Hemoglobin levels are particularly important during pregnancy, as they directly impact both maternal and fetal health. Monitoring hemoglobin levels during pregnancy ensures reference ranges for blood tests that both the mother and baby receive adequate oxygen and nutrients. Similarly, tracking children’s hemoglobin levels is crucial for monitoring growth, development, and potential deficiencies.
When your body is in homeostasis, the values for fluids, chemicals, electrolytes, and secretions (hormones) are typically within an acceptable or “normal” range. When you have a pathologic condition (e.g. a disease state), these ranges can change as a result of an imbalance in your body. The disease can cause the imbalance, and vice versa, the imbalance may cause the disease.
Nursing Diagnosis Guide: All You Need to Know to Master Diagnosing
- You can eat, drink and take your medications as you normally would.
- For example, if determining a reference range for blood count components it may be necessary, in some populations, to exclude iron deficiency and β thalassaemia heterozygosity.
- When constructing reference ranges, it’s important to define who is “healthy” and to consider the importance of subclinical disease states (2).
- The diagrams below take inter-cycle and inter-woman variability into account in displaying reference ranges for estradiol, progesterone, FSH and LH.
- The INR standardizes the PT ratio and is calculated in the laboratory setting by raising the observed PT ratio to the power of the international sensitivity index specific to the thromboplastin reagent used.
- For example, pregnancy changes many aspects of a woman’s body chemistry, so what is typical for pregnant women is not typical for those who are not pregnant.
Limits representing the 95% reference range are calculated from arithmetic mean ± 2SD (or more accurately ± 1.96SD). Clinical biochemists provide references ranges that are as robust as possible, but there are difficulties in establishing reliable reference ranges (2). This means the numbers we use to interpret lab results are not perfect. Reference ranges are periodically adjusted based on new evidence, and labs subsequently adjust their reference ranges.
- This might be a sign of anemia or low red blood cell production, celiac disease, or IBD.
- Creatinine is produced as a natural byproduct of muscle activity and is removed from the blood by the kidneys.
- Individuals with thalassemia typically have low hemoglobin levels.
- It can give your provider information about how medications or medical conditions are affecting your body, and about the health of your immune system.
Serum Iron: Your Circulating Iron
Fasting blood glucose or fasting blood sugar (FBS) levels are used to help diagnose diabetes mellitus and hypoglycemia. Glucose is a monosaccharide found in fruits and is formed from the digestion of carbohydrates and the conversion of glycogen by the liver. Glucose is the main source of cellular energy for the body and is essential for brain and erythrocyte function. Once your blood sample is collected, it will be sent to a laboratory for analysis.
Laboratory test results reported as numbers are not meaningful by themselves. A CBC with differential means that the lab also counts each different type of white blood cell and immature (not-yet-fully-developed) blood cells. This gives your provider more information about what’s happening with different immune system cells. A complete blood count (CBC) is a blood test that providers use to monitor or diagnose health conditions. It can give your provider information about how medications or medical conditions are affecting your body, and about the health of your immune system. It can detect blood cancers, anemia, infections and other conditions.
A 24-hour urine collection is noninvasive (the skin is not pierced). It is used to assess kidney (renal) function and detects disease. For many urine chemistry procedures the specimen of choice is 24-hour urine. A 24-hour urine collection is performed by collecting a person’s urine in a special container over a 24-hour period. It always begins with an empty bladder so that the urine collected is not “left over” from previous hours. This specimen shows the total amounts of wastes the kidneys are eliminating and the amount of each.
Check Hemoglobin Levels
Urea is normally freely filtered through the renal glomeruli, with a small amount reabsorbed in the tubules and the remainder excreted in the urine. Elevated levels indicate a slowing of the glomerular filtration rate. Prothrombin is a vitamin K-dependent glycoprotein produced by the liver that is essential for fibrin clot formation. Each laboratory establishes a normal or control value based on the method used to perform the PT test. The PT measures the amount of time it takes in seconds for clot formation, the international normalized ratio (INR) is calculated from a PT result to monitor the effectiveness of warfarin. Healthcare professionals follow strict hygiene and safety protocols to minimize risks during the procedure.
It measures the acidity (pH) and the levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in arterial blood. Blood for an ABG test is taken from an artery whereas most other blood tests are done on a sample of blood taken from a vein. To help you interpret ABG results, check out our 8-Step Guide to ABG Analysis Tic-Tac-Toe Method. Thalassemia is a genetic blood disorder that disrupts hemoglobin production, leading to anemia, fatigue, and, in severe cases, organ damage. Individuals with thalassemia typically have low hemoglobin levels. The condition is often identified through hemoglobin tests and hemoglobin electrophoresis, which analyzes the types of hemoglobin in the blood.
Serum Osmolality
Beyond diagnosing and monitoring conditions, hemoglobin levels can provide valuable insights into nutritional status. For example, low hemoglobin levels may indicate a need for iron-rich foods such as spinach, red meat, or fortified cereals. Conversely, high hemoglobin levels might require lifestyle changes or medical interventions to address underlying causes.
Download Free Normal Lab Values Cheat Sheet
If any result falls outside the range, we may consider this as clinically important. We may not consider that a borderline result outside the analytically valid reference range sometimes requires verification or surveillance versus immediate prescribing or investigating. On the contrary, a perfectly healthy person’s lab result can fall outside the established reference range. Studies used to establish the reference range are not perfect, and there are select people in a population that simply fall outside of the standard distribution.
In this section, we’ll be discussing the normal laboratory values of serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen, including their indications and nursing considerations. These laboratory tests are helpful in determining the kidney function of an individual. Our online urgent care and primary care practice is committed to helping you maintain healthy hemoglobin levels. Whether you need a hemoglobin test, a telemedicine consultation, or ongoing support, our compassionate team is here to assist you. We also provide guidance on how to prepare for a hemoglobin blood test and offer personalized recommendations for improving hemoglobin levels through diet and lifestyle changes.
Reference intervals explained
Without monthly blood loss, some women’s iron levels gradually increase, though they typically remain lower than men’s. This shift in iron requirements requires special attention from women entering their senior years. For women over 50 specifically, we’ve created a detailed guide explaining normal iron levels and why they matter during this life stage.
But your MCHC level is the average concentration of hemoglobin in a given volume of red cells. A startling study from UCLA found that iron deficiency reduced brain volume and cognitive performance even before anemia developed. Yet the World Health Organization estimates that iron deficiency affects over 2 billion people worldwide, making it the most common nutritional deficiency on Earth.