Do you know what a CBC is? If not, you should.
A CBC is a complete blood count, a blood test used to evaluate your overall health and diagnose a slew of disorders, including anemia, infection and leukemia.
This is one of the most common blood tests ordered by your doctor and measures several components of your blood, including red blood cells, white blood cells, hemoglobin, hematocrit and platelets, to look for abnormal increases or decreases in levels, which could indicate an underlying medical condition.
Why order a CBC?
According to Jan Gallenstein, hematology manager at St. Elizabeth Healthcare, there are two main reasons why a CBC would be ordered: to see if a patient has anemia ““ indicated by lower-than-normal red blood cells and hemoglobin levels ““ or to see if a patient has an infection ““ indicated by higher-than normal white blood cell counts and immature neutrophils, a type of white blood cell.
The test could be ordered as part of a health screening or due to a patient’s symptoms, such as shortness of breath, fatigue, fainting spells, fever or unexplained bruising.
“It’s a relatively simple test that can quickly determine if an infection or one of the various types of anemia is present,” Gallenstein said. “However, the CBC can also open the gateway to the diagnosis of so many more disorders: the many types of leukemia, as well as other disorders such as myelofibrosis, myelodysplastic syndrome (MSDS), multiple myeloma and lymphoma.”
After the test is completed, results typically are available within a week.
