When the blood lacks enough healthy red blood cells or hemoglobin, a condition called
anemia develops. Hemoglobin is a component of blood that binds to oxygen. With a low
level of red blood cells and/or hemoglobin, your body's cells do not get enough oxygen.
This blood test panel is used to detect and identify a wide range of hematologic
disorders.
The Basic Anemia Panel includes the following tests:
Hematocrit – The amount of red blood cells in the blood.
Hemoglobin – A protein that transports oxygen or carbon dioxide in the blood.
Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) – Measures the average volume of red blood
cells in the blood.
Mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) – The amount of hemoglobin per red
blood cell.
Mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) – The amount of
hemoglobin concentrated in a given volume of red blood cells.
Red cell distribution width (RDW) – Measures the difference of red blood cell
size or volume in blood sample.
Percentage and absolute differential counts – Measures the amounts of
different white blood cell types within the blood.
Platelet count (RBC) – Measures the amount of platelets (fragments and
particles of cells) in the blood that are crucial for blood clotting.
White blood cell count (WBC) – Measures the amounts of different white blood
cell types within the blood.
Iron – The iron blood test measures the amount of iron in the blood. Iron is a
mineral that is needed by your body to produce hemoglobin, energy, and
maintaining proper muscle and organ function.
Total iron-binding capacity (TIBC) – Is used to differentiate between anemia
types and gives more iron statistics than the Iron test alone.
Ferritin – Ferritin is present in small concentrations that correlate with total-body
iron stores, making its measurement valuable for the assessment of disorders
relating to iron metabolism.
