What does a high red blood cell count mean?

A high red blood cell count can be a sign of: Dehydration. Heart disease. Polycythemia vera, a bone marrow disease that causes too many red blood cells to be made. Scarring of the lungs, often due to cigarette smoking.

Should I worry if my red blood cell count is high?

Should I worry if my red blood cell count is high? Not necessarily. While a high red blood cell count can indicate a disease or disorder, it doesn't always mean you have a health condition. Other factors — like living at a high altitude — can also have an impact on your red blood cell count.

What is the most common cause of high red blood cell count?

High red blood cell count may be caused by low oxygen levels, kidney disease or other problems.

What should I do if my red blood count is high?

Can Covid cause high red blood cell count?

Our study demonstrated that patients with COVID-19 had increased blood viscosity despite lower hematocrit than healthy individuals, as well as increased RBC aggregation. In-vitro experiments demonstrated a strong contribution of plasma fibrinogen in this RBC hyper-aggregation.

High Red Blood Cells (Erythrocytosis) | Causes, Signs and Symptoms, and Treatment

What increases red blood cells?

red meat, such as beef. organ meat, such as kidney and liver. dark, leafy, green vegetables, such as spinach and kale. dried fruits, such as prunes and raisins.

Can dehydration cause high red blood cell count?

Dehydration (If the liquid component of the blood (plasma) is decreased, as in dehydration, the red blood cell count increases. This is due to the red blood cells becoming more concentrated.

Can diabetes cause high red blood cell count?

The studied cohort matched the general characteristics of Saudi type 2 diabetic patients. Results: This study shows that hyperglycemia increases the red blood cells count, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC).

Can thyroid problems cause high red blood cell count?

Kawa MP and et al in 2010 reported that RBC, HB and HCT in patients with hyperthyroidism were significantly higher than control groups while RBC and HB were decreased in hypothyroidism, while HCT was increased.

What are two conditions that cause polycythemia?

The most common causes of secondary polycythemia include obstructive sleep apnea, obesity hypoventilation syndrome, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Other causes include testosterone replacement therapy and heavy cigarette smoking.

What causes elevated red blood cells and hemoglobin?

Medical conditions that can cause high hemoglobin levels include: Polycythemia vera (the bone marrow produces too many red blood cells) Lung diseases such as COPD, emphysema or pulmonary fibrosis (lung tissue becomes scarred) Heart disease, especially congenital heart disease (the baby is born with it)

Does sleep apnea cause high red blood cell count?

As obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can be a possible cause of elevated red blood cell count, Ojile says primary care physicians should consider referring these patients for evaluation for OSA.

Does sugar affect red blood cells?

Increased diameter - Many patients with diabetes have a 10-15% increase in RBC diameter, increasing blood viscosity. This results from an influx of glucose which flattens the biconcave disk and bloats the cells.

What are the symptoms of polycythemia vera?

Does aspirin lower red blood cell count?

RESULTS: Acute or chronic doses of aspirin reduced the RBC count, hemoglobin and other red cell indices as compared to controls.

Does vitamin D affect red blood cells?

In addition to decreasing pro-inflammatory cytokines, vitamin D has been shown to support erythropoiesis by increasing burst-forming unit-erythroid proliferation (BFU-E) and having a synergistic effect with erythropoietin to further enhance erythroid progenitor cell proliferation [18, 19].

How is polycythemia diagnosed?

Polycythaemia can be diagnosed by carrying out a blood test to check: the number of red blood cells in your blood (red blood cell count) the amount of space the red blood cells take up in the blood (haematocrit level)

What does HCT mean in a blood test when it is high?

If you've taken a hematocrit test and hematocrit is high, this means that you have more red blood cells than what's considered to be healthy. High hematocrit levels could indicate underlying medical conditions like: Dehydration. Carbon monoxide poisoning. Congenital heart disease.

What level of hemoglobin is dangerously high?

The threshold for a high hemoglobin count differs slightly from one medical practice to another. It's generally defined as more than 16.6 grams (g) of hemoglobin per deciliter (dL) of blood for men and 15 g/dL for women.

Is polycythemia related to diabetes?

We conclude that polycythemia is uncommon in CAPD patients and occurs most often in diabetic patients. Volume depletion and iron therapy may play a role in its etiology. In this high risk group of patients polycythemia may contribute to vascular complications and should be avoided.

What are the side effects of metformin?

Does lack of sleep affect red blood cell count?

Decreased immune function and greater risk for illness.

Some animal and human studies have shown that lack of sleep appears to lower white blood cell count, which is an indication of decreased immune function.

Can high red blood cell count cause high blood pressure?

The overproduction of red blood cells and high hematocrit levels associated with polycythemia vera can contribute to systemic hypertension; high hematocrit levels have been found to interfere with the vasodilatory effects of nitric oxide.

Can anxiety cause high hemoglobin?

Results: Higher hemoglobin levels were found in those with current depressive and/or anxiety disorders after sociodemographic adjustment and both higher, and lower hemoglobin levels were found in persons with higher depression and anxiety severity.