Esr Blood Test And Cancer

ESR Blood Test And Cancer

Though a blood test may not give an accurate result with respect to cancer, it still remains the first step of diagnosis. One such blood test is a test called ESR test which stands for erythrocyte sedimentation rate.

This test is done to check the rate at which the red blood cells drop to the bottom of the tube. This rate is measured in terms of millimeters per hour.

This is just a general kind of blood test and does not relate to any specific disease. However, if there is any abnormality in the ESR levels, then it would be a cause of concern and further tests would be recommended. In some parts of the world, the ESR is determined as age divided by two for men and age plus 10 divided by two for women. When the ESR level is a bit high, it can be attributed to reasons such as minor cold or some other infection, age and even anemia but if the levels are alarmingly high then this indicates the presence of some disease and further tests would be conducted for a confirmed diagnosis.

Some of the illnesses due to which the ESR levels go up are kidney diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer etc. Sometimes there might just be vague symptoms and high ESR levels and such patients could still be having conditions like blood cancer, Giant Cell arteritis and prostrate cancer.

Hence, high ESR levels should not be ignored and more tests should be conducted to establish the actual cause of high ESR so that the necessary treatment can be administered to the patient at the earliest.

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Esr Blood Test And Cancer