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Altered blood velocity, what is it due to?

by Alivia Nyhan
Published: Last Updated on

Indeed this term for those who do not know about health is challenging. However, the result of this test is essential to be analyzed by a specialist, especially if it is related to a series of crucial symptoms.

The speed in the blood, medically known as the erythrocyte sedimentation rate or erythrocyte sedimentation rate, is a critical test when determining a person’s inflammatory response, but why is it that its values ​​are altered? What are the most important reasons? Do you know the average values? In the following FastlyHealarticle, we talk about altered blood velocity: what is it due to?

Causes of elevated blood velocity

Many factors can influence changes in the erythrocyte sedimentation rate; However, it is not a specific diagnostic method; it allows for determining some acute or chronic diseases or infectious processes according to their values ​​and whether the person is symptomatic. or not.

It is normal to find altered blood velocity with a tendency for average values ​​to be high, in the presence of viral or bacterial infections, for example:

  • Tonsillitis.
  • Sinusitis.
  • Gripe.
  • Pneumonia.

On the other hand, through alterations in blood velocity, some diseases can be monitored since it measures the speed at which the action of gravity separates red blood cells and plasma. This happens in this way when there is an inflammatory process that decreases the viscosity of the blood by increasing the sedimentation rate.

The speed at high blood in women is above 20 mm and in men above 15 mm, and this can happen to cause diseases such as:

  • Temporal arteritis is nothing more than an inflammatory process of blood vessels, characterized by occlusion of the artery and systemic inflammation; for the diagnosis, there is evidence of an alteration in the speed of the blood.
  • Rheumatoid arthritis: is a chronic and autoimmune inflammatory disease; the speed in the blood may be altered because it is an indicator of inflammation, but it does not represent a specific diagnostic method.
  • Polymyalgia rheumatica: an inflammatory process that generates pain and muscle stiffness in the neck, shoulders, hips, and other body parts. Usually, the erythrocyte sedimentation rate is also increased with this disease.
  • Tuberculosis: infectious-contagious disease, which is transmitted from person to person and represents a public health problem, it is likely to show altered erythrocyte sedimentation values ​​in the case of tuberculosis disease, but it is not an effective diagnostic method.

What is the reason for the slow blood velocity?

Just as the blood speed increases with the alterations that we have just explained, some conditions can cause a decrease in the rate in the blood. It is not a specific alteration; that is, it does not indicate a single cause, but it can be indicative of certain diseases related to red blood cells. Here we explain the reasons for low blood speed :

  • Polycythemia: a blood disorder in which too many red blood cells are made.
  • Drepanocytosis: or sickle cell anemia, occurs due to a chromosomal mutation in which the red blood cells change their physical characteristic to sickle-shaped or horseshoe.
  • Decrease in plasma proteins: due to liver or kidney pathologies, let us remember that these proteins, albumin, globulins, and fibrinogen provide various functions, including immunological, circulatory, and plasma pressure.
  • Intake of some medications: such as aspirin and cortisone, can decrease the erythrocyte sedimentation rate as a side effect.

Blood velocity: normal values

The average values of blood velocity range from:

  • In women 6 to 20 mm / h
  • In men between 3 to 15 mm / h.

It is normal to carry out this test when seeking to determine the improvement of inflammatory disease (since if the value was initially increased, with the progress of the pathology, this value will gradually decrease) or when a patient reports presenting some particular symptoms What:

  • Oh, Myalgia muscular pains.
  • Sudden onset fever with no apparent cause.
  • Lymph nodes or enlarged lymph nodes.

These symptoms, plus the request for the sedimentation rate of the blood and the demand for C-reactive protein (blood test capable of identifying germs at the microscopic level), help guide the specific causes.

In this way, it is essential to know that the doctor, together with the patient’s medical history and laboratory results, will give the appropriate diagnosis and, in turn, the treatment that it warrants.

This article is merely informative, at FastlyHeal .com we do not have the power to prescribe medical treatments or make any type of diagnosis. We invite you to see a doctor in the case of presenting any type of condition or discomfort.

What is it due to if you want to read more articles similar to Altered Blood Speed? We recommend that you enter our category of Medication and medical tests .

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