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Sugar or glucose is considered as a major raw material in the production of chemical energy that powers all the activities of body cells. A condition called hypoglycemia or low blood sugar occur when the level of glucose in the blood is not enough to effectively fuel body cells. Generally, what is considered low blood sugar is below 70 mg/dl (milligrams of glucose per deciliter of blood) and what is considered normal blood sugar level is within the range of 70-100 mg/dl. The symptoms of hypoglycemia may occur at levels below 60 mg/dl. Brain functions can be seriously affected if the blood sugar level is below 50 mg/dl.

There are controversies involved as to what is considered low blood sugar. The level of blood sugar low enough to be considered hypoglycemia may be different for different people, in different circumstances, and for different purposes. Although the lower limit of blood sugar is 60 or 70 mg/dl, there are people whose blood sugar level is below this range but do not show any symptoms or disease. Moreover, the normal blood glucose level of children is slightly lower than adults. Because of these controversies, the Endocrine Society recommends that a diagnosis of hypoglycemia as a problem for an individual person be based on the combination of low blood glucose level and the occurrence of adverse symptoms.

Hypoglycemia is more common to people with diabetes. Diabetes is a metabolic disorder in which there is no control of blood sugar, through inadequate insulin production (type 1) or decreased sensitivity to insulin (type 2) causing kidney, eye, and nerve damage.

Symptoms of Low Blood Sugar (Hypoglycemia)

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Most of the early symptoms of hypoglycemia are caused by epinephrine, one of the major hormones released during hypoglycemia. Common symptoms include trembling/shaking, anxiety, weakness, palpitations, hunger, irritability, sweating, pupil dilation, and clummy or jerky skin. Serious symptoms of hypoglycemia occur when the brain remains deprived of glucose; these are headache, confusion, thinking difficulty, seizures, and coma. Death can occur after significant trauma and loss of consciousness.

Causes of Low Blood Sugar (Hypoglycemia)

Hypoglycemia has different causes: alcohol intake; missed meals; use of medications such as beta-blockers, pentamidine, trimethoprin, and trimethoprin; severe infection; overmedication of insulin or antidiabetic drugs; liver failure; kidney failure; insufficiency of adrenal hormones such as cortisol and epinephrine; deficiency of growth hormones such as those produced by the pituitary gland; loss of appetite; delayed insulin release after a meal has been absorbed; congenital hyperinsulinism or defect in the regulation of insulin; abnormal increase in insulin (insulinoma) because of insulin-producing tumors (usually developed in the pancreas).

Diagnosis of Hypoglycemia

Endocrinologists use the Whipple’s triad to determine whether a person’s symptoms are due to hypoglycemia. The Whipple’s triad has three conditions:

1. The person shows the known symptoms of hypoglycemia.
2. The blood glucose level of the person is low at the time the symptoms occur.
3. The symptoms of the person improved or reversed when the blood glucose is restored to normal.

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Medically known as cerumen, earwax is a natural secretion of glands in the lining of the outer ear canal. It is yellowish, wax-like substance consists of long chain fatty acids, skin proteins, cholesterol, squalene, alcohols, and other organic compounds. Earwax provides lubrication in the ear canal, trap foreign substances, and controls the multiplication of microorganisms. Without earwax, the ear canal becomes dry and itchy causing discomfort and irritability.

Earwax becomes a problem when it is produced in great amount that it will block the ear canal leading to hearing loss. The most common way to remove earwax in the ear is through the use of ear buds. However, the problem of using ear buds is that it can push the earwax deeper in the ear canal which will aggravate the problem.

An effective way to remove earwax is through the use of dilute hydrogen peroxide. The use of hydrogen peroxide for earwax removal is recommended with few conditions: no skin sensitivity, no severe ear pain, no fluid discharge in the ear, and no hearing impairment. People who have sensitivity with chemicals like hydrogen peroxide but want to get rid of impacted earwax are advised to use normal saline solution or just warm water.

