Increased ESR can have many causes and is not always a symptom of disease, although it is usually a sign of inflammation in the body. In a he althy woman under 50 years of age, ESR should not exceed 12 mm / hour. In older ones, it may be 20-30 mm / hour. What does the increased OB evidence of?
Elevated OB - what is it?
Physiologicallyincreased ESRoccurs before and during menstruation, from 10-11 weeks of pregnancy and lasts up to 6 weeks after delivery. To understand why this happens, it's important to remember what ESR (Biernacki's reaction) is - it's the rate at which red blood cells fall into the blood plasma within 1-2 hours.
OB - study
You should have an empty stomach for your blood test, i.e. at least 6 hours after your last meal. If this is not possible, blood for testing should be taken at the earliest 3 hours after a meal.
Read also:
- Blood morphology
- Biernacki's reaction
ESR increased - reasons
The reason for the increased rainfall can be even a small and difficult to identify infection of the throat, inflammation caused by tooth decay or periodontitis.
- Sub-standard ESR is often associated with allergies and anemia.
- Increased rainfall alone does not necessarily mean illness or infection.
- The test results can only be correctly interpreted by a doctor after comparing the ESR level with other blood parameters.
Physiological causes of increased ESR
Slight anemia occurs during menstruation and pregnancy. There are less red blood cells (hemoglobin) in the blood, so they will fall more freely (i.e. faster) to the bottom of the test tube. To describe it more vividly - the thinner solution leaks through the strainer faster.
Higher ESR after a meal can be explained by the fact that the cells absorb the water that is needed for digestion. Again, the blood is thinned, so the red blood cells can fall more freely. This condition normalizes quickly. In severe stress and taking contraceptives, hormones come to the fore.
Stress raises blood pressure. For this to happen, the vessels must contract and the kidneys must retain water in the body, because our body cannot make more red blood cells quickly, it increases the amount of plasma. Thus - by simplifying this complicated mechanism - blood is thinner. There is more plasmafewer blood cells, so they fall faster. The test performed at this point will showincreased OB .
What does elevated OB mean
High ESR can also signal that something disturbing is going on in your body. Increased by 10-20 percent. OB level is often accompanied by :
- chronic infections
- acute and chronic inflammation
- rheumatic diseases (especially rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis)
- hypercholesterolemia
- inflammatory (acute and chronic) liver disease
- hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism
- leukemias and other cancers
High ESR also occurs in people who have had a heart attack - the increase in rainfall is in this case a consequence of necrotic changes in the heart muscle.