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Polycythemia Vera: Just been diagnosed

Blood Cancers & Disorders | Last Active: Aug 26 12:21pm | Replies (395)
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@rosereb

My hgb is around 16.8 and hct around 49 for the past 2 years. Jak2 is negative but haven't done bone marrow biopsy . It's quite surprising that the CBC results are all normal if I took 1 litre of water before the test. Please kindly suggest what I should do.

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Replies to "My hgb is around 16.8 and hct around 49 for the past 2 years. Jak2 is..."
Lori, Volunteer Mentor | @loribmt | Aug 26 5:49pm

Hi @rosereb. Hemoglobin and hematocrit are based on whole blood numbers and are dependent on plasma volume. So if you were dehydrated, both hgb and hct would generally read higher on blood work. If you consumed a litre of water before you test that may have been enough to lower their actual level.

From your comments it looks as though you’ve been tested for a JAK2 mutation to see if that could be a cause for your elevated hgb and hct levels. There are other conditions which can cause these elevated numbers such as sleep apnea, kidney issues, living in high altitude, dehydration, to name only a few.

Here is a good article from Mayo Clinic regarding elevated hemoglobin and hematocrit.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/high-hemoglobin-count/basics/causes/sym-20050862
Has your doctor checked for the possibility of sleep apnea?

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