Inflammation Tests You Aught' To Know
Inflammation is good for short term acute responses to damage. Chronic inflammation is what drains and damages the body. If you are concerned that you may have chronic inflammation, you can easily test for inflammation. If there is inflammation in your body there are certain types of proteins that are released from the inflammation site that circulate in the bloodstream.
There are a few common blood tests that are used to detect inflammation. One test is the ESR test (erythrocyte sedimentation rate). A blood sample is taken and placed in a tube that contains a chemical to prevent the blood from clotting. The tube is left standing upright and the red blood cells fall to the bottom of the tube, with the clear liquid plasma on top. The rate of which the red blood cells separate from the plasma and fall to the bottom is measured. This shows if there are extra proteins in the blood because if these proteins cover the red blood cells, the red cells will stick to each other and fall quickly. So high ESR indicates inflammation in the body.
The CRP (C-reactive protein) test measures the level of this protein in a blood sample. The levels of CRP increase when there is inflammation in the body. The CRP, unlike the ESR test, is only measuring one type of protein.
The PV (plasma viscosity) test is another inflammation marker. This test is not as common as the others.
What is considered normal? For an ESR test the normal range is from 0-22mm/hour for men and 0-29 mm/hour for women. This is because women generally have higher levels of ESR.
A normal range for the CRP test is less than 3 mg/L and at most 10 mg/L.
The normal range for the PV test in adults is 1.50-1.72 mPA.
The normal range varies depending on factors like age, pregnancy etc.
So if you have reason to suspect that you have inflammation, ask your doctor to take one of these blood tests. They are a good start to see if there is something out of place. From there you will probably need to take other tests to pinpoint exactly what is under inflammation and what is triggering it.
There are a few common blood tests that are used to detect inflammation. One test is the ESR test (erythrocyte sedimentation rate). A blood sample is taken and placed in a tube that contains a chemical to prevent the blood from clotting. The tube is left standing upright and the red blood cells fall to the bottom of the tube, with the clear liquid plasma on top. The rate of which the red blood cells separate from the plasma and fall to the bottom is measured. This shows if there are extra proteins in the blood because if these proteins cover the red blood cells, the red cells will stick to each other and fall quickly. So high ESR indicates inflammation in the body.
The CRP (C-reactive protein) test measures the level of this protein in a blood sample. The levels of CRP increase when there is inflammation in the body. The CRP, unlike the ESR test, is only measuring one type of protein.
The PV (plasma viscosity) test is another inflammation marker. This test is not as common as the others.
What is considered normal? For an ESR test the normal range is from 0-22mm/hour for men and 0-29 mm/hour for women. This is because women generally have higher levels of ESR.
A normal range for the CRP test is less than 3 mg/L and at most 10 mg/L.
The normal range for the PV test in adults is 1.50-1.72 mPA.
The normal range varies depending on factors like age, pregnancy etc.
So if you have reason to suspect that you have inflammation, ask your doctor to take one of these blood tests. They are a good start to see if there is something out of place. From there you will probably need to take other tests to pinpoint exactly what is under inflammation and what is triggering it.
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