What Is A Complete Blood Count? (CBC)
What Is a CBC?
A complete blood count, better known as a CBC, is an extremely common blood test that health care professionals order and use on a regular basis. It looks at and tests 10 different components of your blood. I will go over what each component is and provide a brief definition.
Also, for the sake of the length of this post, I won't talk about the potential causes that would make your CBC out the "normal range" as there are a bajillion things (yes that's definitely a medical term) that can cause each component to be out of whack.
White Blood Cell (WBC)
Specific type of blood cell that is used to fight infection
The distinct types of white blood cells are:
Neutrophils
Lymphocytes
Monocytes
Eosinophils
Basophils
Each white blood cell type has its own discrete task(s) in the human body
Red Blood Cell (RBC)
Specific type of blood cell that (with the help of hemoglobin) carries oxygen throughout the body
Hemoglobin (Hb)
Protein found in red blood cells that help carry oxygen throughout your body. If you want to know more information about hemoglobin (Hb), click HERE.
Hematocrit (Hct)
Amount of space in the blood that is occupied by red blood cells. Synonymous with hemoglobin in terms of interpretation and meaning.
Mean Corpuscle Volume (MCV)
Average size of the red blood cells
Mean Corpuscle Hemoglobin (MCH)
Average amount of hemoglobin inside each red blood cell
Mean Corpuscle Hemoglobin Concentration (MCHC)
Average amount of hemoglobin in the red blood cells compared to the average size of the red blood cells
Red Blood Cell Distribution With (RDW)
Amount of variation in size of the red blood cells
Platelet Count (Plt)
A specific type of cell that helps form blood clots. If you want to know more information about platelets, click HERE.
Mean Platelet Volume (MPV)
Average size of the platelets
Why Is A CBC Ordered?
Can be used for 4 main reasons:
To diagnose a medical condition
To monitor a medical condition
To monitor a medical treatment
To check your overall health
