Bleeding, blood loss due to injuries, trauma, after surgery, or as a consequence of chronic conditions. The reasons why the bleeding and blood loss causing the platelets to go up in the CBC blood test because when the body losing blood, it calls the hemostasis system to compensate the loss especially if you bleed too much, therefore, the body system elevates the count of platelets to compensate as a natural surviving action and not due to effect of the disease itself.
What could be happen in platelets if you injured? When someone got injuries due to any reason, there’re three possible routes: First: the injured person may have got one or plenty of wounds and/or bruises with simple short-time bleeding, in this case the bruises lead to high-normal level of platelets count (e.g. 380), or may appear elevated to a mild degree (e.g. 460), while the normal platelets count is (150-450), example for this is the scratches and small skin penetrations by needle or a shaving-blade.
Second: an injured person got wide wounds with too many bruises and long-time bleeding, in this case the blood loss and accompanied inflammation can cause platelets increase out of normal range (e.g. 485).
Third: someone who injured or has holes inside his gut for instance which may bleed too much for a longer period of time (weeks or months), in this case the open wound can cause uncontrolled blood loss, blood loss cause large consuming of blood cells and platelets which lead to low platelets count in the CBC test (e.g. 96,000)
Causes of high platelets count due to blood loss, injuries and bleeding
Below are some examples of blood loss situations that elevate platelets count in the blood count test
Road accidents High platelets in a person who is a victim of a sudden road accidents. The blood platelet test may show an increase in the number of platelets, and that is for two reasons, the first is that there have been deep wounds that led to a big bleeding of blood, the second is that the patient has been exposed to large internal and external bruises that cause strong inflammations, which led to activation of all factors of the body’s defense against inflammatory agents including activation of blood platelets.
Gunshot wounds Also the penetration caused by fire–weapons can lead to death and of course if the person still alive, the platelets may show mild elevated to due both severe inflammations and uncontrolled bleeding.
High platelets in abdominal pain and chronic internal bleeding (e.g. peptic ulcers) The commonest source of upper gastrointestinal bleeding is the peptic ulcer in which thrombocytosis can appear as a secondary effect to upper gastrointestinal bleeding, GIT bleeding can be identified by endoscopic findings. If Untreated Gastrointestinal bleeding “medical term is hemorrhage”, the body compensates the platelets by increasing production of platelets into the bloodstream up to extreme levels “e.g. more than 800,000”, but if the bleeding prolonged it will be hard to normalize the count of platelets and may out of control or platelets may deplete as a result of increasing blood loss and exhausted bone marrow, you shouldn’t worry if GIT bleeding treated well then the platelets count must go down to the normal levels, essential thrombocythemia is suspected if the platelets still elevated in a treated GIT patient. Abdominal hemorrhage can be detected if you got blood in stool examination test with or without abdominal pain.
Case study:
Vomiting blood “medical term is hematemesis”, in which the patient expel blood from the mouth
Blood show up in the stool examination, black, tar–like, sticky stools which come from damage to the GI tract lining, prolonged bleeding then breakage of swollen blood vessels
Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed multiple duodenal ulcers with active bleeding and neoplasms.
The patient platelets count back to normal after receiving the appropriate treatment, thus the doctor rule out MPNs and consider the high platelets count is subsided after upper GIT bleeding. Examples of bleeding that cause blood loss but may not elevate platelets level in the blood test:
Bruises or hematoma, typically is a collection of blood outside of blood vessels, platelets accumulate and may form mild or serious clots as natural response, for instance, bruises that may appear as pinkish patches under the skin after drawing a blood sample by unexperienced person, but the platelets count in the drawn sample may or may not get elevated.
Scrapes, abrasions, lacerations (cuts), or crushing injuries, if they don’t penetrate the skin too far the skin can seal the wounds without elevating the platelets above the normal levels.
Puncture wounds from items like needles, nails, or knives considered simple wounds that can’t cause high platelets in the blood test unless they cause severe non–local inflammation.
Bleeding from inflammation due to bacteria infection Yes, some bacterial infections are able to cause a wound and a wide spot of inflammation, which attracts a very large number of blood platelets and this may explain why we see a high platelet count in a blood count test in bacterial infections.
Bleeding after surgeries can elevate platelets count As previously explained in this post “platelets count after spleen removal“, after surgeries the lab scientists notice sudden increase in count of blood platelets but shortly can back to normal limits, although the person might bleed too much during the surgical operation.
Autoimmune blood loss can raise platelets count
By this, we mean, that there are some diseases in which red blood cells broken down a lot more than usual, in this publication “why platelets count increase in case of sickle cells anemia?” an example of immune hemolysis that leads to an increase in the number of blood platelets outside the normal limit which left the affected person prone to bleeding.
