LWscd

Subject:

SED Rate

Question:

Can you explain what SED rate is?

Elaine writes:

. I am not going to my books but I think I remember it well enough to explain. If you use an example of a number of tiny balls (red blood cells) suspended in a cylinder of thick or thin fluid (plasma) their rate of falling to the bottom depends on how thick or viscous the liquid is in which they are sinking. In other words, erthyrocyte (red blood cell) sedimentation rate is slow if the watery part of the bloodstream (plasma) is thick with proteins such as antibodies produced white blood cells caused by an inflammatory process (inflammatory bowel disease) certain products of tissue destruction and certain clotting substances. If the plasma is very thick, the rate at which the red blood cells settle in it is high (takes more time). If the plasma does not have a lot of products of tissue destruction and antibodies, etc. in it, the plasma is not so viscous and the red blood cells go to the bottom in a short time. Some doctors do not put a lot of stock in SED rates. In some diseases, it goes up and in some diseases it goes down. Most people with inflammatory conditions such as arthritis have high SED rates .

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