Good morning Lupus Uk
Have had several blood tests done earlier this week .
Requested by one of my consultants .
Has anyone else any knowledge about Haematocrit blood test .
The Normal range is 0.37-0.47.
Mine is 0.4
I’m due a phone consultation about all the results .
I was just a bit worried about this result .
Any one else had this test done ?
Any information ?
I have googled it , become quite concerned .
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Why are you worried?
It is in normal range. All it is is the proportion of your blood that is red blood cells. Below 0.37 is is a bit low but there are a lot of other things to go with it that are important. It is just one thing that is part of what is called a full blood count and done routinely almost every time you get bloods done.
Hi Pmrpro
Thank you for your reply .
I’ve checked back on previous blood test results , for some reason cannot find this one . ??
I did think it is quite low , as normal is between 0.37 and 0.47
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Have you ever seen a sample bottle of blood that has been sitting for a while? The red blood cells have settled to the bottom and above them is a clear yellow fluid. In almost everyone the red cells are slightly less than half the volume but it varies a bit even in healthy patients. Some conditions result in lower values, others higher - but like a lot of things, a single thing doesn't tell you much.
As for quite low - 0.42 would be halfway, the sort of level a lot of people will have. The range is what would include the results 95% of a healthy population would have. So half of patients will between 0.37 and 0.42 - and you are in the middle of that ...
Glad you replied, Pro. I thought the .4 she was concerned about it is what I am used to hearing expressed as 40. That would be high for me. I think my rheumatologist gets concerned about inflammation going up when it drops to 35. Does that sound right?
K
Haematocrit isn't usually used to reflect inflammation but there is a relationship in SLE:
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/262....
Which I think is a paper produced by a large Chinese group on the basis of "what can correlate with what and get a publication out of it?" - I see it all the time - so not really a serious "this is a better test".
I suppose it depends if you have a very sensitive or severe anaemia of chronic disease. And if you are requesting a full blood count then it and all the parameters should arrive together - because how they relate is also significant.
Thanks! A little over my head but, yes, I had a drop in hematocrit and elevated ESR when I first saw a doctor years ago with early symptoms. I guess we all behave differently.
Without knowing more, it is difficult to say. In the U.S. hematocrit range for a female is 38- 46 percent. It is important to know the context. Has someone always had a low hematocrit or is this a change? They run tests to figure out if it is from low iron or another cause. In lupus and other autoimmune diseases people get what is called the anemia of chronic disease. In lupus people can have a type of anemia in which the disease destroys the red blood cells.
The doctor will tell you what they think is happening and order more tests if necessary.
I understand your worry. Waiting to get an answer is the harder part.
K
Hi KayHimm
Thank you for your reply .
At some point next week I will be getting a phone appointment with the consultant who requested FBC .
My white cells are low and a couple of others markers not quite right .
Nine is O.4 ???
No 0 after 4 . ??
Just have to wait for my phone call .
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Your value is a proportion of 1, Kay's was a percentage. They say the same thing just in different ways
Thanks for this interesting discussion. Am glad you posted willow!
All makes sense to me: for years my haematocrit is always just below UK normal range (35.8-36)...but my medics are never troubled. same goes for my lymphocytes (.8-1.0) & C4 (.18) ...while my WBC often is above range by a few points. And my medics never show concern. I feel relatively ok about their lack of comment, because they are very quick to act when, say, my potassium is even a whisker below normal ref range
But my lupus is infant onset & I’m 66 now & have early onset panhypogammaglobulinaemia... after 5 years of constant monitoring of my Immunoglobulins deficiencies , I finally qualified for IVIG & have now had over a year of IgG Replacement Therapy - which of course hasn’t changed the results of the IgA & IgM aspects of blood’s ‘’normals’....but my IgG has bounced back up cause I’m getting this treatment long term. This has sorta convinced me that when my bloods are out of normal range, the nhs tends to give me what I really need..
So, I just tell myself that my slight deficiencies &/or excesses are inter-related...& possibly due to the longevity of my disease processes....& I try to I leave feeling concerned about this to my medics...but, even so, I do wonder...so your thread is helping me! 🍀❤️🍀❤️ Coco
Thank you all for your replies .
I am worried as my result does not say 0.40 , it just says 0.4 ???
I’ll wait for my consultation next week .
I’ll keep your posted , maybe someone missed off the 0 ?? .
Bit worrying though !
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Hi Willow, 0.4 and 0.40 are the same value. There's no need to add another zero to the right of the decimal point unless another unit is required, eg: 0.405
Hope that helps x
I think .4 and .40 are the same thing... but my maths aren’t stellar
👍 Me too (inc caution re my own dodgy maths 😉)
I think the confusion above is because it happens to be 0.4 which is 40%. The second decimal place would have been there had it been .41/41%. It is within range whether it is 41 or 42 is immaterial. Unfortunately this involves human biology - not maths!!!! Even how much you drank before the blood was taken affects the result (see the link I put in above).
Wow you guys are so smart, I think you know more than the doctors!
In bits relevant to our own speciality, our own disease! And the field where I worked most of my life. To be fair to doctors they do have to know about a lot of things we don't need to!
Ok, sorry. I'm no mathematician, was just going on what I've learned. Didn't mean to confuse.
This isn't sloppiness by clinicians - it is standard practice in the labs. All lab measurements are subject to inherent errors which is why a range is given and calibrations and standards used. Haematocrit doesn't require a unit - it is either a decimal relative to 1 or a percentage. It is explained pretty clearly here:
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK259/
Hi PMRpro
Thank you for this interesting information .
I’m a lot less worried .
Thank you
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Your result is within the normal range, so no need to worry
Thank you all for the replies .
I do feel a lot less worried now .
Looks like normal range .
☺️
I agree. The knowledge of these members regarding your lab results is impressive!
It is good you posted and are less worried.
😀k
Yes good to know 🦋❤️
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