What does it mean if your HCT is 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.

What do hematocrit levels indicate?

A hematocrit test measures how much of your blood is made up of red blood cells. Red blood cells contain a protein called hemoglobin that carries oxygen from your lungs to the rest of your body. Hematocrit levels that are too high or too low can indicate a blood disorder, dehydration, or other medical conditions.

What is a good HCT level?

Hematocrit is the percentage of red cells in your blood. Normal levels of hematocrit for men range from 41% to 50%. Normal level for women is 36% to 48%.

What happens if your hematocrit is low?

A low hematocrit level means the are too few red blood cells in the body. In these cases, a person may experience symptoms that signal anemia. Common symptoms include fatigue, weakness, and low energy. If a person has too many red blood cells, they have a high hematocrit level.

What causes high RBC Hgb and HCT?

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)

What does it mean if your RBC Hgb and HCT are high?

High Hgb is known as polycythemia. This means you have too many red blood cells. Polycythemia vera is a cancer of the blood in which your bone marrow overproduces red blood cells. With polycythemia, a blood test also shows that you have a high red blood cell count and high hematocrit.

What does it mean if your RBC HGB and HCT are high?

What causes high RBC HGB and HCT?

What Causes Low HGB and HCT levels?

Possible causes of low Hgb include: lack of iron in your diet, which makes it harder for your bone marrow to produce Hgb. lack of folate or vitamin B-12, which can lead to your body producing fewer red blood cells than are needed. severe blood loss after surgery or a major injury.

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 does high HCT and HGB mean?

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 does low RBC HGB HCT mean?

Low RBC counts, hemoglobin and hematocrit levels can be caused by other things too, such as a lot of bleeding or malnutrition (not enough nutrients in the food eaten). Kidney disease, liver disease (cirrhosis), cancer, and medications used to treat cancer can also cause low levels.