| One of the components of the routine physical | | | | high WBC count may serve as a clue that there is an |
| examination is the Complete Blood Count (CBC) blood | | | | infection in a certain part of the body or it may |
| test, which provides a lot of information to the | | | | indicate the presence of a malignancy. On the other |
| physician regarding the state of a person's health. | | | | hand, a low WBC count may signal a problem in the |
| This particular test utilizes certain kinds of machines | | | | bone marrow or it could be a side effect of |
| to measure the density of red blood cells (RBC), | | | | chemotherapy. A physician may also use the WBC |
| white blood cells (WBC) and platelets in the blood. | | | | count to monitor how the patient is responding to |
| The CBC blood test usually requires about one to | | | | the treatment of an infection. |
| two teaspoons of blood that is taken from the | | | | Meanwhile, a high RBC count may indicate the lack of |
| patient's vein by using a syringe. | | | | oxygen in the blood or a bone marrow problem. A |
| The results of the CBC usually include several values | | | | low RBC count may provide a clue that the patient is |
| regarding the basic components of the blood. These | | | | suffering from anemia. Low values of hematocrit also |
| include the WBC count, the WBC differential count, | | | | point to anemia. Still another possible indicator of |
| the RBC count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean | | | | anemia or other diseases is a mean corpuscular |
| corpuscular hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume, red | | | | volume that is too big or too small. A high platelet |
| cell distribution width, mean corpuscular hemoglobin | | | | count may indicate severe inflammation or a bone |
| concentration, platelet count and mean platelet | | | | marrow disease while a low platelet count may the |
| volume. | | | | reason for prolonged hemorrhage. If the mean |
| The CBC blood test may be part of a routine | | | | platelet volume is too high, it means that the patient |
| physical exam or it may be ordered by the physician | | | | has a high risk of suffering a stroke or a heart |
| to help in the diagnosis of a person's disease or to | | | | attack. |
| monitor certain types of treatments. For example, a | | | | |