Mean corpuscular hemoglobin

[Sophieelizabeth]

Hi everyone!

My MCH is now 33.6, it’s raised from 29 over 3 years. I’ve been having B12 injections for 2 years now, I self inject once a week: I’m also taking folic acid, vitamin d & c daily.

Does anyone have any advice?

Thank you!

[fbirder]

Your MCH seems to have moved from the low end of normal to just above the high end of normal.

How are your thyroid and liver? What is your MCV?

[Sophieelizabeth in reply to fbirder]

Hi Fbirder, thanks for your reply.

My MVC is 98.4 and liver profile ok apart from Bilirubin at 33, (this has always been raised for some reason)

[fbirder in reply to Sophieelizabeth]

So no macrocytosis then.

Nothing abnormal.

[Sophieelizabeth in reply to fbirder]

Thank you x

[FlipperTD]

A bit of technical info for you.

MCH is calculated from Hb and Red Cell Count. MCH = (Hb/RBC). As such, it's a reliable measure. Both of these are quite reliable nowadays because the analysers used are precise and consequently, the MCH is probably one of the more useful measures. It's even good on stored samples. The MCV depends a great deal on which manufacturer's analyser has been used, because it's rather more variable and susceptible to technical issues.

The MCHC is nowadays of less value because of the MCV issues. MCHC = (Hb/(RBC*MCV)). I spent over 40 years doing these, using everything from manual, to semi-automated, to fully automated systems, and as methods change, so does the scientific preference and clinical utility. Relying on the MCH is good!

[Sophieelizabeth in reply to FlipperTD]

Thank you for your reply ☺️