Announcing the new Complete Blood Count (CBC) Tracker

[Med Help]

Hi,

We're pleased to announce the Complete Blood Count (CBC) Tracker, the thirteenth in a series of Personal Health Applications (PHAs) geared towards helping our members keep track of health metrics, symptoms, treatments, test results and events.

With this tracker, you can track the results of various lab tests, including White Blood Cell (WBC) Count, Red Blood Cell (RBC) Count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, iron levels, total iron-binding capacity (TIBC), and transferrin saturation. This tracker can be used on its own or in conjunction with the other trackers, such as Hepatitis C, HIV, Thyroid, and Kidney Disease.

You can access the CBC Tracker here: http://www.medhelp.org/user_trackers/gallery/cbc .

We plan on adding more functionality to the CBC Tracker over the next few weeks and would love to get your suggestions and feedback. If you want to track a specific lab, symptom or event, let us know. Please post your comments in the MedHelp Suggestions community, accessible via My Shortcuts.

MedHelp

[alagirl]

oh thank you, i was SO going to ask for this and just hadn't gotten around to emailing you guys!

[Med Help]

I think your labs would translate as the following:

WBC: 1.9 * 1000 = 1900
RBC: 3.32 (No need to translate this since it's already in millions)
Platelet: .86 * 1000 = 860

[Marcia2202]

I think the easiest way is to just time the amount by 1000. 1.9 X 1000= 1900.

It's not about just adding a zero. It's about timing it by 1000. If you have a .86 it would become 860. So just grab a calculator and x 1000. It's easier to have it do it for you, than having to do it through brain fog heads. :-)

Marcia

[DennisTM]

Looking back,,,,, thats exactly what you said.... but I still had to make myself undersand it..and I was stilll a little foggy on the rbc,,,, Thanks Marcia....

[DennisTM]

So,,, what you and Marcia are saying is to drop the (point ...) on all three add a zero and thats my readings......... wbc 1.9=1900 rbc 3.32=3320 platelets 102=1020    , Putting it in something I can understand.... lol!!! I never was good at math!!!! And am even worse now that I am old and kinda brain foggy.......... :) I did not even understand the link that was given....... If I could convert it on excel I could probably do that......... Thanks for the help...

[Marcia2202]

Just wanted to let you know that for the countries who are NOT using the Conventional Units System anymore, as they still do in the US and a few other other countries...

So, people in Europe, you will have to convert your values from SI Units (the new Système International) to the Conventional Units first and then time it by 1000.

Here is the link for the conversion table for clinical data.

http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/scales/clinical_data.html


Marcia

[Marcia2202]

Good to know that my calculations were correct. :-)

[Med Help]

Thanks for sharing your lab units with us. This was very helpful.

Let's look at your two lab results first (before we compare to the tracker).

For WBC:
1st lab: 10^3/ul
2nd lab: thousand/mm3

These two are really the same thing. 10^3 is scientific notation for thousand and mm3 is the same thing as ul. So these labs are exactly the same.

For RBC:
1st lab: 10^6/ul
2nd lab: million /mm3

These two are also the same thing. 10^6 is scientific notation for million and mm3 is the same thing as ul.

For platelets:
1st lab: 10^3/ul
2nd lab: thousand/mm3

This is just like WBC, so it's also the same.

Luckily, the numbers between your two labs are measured in exactly the same units, so you can easily compare them.

Now to compare these numbers against the CBC Tracker.

Your labs are measured in the following units:

wbc: thousand/mm3
rbc: million mm3
platelets: thousand/mm3

The tracker values are measured in the following units:

wbc: per mcl
rbc: million/mcl
platelets: per mm3

After some research, it looks like mm3 is the exact same thing as mcl. So to quickly convert from your lab values to the tracker, just multiply by a thousand in the case of wbc and platelets.

Hopefully this all makes sense. If not, just let us know. Thanks!

[DennisTM]

I just looked at a different lab and
wbc thousand/mm3
rbc million mm3
platelets thousand/mm3

[DennisTM]

my wbc is measured in 10^3/ul
rbc is 10^6/ul
platelets are 10^3/ul

[Med Help]

If you would like us to help you figure out your labs, we'd be happy to create a conversion chart or work with you to convert the numbers. Unfortunately, it's really difficult to do so if we don't know what units your lab uses. Feel free to add the units here for each of the labs that have an issue and we'll see what we can do. Thanks!

[Med Help]

It looks like all your labs except for WBC seem to fall in line with almost normal ranges. On your lab report, does it say what units they measured WBC count in? Typically WBC is measured in cells/mcL, and that is the unit supported by the trackers. If your lab is doing something different, please let us know.

Here is more information on standard CBC tests: http://www.medhelp.org/Medical-Dictionary/Terms/1/003642.htm

[Med Help]

You can access the CBC Tracker by clicking on the "Trackers" link at the top of the community, from My MedHelp or directly from: http://www.medhelp.org/trackers/list/90 .

[daniel2u]

how do I get to CBC trackers?
Daniel

[Marcia2202]

I think that 2.9 corresponds to 2.9 x 10 to the value of 3/ mcL

which would be 2.9 x 1000 = 2900.

Does that make any sense???

The same with the platelets  .86 x 1000 = 860

[orleans]

mine too. thanks, jerry

[gauf]

Ditto on WBC. My labs report. like Dennis above.. i.e. WBC 2.9, PLTS .86 etc...

[kitkat14]

My units aren't the same either. A conversion chart would be appreciated.

Also, would it be possible to highlight in a different colour the typical reference range so that we could see when we were below (or above) a typical safe range?
k

[DennisTM]

wbc 1.8 rbc 3.12 hgb 10.6 hct 31.3

[DennisTM]

These are not the units my cbc'c come in????????????

[merryBe]

cool!!


thank you super people!!

MB