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Materials Needed For Earwax Removal Using Hydrogen Peroxide

• 3% Hydrogen peroxide (can be purchased in drug stores)
• Olive or almond oil
• Cotton swabs
• Bulb aspirator
• Eye dropper
• Towel
• 2 Small bowls
• Hot water

Procedure of Earwax Removal Using Hydrogen Peroxide

1. Do this procedure in the bathroom near the sink. Make sure that the place is clean and all the materials listed above are complete.
2. The ear may have unusual reactions when the oil and hydrogen peroxide are applied cold. To avoid these reactions, the oil and hydrogen peroxide should be warmed first. Put several drops of oil and hydrogen peroxide in two separate small bowls then place them in hot water until the oil and hydrogen peroxide are already warm.
3. To add the warm oil and hydrogen peroxide in the ear, tilt your head in such a way that the ear to be treated is facing towards the ceiling. Put 2-3 drops of oil in the dropper and release it to the ear. After few minutes, put 2-3 drops of hydrogen peroxide in the same ear without changing your head’s position. Bubbling of the hydrogen dioxide will occur; wait until the bubbling stops before you can return your head to normal position. Place a towel at your shoulder to absorb any spillage of the oil and hydrogen dioxide.
4. Now it’s time to drain the oil and hydrogen dioxide. Put clean warm water in the bulb aspirator and then position your head in such a way that the ear you have treated is facing the sink. Position the aspirator 45 degrees to the ear and gently squeeze it to squirt warm water which will wash the ear canal and remove the loosened ear wax. Use the cotton swabs to clean your outer ear.
5. You can repeat the whole procedure to get a better result.

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Most people are anxious when they saw the toilet water turned red, streaks of blood mixed in their stool, or bright red blood comes out from their anus. Of course that’s a normal reaction since blood in the stool can indicate internal hemorrhaging or cancer (e.g. colon cancer). According to Dr. Oz, don’t panic because a small amount of bright red blood in stool is nothing to be worried of. He added that a single drop of blood can turn the whole bowl red.

To know the reasons why there is blood in your stool, visit your health care provider for a medical diagnosis.

There are different causes of  blood in the stool which include anal fissure, hemorrhoids, diverticulosis, colon polyps and cancer, angiodysplasia, colitis, proctitis, and Meckel’s diverticulum. (To know more about these conditions, read the article on the causes of bright red blood in stool)

Take note also that consumption of certain foods could turn the color of the stool to red, which makes it appear bloody. They are red meat, cantaloupe, grapefruit, figs, broccoli, radishes, turnips, cauliflower, tomato soup or juice, kool-aid, red popsicles, excess beets, red gelatin and among others.

The only time you should worry is when a you release a large amount of fresh blood through your anus with or without stool. Losing a lot of blood is dangerous because it can decrease the blood pressure that could lead to shock. The lost blood should be replaced immediately by blood transfusion. If you are releasing a lot of blood now, seek medical help immediately.

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Blood Platelets and their Functions

Platelets or thrombocytes are the smallest cells in the blood and designed for one important purpose – to initiate the process of coagulation, or blood clotting, whenever a blood vessel is broken. As soon as a vein or artery is broken, the platelets in the broken area begin to clump together and stick to the edges of the cut. In other words, the platelets work together to seal the injured area of the blood vessel to prevent bleeding.

The platelets also initiate the transformation of the plasma protein fibrinogen into fibrin, a long sticky protein that works with the platelets in creating blood clot to the injured area of the blood vessel. Moreover, the platelets release chemical messengers that initiate constriction of the blood vessels to reduce bleeding. The chemical messenger also attracts other platelets to the broken part of the blood vessel to assist in blood clotting.

By reducing and stopping blood loss in the event of blood vessel injury, blood platelets are important to human survival.                Diseases associated to platelets and blood clotting are deadly. It is therefore important to monitor the health of the platelets by ordering laboratory tests such as Platelet Count and Mean Platelet Volume (MPV).
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What is Platelet Count Test?

Platelet count test is a part of a regular Complete Blood Count (CBC), a panel of laboratory tests that examine different components of the blood such as white blood cell (WBC) count, red blood cell (RBC) count, or mean platelet volume (MPV). Platelet count is a measure of the number of platelets in a given sample of blood. The test result is interpreted by a doctor to determine if a patient has bleeding disorders, bone marrow diseases (e.g. leukemia), and other health problems.

Platelet count test is also ordered by the doctor if a patient has unexplained bruises in his/her body and it takes an unusually long period of time to stop bleeding from a small cut or wound in the skin.

What is Normal Platelet Count?

Normal platelet count ranges from 150,000 to 450,000 platelets per microliter (X10^6/L) of adult blood. Platelet count that falls below 20,000 per microliter of blood can cause spontaneous bleeding which is life-threatening. There are different reasons why platelet count decreases (thrombocytopenia). One of these reasons is leukemia or cancer of the bone marrow. The bone marrow is the site of production of new platelets that would replace old and used platelets. Therefore, no new platelets are produced if normal bone marrow cells are transformed to cancer cells.

