What is haematocrit in blood test?

A hematocrit (he-MAT-uh-krit) test measures the proportion of red blood cells in your blood. Red blood cells carry oxygen throughout your body. Having too few or too many red blood cells can be a sign of certain diseases. The hematocrit test, also known as a packed-cell volume (PCV) test, is a simple blood test.
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What is haematocrit in blood test? – All you need to know

• What does it mean if your hematocrit is low?

  A hematocrit level below the normal range, meaning the person has too few red blood cells, is called anemia. A hematocrit level above the normal range, meaning too many red blood cells, may indicate polycythemia or erythrocytosis.

• What do hematocrit levels tell you?

  Your hematocrit test results are reported as a number. That number is the percentage of your blood that’s made of red blood cells. For example, if your hematocrit test result is 42, it means that 42% of your blood is red blood cells and the rest is white blood cells, platelets, and blood plasma

• How can I raise my hematocrit fast?

  What can I do to increase my low hematocrit? Increasing the consumption of red meat (liver in particular), fish and shellfish (oysters, clams, shrimp, and scallops), dried fruit (apricots, prunes, and peaches), green leafy vegetables, beans, iron fortified breads and cereals, all rich in iron, may help.

• What affects hematocrit?

  Dehydration: Dehydration lowers all water content in your body, including plasma in your blood. Lower plasma levels increase the ratio of red blood cells to blood volume. That increases hematocrit levels.

• Does exercise lower hematocrit?

  Trained athletes, particularly in endurance sports, have a decreased hematocrit, which is sometimes called ?sports anemia.? This is not anemia in a clinical sense, because athletes have in fact an increased total mass of red blood cells and hemoglobin in circulation relative to sedentary individuals.

• What happens if your hematocrit is too high?

  A higher than normal hematocrit can indicate: Dehydration. A disorder, such as polycythemia vera, that causes your body to produce too many red blood cells. Lung or heart disease.

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