Blood color index: concept, calculation and interpretation of results

A separate category in the transport function of blood is the transfer of oxygen, obtained by the respiratory system from the environment, to all other cells and tissues for the synthesis of the main macroergic substance - ATP (adenosine triphosphate).

This process is impossible without carriers of vital gas - red blood cells, red cells biconcave form. Their color, along with the very ability to bind and release oxygen, is due to hemoglobin, a highly differentiated quaternary protein whose main component is heme iron. Therefore, with blood loss, a deficiency in the diet of vitamin B12, B9 or the above-mentioned metal, all the symptoms of anemia are associated, first of all, with the loss or lack of hemoglobin synthesis, and the determination of its quantity in the general analysis is the starting point. However, it is important not only its cumulative content, but also the degree of saturation of the erythrocytes. For this purpose, a color indicator is included in the blood test, the norm of which fluctuates in both men and women in the range of 0.85 (6) -1.05. It is calculated as dividing the tripled number of hemoglobin in grams for the first three digits of the number of red blood cells.

Characteristics and formula of CPU

The color index of blood is an extremely important category for the differential diagnosis of anemic syndrome, because it can narrow the range of searches for the initial reason of its appearance. Therefore, if the patient independently consults a doctor or if symptoms such as increasing general weakness, fast fatigue, dizziness up to loss of consciousness are revealed during a preventive examination or in a hospital, first of all, he undergoes a detailed clinical analysis of the blood. It defines not only quantitative (various uniform elements), but also its qualitative characteristics. These include the concentration of hemoglobin, the color index of blood, the rate of erythrocyte sedimentation. On the first of them, the presence and degree of anemic syndrome is judged (light -> 90 g / l, medium - 90-70 g / l, heavy - <70 g / l), while its norm ranges from 120.0 to 140 , 0 in women and from 130.0 to 160.0 in men.

Interpretation of results

And the color index of blood allows you to classify anemia on hypo-, normo- and hyperchromic, and then go on to the primary etiology of the disease. It can be congenital defects in the structure of hemoglobin, iron deficiency, acute or chronic bleeding, damage to the genetic apparatus of red blood cells or excessive destruction, lack of vitamins and many others. Etc. So, for example, for the first two reasons mentioned, the color index of blood is lowered, at the second - within the limits of the norm or changes insignificantly, and at the last - even increased. This allows doctors to go more quickly and effectively to a real clinical diagnosis of patients and to prescribe appropriate treatment in a timely manner. Thus, the color index of blood can be safely attributed to one of the main and most important items of laboratory diagnostics.