What illnesses/disorders does a full blood count pick up on?!
Question:
What illnesses/disorders does a full blood count pick up on?
i know it measures the red/white blood cells, platelets etc and can indicate things like anaemia but what other illnesses does it pick up? can it detect cancer (other than cancer of the blood)? please only answer if u know about it - had some really ars*y comments in the past :) thanks
Answers:
A full blood count, as you quite rightly said measures your red blood cell number, along with your white cell count and your platelet count. It also differentiates between the different types of white cells and measures the size of red blood cells and their haemoglobin concentration.
As a diagnosis test on its own it is not that usefull. It can tell you if the patient has anaemia, or an infection or a haematological cancer.
It can also detect if you have cancer of your bone marrow, as this is where the components of your blood are made. Apart from this the only way it can detect other cancers or illnesses is by showing that the patient is anaemic.
Anaemia has lots of causes but some of them can be due to cancer. If a patient was found to be anaemic, the doctor who ordered the investigation would want to know why?