Things to Know About ESR Test

by Aisha Kapoor Medical Laboratory Professional

An ESR test is also known as a sed rate test or a sedimentation rate test. It does not diagnose one particular health condition or disease, but it aids the doctors to check whether a person is suffering from inflammation. The health care professional will check the ESR results along with other details to aid detect the real problem. The doctors prescribe this test when patients experience inflammation and their red blood cells stick together, building clumps. This blood clumping affects the pace at which RBCs get inside a pipe where a blood sample is kept.

The test allows the doctor to evaluate how much clumping is happening. The quicker and farther the blood cells go towards the surface of a tube, the more chances of inflammation. The test can check and assess inflammation in the body, but it does not aid in spotting the cause or symptom. The doctor will combine it with other tests to find out the major cause of the symptoms.

Signs one should go for an ESR test

One might require an ESR test if they feel signs of inflammatory conditions like Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and arthritis. These signs and symptoms can include the following.

Pain in the neck, shoulders, and pelvis

Abnormal weight loss
Stiffness and joint pain that stays for more than 30 minutes in the morning
Digestive issues like diarrhea, blood in the stool, or abdominal pain
Headaches, especially with connected pain in the shoulders

Result

The normal range for ESR outcome is 1–20 mm/hr for women and 1–13 mm/hr for men. These values may vary as per the age of an individual. Those with ESR results other than the standard range may have a chance of a health issue or medical condition.

High ESR value

An extremely high ESR, specifically above 100 mm/hr, maybe a sign of the below conditions.

A white blood cell cancer named Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia
Multiple myelomas, a cancer of plasma cells
Hypersensitivity vasculitis
Temporal arteritis or polymyalgia rheumatica

Low ESR levels

Those with low ESR values may have the following conditions:

Congestive heart failure
A very high white blood platelet count
A high red blood cell count
Reduced value of the protein fibrinogen in the blood
Hyperviscosity, a growth in blood thickness
Leukemia, a blood cell cancer
Sickle cell anemia, a particular issue, affecting the form of red blood cells

Moderately high results

A moderately high level of ESR may not be a sign of any health condition but those with high ESR may have the chances of following conditions.

Thyroid issue
Rheumatoid arthritis
Kidney disease
Anemia
A heart infection
A bone infection
Tuberculosis
Lymphoma, a certain kind of cancer

People with irregular ESR levels may not always have a health condition that needs treatment. A slightly higher value can also occur due to growing age, menstruation or pregnancy. Though doctors cannot detect a particular health condition with an ESR test, the outcome can determine if there is inflammation in the body. In case the test shows any issues, doctors will require to prescribe further tests and find extra information to get a precise diagnosis.