Anemia Panel - Basic

When the blood lacks enough healthy red blood cells or hemoglobin, a condition called anemia develops. Hemoglobin is a component of blood that binds to oxygen. With too low red blood cells and/or hemoglobin, your body's cells do not get enough oxygen.

There are more than 400 types of anemia, all of which are classified into the following three categories:

• Anemia caused by blood loss
• Anemia caused by decreased or faulty red blood cell production
• Anemia caused by destruction of red blood cells

This blood test panel is used to detect and identify a wide range of hematologic disorders.

The Basic Anemia Panel includes the following tests:

• Hematocrit - The amount of red blood cells in the blood.
• Hemoglobin - A protein that transports oxygen or carbon dioxide in the blood.
• Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) - Measures the average volume of red blood cells in the blood.
• Mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) - The amount of hemoglobin per red blood cell.
• Mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) - The amount of hemoglobin concentrated in a given volume of red blood cells.
• Red cell distribution width (RDW) - Measures the difference of red blood cell size or volume in blood sample.
• Percentage and absolute differential counts - Measures the amounts of different white blood cell types within the blood.
• Platelet count (RBC) - Measures the amount of platelets (fragments and particles of cells) in the blood that are crucial for blood clotting.
• White blood cell count (WBC) - Measures the amounts of different white blood cell types within the blood.
• Iron - The iron blood test measures the amount of iron in the blood. Iron is a mineral that is needed by your body for the production of hemoglobin, energy, and maintaining proper muscle and organ function.
• Total iron-binding capacity (TIBC) - Is used to differentiate between anemia types and gives more iron statistics than the Iron test alone.