Full Blood Count test results question

[bellainthemiddle]

Sorry to post here, basically about nothing, but I had results from a FBC and I am slightly confused/mildly freaked out by what has come up.

Everything was OK / borderline (low), except the Mean Platelet Volume, which was low and GP said to redo the test. Like an idiot, I just said 'Oh' and didn't ask anything when I was actually there. Afterwards I looked it up and am genuinely a bit baffled because I honestly don't think I can have any of the things this would indicate.

Has anyone experienced this? Could it just be an anomaly? I am confused

Forgot to add: reason for having the blood tests done was that I had raised lymph nodes, sore throat, generally a bit under the weather. Nothing very dramatic, but it was advised.

Anyone any ideas? :)

You could be anaemic.
Could also be caused by a recent infection.
Maybe your recent blood test will be normal, try not to worry, these things happen sometimes.

Get the test redone when gp suggests and go from there. Most likely due to viral infection you're fighting off and may even not know about it. X

I'm actually getting it redone tomorrow (as advised). So I guess I will find out soon! I am just a bit bemused by the whole thing and I really wish I had asked more questions at the appointment!

The fact that they wanted to redo the test only 5 days after the original one makes me wonder if it something was wrong with the test rather than with me - because surely nothing would change in such a short space of time?

Probably it is just a little virus and nothing to worry about at all. I am usually pretty relaxed about my own / family health, but this has got me a bit jittery for some reason..

The "normal" range for each blood test is the range in which 95% of the healthy population fall at any one time. 5% of tests will therefore be "abnormal", even in the normal/healthy population, and so every 100 tests will result in 5 "abnormal" results.

Many of the blood tests that doctors send are actually panels of tests. A "full blood count" includes haemoglobin concentration, numbers of white cells (broken down into neutrophils, eosinophils, etc), platelets, size of cells, concentrations of components within each cell type, etc.

A routine set of blood tests could easily run to 50 (or many more) individual tests. If that is the case, then one in two people will have an "abnormal" result even though they are perfectly healthy.

I see these abnormalities (which are usually meaningless) all the time and rarely go to the trouble of repeating them. Mean platelet volume certainly isn't anything to worry about.

That is reassuring - thank you!
(And I feel a bit guilty that they've gone to the trouble and expense of redoing it in that case...)