Bleeding from breast cancers and uterine cancers can affect platelets level
How to read and understand you lab test results? If you have one or more causes of bleeding and blood loss and have had a complete blood count test, you may find some of these results in your lab report:
If you were asking what is the meaning of “MPV”? it means “mean platelets volume and help doctors to know the average size of platelets in the blood circulation.
PDW value can help doctors know if the platelets in your blood is circulating in a good aggregations or not?
Uterine fibroids or what’s medically termed “Uterine myoma or leiomyomas” are kind of abnormal growth of muscles in the uterine lining but it’s benign not a cancer and yet has no known reason. Pain in pelvic area, back pain, and heavy irregular menstruation (Menorrhagia) are of early red flags. Fibroids developed in the womb have many consequences such as low hemoglobin level (Anemia), elevated platelets count (Reactive Thrombocytosis), and large blood clots during menstruation, that’s because the fibroids produce proteins that make the blood vessels bleed within the uterine (i.e. local venous drainage) while the body can’t keep the blood regularly flow, thus the localized blood clots formed.
Yes, fibroids usually cause high platelets count (thrombocytosis) and anemia (low hemoglobin) but it’s not necessarily for all cases with fibroids to complain from anemia and thrombocytosis, the platelets elevated due to reactive disease which is the fibroids not due to a primary disease of platelets, hence the elevated platelets level is medically named (reactive thrombocytosis due to fibroids).
Why do Womb Fibroids cause high platelets count?
Fibroid formation within the uterine leads to too much blood loss along with consumption of iron which lead to low hemoglobin level and reduction in the count of red blood cells (Anemia), therefore the bone marrow produces lesser number of normal RBCs and excessively produces platelets in absence of Iron that is needed for RBCs making, so that the early stages fibroids can result in abnormally high platelets count in CBC test. As well as the produced RBCs during this condition is defected thus, they can’t work well, however blood can’t produce enough anticoagulants to keep pace with flow which promote abnormal blood liquefaction and lead to formation of blood clots that act as resistance for blood flow and result in increasing the size of the womb (enlargement of the uterine cavity).
Are fibroids of uterine elevating or decreasing platelets?
In fewer cases they develop thrombocytopenia (low platelets) after prolonged uterine fibroids, the reason is obvious which is the excessive long-term consumption of platelets and other blood cells during the fibroid bleeding. i.e. in the first stages, fibroid may elevate platelets (thrombocytosis) but in the late stage the platelets are deplete leading to low platelets count in the CBC test (Thrombocytopenia).
That was how do fibroid affect platelets count?
Platelets high appear in my blood test results while my uterine has fibroids, is that bad or good? should I be worried? Like fever when the body becomes ill, the elevated platelets count is one of symptoms and signs that may follow the growth of fibroids, which considered as one of complications as well. so that you should worry about treatment of fibroids rather than be concerned about the level of platelets.
What is the level of elevated platelets after fibroids in uterine?
Untreated Fibroids in the uterine can complicate to the degree of developing extreme count of platelets (e.g. more than 999,000), therefore, according to many scientific studies, the highest level of elevated platelets indicate the severity of fibroids formation.
How long do platelets remain elevated after removing the fibroid?
After surgical operation that remove the fibroid from the womb cavity, the platelets elevated as one of postoperative complications (e.g. thrombocytosis post-splenectomy), the elevation peaks within a weak or two after the operation and may remain high up to 2 months, then must back to the normal limit or the doctor may suspect that there’s another underlying disease that keep the platelets high in the blood count.
What is the Effect of Uterine Cancer on Platelets Level?
Can uterine cancer cause high platelet count? Yes, cancer of the womb can elevate the platelets count above the normal limit in the blood count test (Thrombocytosis) because the tumor mass will lead to localized inflammation, and you may know that the inflammation starts with increasing platelets level then increasing white blood cells. Endometrial cancer is another medical name for uterine cancer.
What is elevated level of platelets during cancers in uterine, ovaries, and cervical cancers? Some studies report that even the platelets result near the maximum end of normal (400,000) can indicate early onset of cancer. while platelets level up to 650,000 may be a marker of metastasis (i.e. spreading the cancerous cells outside the starter site).
How to tell if your elevated platelets count is due to uterine cancer? If you have some or all of below symptoms, then you must get diagnosis if your uterine develop cancerous growth:
Pelvic pressure or pain in the abdominal area.
Frequent urination and difficulty emptying the bladder.
