before “healthy” has a broad definition, and while you may fall in the normal range the best for you actually may be at the opposite side of the range. For example, you may fall in the bottom of normal but your optimum would be at the top of normal. This is why I like Applied Kinesiology, it is individual “in the moment” testing. Anyway here are a few things to look for and what they might mean.

RBC- Red blood cell or “red corpuscle,” they contain hemoglobin, a molecule that needs iron whose purpose is to carry oxygen from the lungs to the tissues and bring carbon dioxide from the tissue to the lungs to be expelled. Normal ranges: Men 4.5- 6 million/mm3 and Women 3.6 - 5.5. The numbers can be increased in a condition known as polycythemia vera.

A decrease in RBC is found in anemia. Anemia can be caused by blood loss, nutritional deficiency and other disease processes. To help discover the “cause” of the anemia, a physician will be interested in a variety of measurements that describe the condition of the red blood cells themselves. These are:

*Hemoglobin: Males 14 - 17.4 g/dL and Females 12 - 16 g/dL.

Normal is termed “Normochromic.” Low is termed “Hypochromic.”

*HCT: “hematocrit” - this is the measurement that occurs when blood is centrifuged and only the cells are left and all “packed up”