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What is a Red Blood Cell Count?

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What is a Red Blood Cell Count?

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Red blood cell count values vary according to the age and the sex of a patient. The RBC count ranges from 4.2-5.0 million red blood cells per microliter of blood for women and 4.6-6.0 million for men. A normal red blood cell count for children is typically between 3.8 and 5.5 million red blood cells per volume. This blood test is considered a very important indicator of a patient’s health. A low red blood cell count might mean the patient has anemia, acute or chronic blood loss, malnutrition, chronic inflammation, or a number of nutritional deficiencies including iron, copper, vitamin B-12, or vitamin B-6. On the other hand, a higher than average RBC count, called polycythemia, can be a sign of congenital heart disease, pulmonary fibrosis, or renal problems. An increase of red blood cells can also happen naturally, though. People who live at high altitudes tend to have a higher-than-average RBC count, and smokers generally have a higher number of red blood cells than non-smokers. An RB

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Red cells, the most common type of blood cell, are responsible for transporting oxygen throughout the body. A red blood cell count (RBC) is ordered to check whether the number of red cells in the blood is abnormally high or abnormally low. The ranges for a normal red blood cell count are: • Adult Females: 4.2 to 5.4 million red cells per microliter (uL, a millionth of a liter) of blood • Adult Males: 4.7 to 6.1 million/uL • Abnormal RBC may indicate: • Anemia (low RBC) • Polycythemia (high RBC) What does hematocrit mean? The hematocrit test, like the RBC, is performed to check whether the red cell count is abnormally high or low. In the hematocrit test: • The patient’s finger is pricked. • A drop of blood is drawn into a vary narrow glass tube. • The tube is spun at high speed (in an instrument called a “centrifuge”). • The dense red blood cells pack down to the bottom of the tube, leaving the liquid portion of the blood at the top of the tube. • The fraction of the tube occupied by th

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