When your 6 year old has a sed-rate of 20 fever and a headache what does this mean?

Answer 1

The normal sedimentation rate (Westergren method) for males is 0-15 millimeters per hour, and for females is 0-20 millimeters per hour. The sedimentation rate can be slightly more elevated in the elderly and is much lower for children. A raised ESR is an indicator of a problem it will not tell you what the problem is.

sedimentation Rate (Sed Rate) or ESR blood test measures how quickly red blood cells (erythrocytes) settle in a test tube. The more red cells that fall to the bottom of a special test tube in one hour, the higher the sed rate.

When inflammation is present in the body, certain proteins cause red blood cells to stick together and fall more quickly than normal to the bottom of the tube. These proteins are produced by the liver and the immune system under many abnormal conditions, such as an infection, an autoimmune disease, and cancer. There are many possible causes of an elevated sedimentation rate. For this reason, a sed rate blood test is done with other tests to confirm a diagnosis. Once a sed rate blood test is conducted, the course of the disease or the effectiveness of treatment can be monitored.

erythrocytes sedimentation rate (ESR) Westergren method