Decrease in platelet count does not only indicate leukemia but can also indicate underlying health conditions which are discussed below.

What Causes of Low Platelet Count?

• Low platelet count (thrombocytopenia) is observed in patients with long-term bleeding problems like chronic stomach bleeding due to ulcer.
• Decline in platelet count is seen in patients with gram-negative sepsis.
• Low platelet count is also observed in patients with lupus erythematosus, a rare autoimmune disorder characterized by the production of antibodies that attack the patients’ platelets and other tissues and organs of their body.
• Decreased platelet count is observed in cancer patients who undergone chemotherapy and radiation.
• Certain drugs were found to lower platelet count such as acetaminophen, valium, digoxin, sulfa drugs, nitroglycerine, quinidine, and among others.
• Sequestration of platelets in the spleen decreases the number of platelets that circulates around the body.
• Platelet count decrease is observed in kidney diseases that cause thrombocytopenic urea and hemolytic uremic syndrome.
• Women could have low platelet count before their menstruation.

What Causes High Platelet Count?

• Increase in platelet count or thrombocytosis has been observed in people who don’t have any health problem. However, some people with platelet count increase could have disorders like myeloproliferative disorder, a bone marrow disease in which excess cells are produced.
• There is an increase in platelet count after undergoing splenectomy or spleen removal.
• Reactive thrombocytosis due to inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease could cause high platelet count.
• Estrogen and oral contraceptives could cause high platelet count.
• Living in high altitude can increase an individual’s blood platelets.
• Heavy exercise also causes blood platelets to soar up.
• People who have increased platelet count can still experience bleeding problem if their platelets do not stick together to create a blood clot that will plug a broken blood vessel.
• Unregulated blood clotting and increase in platelets could result to throboembolism, wherein a blood clot blocks the flow of blood in a blood vessel. Thromboembolism in blood vessels that supply blood to the brain and heart muscles can cause death.

Disclaimer

The information provided in this article should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed medical doctor should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.[ad#afterpost]

References

Platelet Count – Laboratory Test Online – American Association For Clinical Chemistry

Platelet Count – Medline Plus Medical Encyclopedia – National Institute of Health Website

MPV or Mean Platelet Volume blood test is a part of a regular Complete Blood Count (CBC), a panel of tests that examine different components of the blood. MPV blood test uses a machine to measure and calculate the average size (by volume) of the platelets. MPV is usually interpreted with platelet count, or the number of platelets in a given volume of blood. There is a normal range for the values of mean platelet volume as well as platelet count. Any increase or decrease to the numerical values may indicate underlying health conditions. So what is a normal mean platelet volume?

Normal Mean Platelet Volume

The normal range for MPV is 7.5 to 11.5 femtolitre (1 femtolitre is equal to 1 cubic micrometer). Anything below 7 or over 12 may indicate that there is something wrong with your platelets especially if your platelet count is also not within the normal range of 150,000 to 450,000 platelets per microliter (X10^6/L) of adult blood. New platelets produced by the bone marrow are usually larger than older ones.

A very low MPV and platelet count can be an early indication of leukemia, a bone marrow cancer that affects the production of red blood cells and blood platelets. Shortage of platelets can cause you a bleeding problem whenever you have damage to your epithelial tissues, structural proteins that line your blood vessels, organs, and skin.

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Blood platelets circulate around our body to fix damages to our blood vessels (arteries and veins). For example, if we have a cut in a portion of our skin, platelets work by creating a clot to the damaged epithelial tissue to prevent the further escape of blood. Without normal platelets around, we could bleed to death. Indeed, platelets are important component of our blood; therefore, knowing the status of their health is a necessity.

The best person who could interpret the result of your mean platelet volume (MPV) and the other results in your complete blood count (CBC) is your doctor. Doctors are trained to interpret laboratory test results. Don’t try to interpret the results yourself because blood work often has false positive and negatives based on different factors. So when you see your MPV is too low or too high, don’t overreact without asking your doctor first.

Disclaimer

The content of this article is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your doctor before taking any action suggested in this article.[ad#afterpost]

Reference

Complete Blood Count from Laboratory Tests Online by the American Association for Clinical Chemistry