What does red blood cell distribution width indicate?
Red cell distribution width (RDW) is one of the numbers or blood cell indices that is included as part of a complete blood count (CBC), and describes the variation in the size of red blood cells in a sample of blood. A higher RDW means that there is a greater variation in the size of red blood cells than expected.
How do you fix high RDW?
1) Eat a Balanced Diet. Eat a healthy and nutritious diet in order to prevent nutrient deficiencies. It is important that your diet includes enough iron, folate, and vitamin B12 [8, 11, 12]. Correcting nutritional deficiencies can help improve red blood cell production and decrease RDW levels.
What happens if red cell distribution width is high?
High results If your RDW is too high, it could be an indication of a nutrient deficiency, such as a deficiency of iron, folate, or vitamin B-12. These results could also indicate macrocytic anemia, when your body doesn’t produce enough normal red blood cells, and the cells it does produce are larger than normal.
What does high RDW and normal MCV mean?
To confirm a diagnosis, a doctor will compare the results of the RDW test with those of the MCV measurement. A person may have: High RDW and normal MCV. This suggests a deficiency of iron, B-12, or folate. It may also indicate chronic liver disease.
Why is RDW high in iron deficiency anemia?
However, a varied size distribution of red blood cells is a hallmark of iron deficiency anemia, and as such shows an increased RDW in virtually all cases. In the case of both iron and B12 deficiencies, there will normally be a mix of both large cells and small cells, causing the RDW to be elevated.
What is considered dangerously low RBC?
Anything below 4.5 to 5.5 million RBCs per microliter (mcL) in men, and 4.0 to 5.0 million RBCs per microliter (mcL) in women, is considered to be a low RBC count.
What are the symptoms of High RDW?
While some of the diseases with RDW show no symptoms, there are certain symptoms that should be left unattended. Some of the common symptoms associated with high RDW are mentioned below. Symptoms related to anemia like numbness, pale skin or dizziness. Weakness due to the deficiency of vitamins or iron.
What does an elevated RDW mean?
Elevated RDW and low MCV. High RDW levels can mean that you have an iron deficiency if your MCV readings are lower than normal. Elevated RDW and high MCV. If both your MCV levels and RDW levels are too high, then this could be caused by vitamin B12 or folate deficiencies, anemia, or chronic liver disease.
What causes RBC levels to be low?
A low RBC count indicates a decrease in oxygen-carrying cells in the blood. The causes can be many, ranging from infections and deficiencies to malnutrition to malignancies, including: Anemia. Kidney failure. Thyroid problems. Bleeding, internal or external. Leukemia, a type of blood cancer.