The Main Components of a CBC Panel
The blood panel is a group of tests that is done using blood samples. The blood panel is normally requested by a health provider to better understand the internal health condition of a patient.
The CBC or complete blood count is the first part of the blood panel. The CBC includes WBC (white blood cells) count, RBC (red blood cells) count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), and platelet count and volume.
The WBC count shows the ability of the body to fight infections. Each type of white blood cell has a specific immune function. The types of WBCs are the eosinophils, basophils, lymphocytes, neutrophils and the monocytes. The test will indicate the presence of each of these WBC types and their percentage relative to the total WBC population.
The RBC count can indicate nutrition deficiencies (if there are abnormalities in the RBCs) and anemic tendencies. The hematocrit, which is the proportion of RBCs in a certain amount of whole blood, is indicative of these anemic tendencies when the number is low. The hemoglobin indicates how much oxygen-carrying proteins are present in your blood.
Platelets are also measured in a CBC. A low platelet count indicates the inability of the blood to clot (this is the part of the blood that decreases to seriously low levels in dengue cases, thus, the bleeding). The platelet volume (MPV) indicates platelet production in your bone marrow. It is good news to a health provider if his dengue patient’s MPV increases.
MCV measures the size of your RBC. An elevated number may indicate vitamin B12 deficiency while a reduced number may indicate anemia. MCH is the average amount of oxygen-carrying hemoglobin in a RBC. The MCH numbers are normally parallel in behavior to MCV. With an elevated MCV, you will normally also have higher MCH. A low MCHC, being a measure of concentration, can normally be seen in iron deficiency anemia cases because the hemoglobin is diluted in the RBCs.