A blood test is one of the basic assessments of an individual's health. Blood contains many different components. Some of these components are a part of the blood themselves while other components are those that are being transported by the blood. The most common type of blood test is the Complete Blood Count test, abbreviated as the CBC. This test is used to establish some basic information about the health of the blood. Human blood is made up of many different substances including red blood cells. These cells contain hemoglobin, a substance that is important for the transport of oxygen within the blood to different parts of the body. Oxygen transport is one of the basic functions of blood. Oxygen is needed for the production of energy in the cells of the body.
The test used to determine the quantity of hemoglobin in the blood is known as the MCH blood test. The full form of MCH is Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin. This test is therefore used to determine the average amount of hemoglobin per red blood cell in the body. The results of the MCH blood test are therefore reported in picograms, a tiny measure of weight.
The normal range of the MCH blood test is between 26 and 33 pg per cell. It is ideal that the result of the MCH blood test falls close to the middle of the range. The MCH blood test result may be low in the case of an individual who is suffering from iron deficiency anemia.
However, high MCH blood test results occur when the reading is above 33 pg per cell. A high MCH blood count reading may be associated with a few different conditions. One such condition is known as microcytic anemia which occurs when the individual has a deficiency of vitamin B12 in the body. Another condition that may cause high MCH blood test readings is that of thyroid malfunction. Certain other vitamins and minerals may also cause high MCH blood test readings if they are not present in the right quantities.
The actual test for high MCH blood test readings is conducted as a part of the standard blood count test and takes less than a minute as far as the patient is concerned. Blood is collected from a vein in the upper forearm and sent to a laboratory for analysis. The high MCH blood test readings are displayed along with the normal range on the test result sheet.
Submitted by N on April 25, 2011 at 07:33