What happens when red blood cells are too high?

A high red blood cell count is a condition called polycythemia vera. If you have this medical condition, it means that your bone marrow is producing too many red blood cells. This can result in thickening of the blood, slow flow of blood, and eventually blood clots.

Is increased red blood cells bad?

An RBC count that is higher than normal can be a sign of many health problems, including: Dehydration. Lung diseases. Heart diseases.

What are the symptoms of too much blood in the body?

The increase in blood cells makes the blood thicker. Thick blood can lead to strokes or tissue and organ damage. Symptoms include lack of energy (fatigue) or weakness, headaches, dizziness, shortness of breath, visual disturbances, nose bleeds, bleeding gums, heavy menstrual periods, and bruising.

Why would red blood cells be high?

A high RBC count may be a result of sleep apnea, pulmonary fibrosis, and other conditions that cause low oxygen levels in the blood. Performance-enhancing drugs like protein injections and anabolic steroids can also increase RBCs. Kidney disease and kidney cancers can lead to high RBC counts as well.

What makes your body produce too much blood?

What Is Polycythemia Vera? Polycythemia vera (PV) is a blood cancer that begins in the marrow of your bones, the soft center where new blood cells grow. It causes your marrow to make too many red blood cells so your blood is too thick. You may be more likely to have clots, a stroke, or a heart attack.

What causes too much blood volume?

Hypervolemia occurs when blood volume increases and can occur through renal failure, congestive heart failure, liver failure, excessive sodium intake, or any other dysfunction of sodium regulation. [8] Furthermore, prolonged hypertension may result in renal damage, eventually culminating in fluid imbalance.

Does Covid cause high red blood cell count?

In summary, COVID-19 patients show higher levels of NO inside RBC compared to non-COVID-19 hypoxemic patients.

How do you lower your red blood count?

Lower than normal numbers of RBCs may occur with bleeding, bone marrow failure, malnutrition, kidney disease, overhydration, or pregnancy. Several drugs affect the level of RBCs and may make it higher or lower than normal.

What causes you to make too many red blood cells?

Your body may increase red blood cell production to compensate for any condition that results in low oxygen levels, including: Heart disease (such as congenital heart disease in adults) Heart failure. A condition present at birth that reduces the oxygen-carrying capacity of red blood cells (hemoglobinopathy)

What does it mean to have too many red blood cells?

Having too many RBCs in your blood is medically termed as “Polycythemia” or “Erythrocytosis”. This can caused by an overproduction of RBCs from the Bone Marrow or excess production due to a long term exposure to Low Oxygen levels or due to a Malignancy (Cancer).

What does it mean if your red blood cells are too large?

Megaloblastic anemia is a group of disorders characterized by abnormally large red blood cells. In a person with megablastosis, the red blood cells vary significantly in size (anisocytosis) and in shape (poikilocytosis) compared to the constant and regular shape and size of normal red blood cells.

What are the reasons for high red blood cell count?

Sometimes, the cause lies in overproduction of red blood cells in the bone marrow. High red blood cells count may result from impaired ability of the cells to carry oxygen. Elevated RBC value occurs at high altitudes due to low ambient oxygen levels.

What causes losing red blood cells?

Red Blood Cell Loss. The most common cause of red blood cell loss is bleeding. The bleeding can happen rapidly — for example, in an acute hemorrhage caused by an injury. Excess blood loss from surgery, or even frequent blood draws over time, can also lead to a low red blood cell count — sometimes an acute one.