Nurses doctors or blood lab people only plz?

Question

When you are give a blood sample bag and the boxes that are ticked are as follows

full blood count
ESR
U&E CREATININE
and a few which i know besides these ones.
What do they mean please?

Answer 1

I think Cazza explained it well.
Full blood count includes your hemoglobin (tells you if you are anemic or not), white cell count (usually raised in infection, abnormally low if you are on chemo or have hematological malignancies...but then again, it could be sky high too), platelet (one of the blood cell types that helps to make your blood clot when you bleed), and other indices that can tell you about your red blood cells (eg how big they are, how concentrated their hemoglobin content is, what proportion of the blood volume they make etc), and the "differentials", which tells you the counts of different types of white cells that fight infections (neutrophils, lymphocytes, eosinophils, basophils, monocytes).
Why are you having these tests, that's the more important question. FBC, UEC, ESR are pretty standard routine blood tests that doctors order (sometimes without any plausible reason apart from "Just to get a baseline idea"). On the blood test result sheet, you will see your results and the normal range. Abnormal results will be flagged or marked. Often, you may have some markers that are out of the normal range without you being unwell, so there is no need to panic if you have abnormal results. Ask your doctor to explain the results in detail...something doctors should do more of but, I must admit, I do too infrequently because I'm so busy!

Answer 2

A complete blood count (CBC) or full blood count (FBC) is a test requested by a doctor or other medical professional that gives information about the cells in a patient's blood. A CBC is also known as a "hemogram".

The ESR test stands for erythrocyte sedimentation rate and is a sign of general inflammation in the body for any reason.

Blood urea and electrolytes (U&E) and creatinine levels (kidney function).

Answer 3

CRP (C-reactive protein), PV (plasma viscosity) and ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate) – are all non-specific markers for inflammation or infection. Inflammation could for instance be due to inflammatory arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease or rarely malignancy. Infection could be bacterial or viral.

U&E (urea and electrolytes) and creatinine – these are measures of kidney function. The urea and creatinine levels are raised in kidney disease. There may be minor abnormalities in these results with other problems such as dehydration or Addison’s disease (a deficiency of the hormone cortisol), and a few rare syndromes that alter potassium levels. You would expect results to be normal in ME. Blood or urine glucose is raised in diabetes - a vital illness to exclude in someone presenting with fatigue. Pathological hypoglycaemia (very low blood glucose) is rare.