Blood Drug Testing

how to interpret lab blood tests?

My father had the following results for his blood work: Hemoglobin - LOW Albumin - Low carbon dioxide - High MCH and MCHC - both Low RDW - high Monocytes (absolute) - High. can any one advise what these mean? he is 79 years old, caucasian. has some heart disease.

Public Comments

1. I'm not sure about the CO2 being high but the rest of the results look pretty typical of anemia. I've had it for years and that is how my results often come out. The best thing to do would be to make an appt with the doctor to discuss the results and possible treatments or lifestyle changes (like diet).
2. Low hemoglobin can be caused by: Vitamin and iron deficiencies Acute or chronic bleeding Hormone deficiencies, such as thyroid hormone or testosterone Chronic diseases, such as kidney failure, cancer and Crohn's disease Autoimmune diseases, such as lupus Side effect of certain medications, such as chemotherapy drugs Treatment depends on the underlying cause Low albumin can be caused by: liver disease / Cirrhosis of the liver (most commonly) Decreased production (as in starvation) Excess excretion by the kidneys (as in nephrotic syndrome) Excess loss in bowel (protein losing enteropathy) Mutation causing analbuminemia (very rare) malnutrition malabsorption neoplasia pregnancy Acute disease states (referred to as a negative acute phase protein) High CO2 can be caused bu: The CO2 levels in the blood are influenced by kidney and respiratory (lung) function. MCHC and MCH are indicators for different types of anemia RDW is again used to diagnose anemia High monocyte count can be indicative of infection. As you can see it could be a number of many different things. Best wishes to this gentleman. Hope that he gets well soon.