Platelets are small cells in blood that help with clotting. A blood platelet count can indicate medical conditions such as thrombocytopenia or thrombocytosis. Normal platelet counts range from 150,000 to 400,000 per microliter of blood.
Platelets are tiny cells that are part of blood products and are extremely useful in helping blood clot. Their shapes are usually described as disc-like, but each individual platelet can be shaped slightly differently, and the term “irregular” is often applied to describe the shape of the platelets. When an injury occurs that causes bleeding, platelets are like emergency medical technicians or first responders. They rush towards the bleeding and together with certain vitamins, minerals and proteins, form clots so that the bleeding stops.
In the body, platelets have a life span of about a week or slightly longer, and the healthy body usually continues to produce them in large quantities. Under certain circumstances people can have lower or higher than normal levels of platelets. Doctors may choose to measure this with a blood platelet count.
A blood platelet count may be part of other blood counts such as a complete blood count (CBC). Usually the most common method of “counting” platelets is with a simple blood draw or blood draw. This is most often taken from the veins on the opposite side of the elbow. Most blood tests of this type are not particularly painful, although those with a fear of needles or a low pain tolerance may feel pain when they occur or be anxious about these tests.
One must understand that the body has huge amounts of platelets. A normal blood platelet count would generally be between 150,000 and 400,000 platelets per microliter of blood. A microliter is about one-thousandth of a milliliter and a single milliliter is about one-third of an ounce. A single teaspoon contains about 5 ounces so it’s easy to imagine the massive amounts of platelets that would exist in a teaspoon of blood.
There are several ways you can get a blood platelet measurement once your blood has been drawn. Two of the most common methods count platelets electronically and are called voltage-pulse methods and electro-optical methods. A third method called a blood count may also be used, but is often thought to be slightly less accurate.
For the average person, counting methods are less important than the actual blood platelet count and what it means. Counts lower than normal can indicate many different things, including thrombocytopenia or aplastic anemia. Sometimes certain drugs such as those used in chemotherapy reduce platelet counts. In other circumstances, the risk of blood clotting in conditions where veins or arteries are narrowed means that doctors want to lower the normal count and may use drugs such as aspirin to do so, in order to prevent dangerous blood clotting. .
A higher than normal number of platelets in the blood can also indicate the presence of certain medical conditions. It could suggest thrombocytosis, which puts people at increased risk of abnormal clotting. There are other conditions that cause a high platelet count and these usually need to be medically addressed to reduce the risk of things like stroke. It should be noted that most healthy people will have blood platelet counts that are within the normal range.
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