Hematocrit

If, if we do see...

So for example, what we'd be looking for in our lab values to tell us, in addition to the baby looking ruddy, having vomiting, you know, abdominal distension, poor feeding, the lab values that we're really focused on are those higher than expected, um, hematocrit and hemoglobin levels, so the Hgb and Hct levels.

If those are higher than expected, then that's gonna tell us that they might have polycythemia.

And the, one of the ways that we treat that is we increase fluids to help thin that blood out.

Yeah.

Hematocrit, like you're talking [laughs] like ton, ton-

Oh, yeah.

Half the pool.

But I can tell you that one way to get your hematocrit, or excuse me, your ferritin back up is to stop donating blood.

Yes, using iron as well.

But I would also like to know where his hemoglobin is, where his HCT is, where his lipids are, what the actual numbers.

Actually, you know what? He says he's donating every two to three months.

So that's not a lot.

The other problem, though, is the effect on other markers.

So what you might find is that you go to your TRT provider, you do your blood test, and the test is fine, it's not in a bad place, estrogen is fine, but hemo, hemo, hemo, fucking hell.

Hemoglobin and HCT are through the roof, you know, and other factors like lipids are destroyed, HDL is super low, prostate might even be a little bit inflamed depending on how you are.

They really went in like an odd order.

Hematocrit is mandatory before treating.

If over 40, PSA before treating.

If above three nanograms per milliliter, refer to urology.

And this is classically called, like, physiological anemia.

And if you were to look at, at the HCT and HGB levels on a blood work, you would expect a pregnant woman's to be a little bit reduced from normal, and that wouldn't be a concern.

So if the normal value is supposed to start at 12 and it's like 10, okay, we're not overly concerned.

That's just a side effect of pregnancy.

And the other two I would recommend looking at in relation to iron status is hemoglobin and hematocrit.

So hemoglobin measures your oxygen carrying capacity.

Hematocrit represents the percentage of blood volume occupied by red blood cells.

So what this means for athletes is that hemoglobin and hematocrit often decline in late stage iron deficiency anemia.

So if you are just starting to be deficient, your ferritin might start to drop, your TIBC might start to increase, but as you get further into an iron deficiency, or iron deficiency anemia, which is the most extreme end of iron deficiency, those hemoglobin and hematoprit levels will start to drop as well.

His hemoglobin was rising from fourteen on admission to seventeen point one.

Hematocrit was trending in the same direction from forty-one percent to fifty percent.

MCV remained stable at around ninety.

His white blood cells were also dropping.

And so your body is trying to make its blood a bit thicker, a higher concentration.

So hematocrit, by the way, is what he said.

Hematocrit is just a measurement of how concentrated a person's blood is.

how dense, how thick, how dense it is.

So A, everybody doing testosterone just increases the thickness of your look.