Constipation.
Backache or pain in legs.
Menstrual periods lasting more than a week with Heavy menstrual bleeding. That was the best answer for what are the symptoms of a tumor in your uterus?
How does uterine cancer cause thrombocytosis? Platelets elevated during the growth of uterine cancer due to:
Estrogen and/or Progesterone receptors on the surfaces of most endometrial cancer cells is a reputable marker that predict womb cancers.
Obesity is a risk factor of womb cancer but do not necessarily cause cancers.
Hormone imbalance can lead to uterine cancers if remain long-time without proper treatment, however, blood tests for female’s hormones may appear normal in the lab results even though the woman have hormonal imbalance.
untreated chronic infections.
When should I worry about increasing platelets if I’ve uterine fibroids or uterine cancer?
Some of health risks may include:
If the platelets level exceeds the critical limits (999,000) which need urgent surgical intervention.
If the womb become larger and the bleeding become heavier.
If the platelets count still elevated more than 2 months after the date of operation and no response to healing process.
A pap smear can’t detect uterine cancer.
The best test to diagnose endometrial cancer is CBC test which can detect anemia (low hemoglobin) and thrombocytosis (high platelets) which both with other symptoms can help diagnosis of uterine cancer.
Sed rate test may be elevated to indicate the condition is going chronic.
Elevated platelets count is common in lab results of patients with advanced stage cancers and if their lab results show the flag “platelets high”, it’s probably a marker of progression of the cancer especially if the platelets level increasing too much with the time, but take care, some cancers suppress platelets and some other cancers increase them, also, some diseases elevate platelets count without cancer, please read carefully to understand which cancer can affect platelets count and which cancers can’t affect platelets?
Please note that there’re two main categories of thrombocytosis (elevated blood platelets): reactive thrombocytosis, which occurs as a side effect of reactive disease such as infections, anemia, and some cancers), and essential thrombocytosis or thrombocythemia (ET) which is a rare blood platelets cancer, the common reason is genetic mutations (belongs to a disease category called myeloproliferative neoplasms or myeloproliferative disorders), if ET prolonged, it can develop a cancer called acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
What type of cancer causes high platelet count? If you were asking which cancers cause raised platelets?
The typical answer is that a cancer developed in the organ’s tissues can raise the count of blood platelets (thrombocytosis), e.g. lung, endometrial, gastric, esophageal, or colorectal cancers in which the platelets blood test shows elevated level of platelets or the result is just near the upper normal limit, i.e. the platelet count may appear just above the normal limit while the body contain a type of tissue cancers. On the other hand, the blood cancers, e.g. the leukemia that doesn’t cause elevation in blood platelets but they cause a decline in the platelets count (Thrombocytopenia) in the blood test, that’s because these types of cancers exaggerate the production of white blood cells at the expense of other types of blood cells.
You should know that: Even cancer that occurs in organ’s mass may cause a slight increase in the number of platelets, but with the increased demand for platelet production as cancer progresses in the stages of development, the bone marrow may have any disruption or depletion of resources, which ultimately leads to a severe decrease in the number of Platelets, Red blood cells, and white blood cells as well.
How do cancers cause high platelets count?
There are two major paths of cancers in men and women, one is the cancer in the blood-cell-forming-tissue inside the bones marrow (e.g. spongy tissue), the second occur in the other tissues (e.g. connective tissue, epithelial tissue, and muscle tissue), each type has its own effect on other blood components, examples of tissue cancers are the womb, ovarian, breast, testis, and lung cancers; examples of blood cell cancers are leukemias and lymphoma.
The way that cancers of tissues affect blood platelets begins after the cancer’s first stages when trying to activate the near platelets to make shield around the cancerous area, the suggested reason is to isolate cancerous mass from body defense mechanisms, consequently, the activated platelets recall other blood cells which results in in unwanted inflammation (the cancer-associated inflammation) around the tumor site which has two main functions: firstly act as camouflage, disguise, or shield to protect tumor cells, accordingly the bone marrow become busy to make unneeded platelets and white cells because the cancer cells cheating or manipulating the biological systems of human body, secondly: the platelets release some biological molecules upon their activation which falsely benefit the tumor cells in their metastasis (distribution), accordingly the platelets falsely promote carcinogenesis (processes of copying more cancer cells). That’s why the full blood count during some cancers shows elevated white blood cells (leukocytosis), elevated platelets (thrombocytosis), Low red blood cells and low hemoglobin (Anemia).
PCT and PDW represent the estimation of platelets volume and variation in size respectively, in cancers of specific tissues (e.g. lung, rectal, breast) the platelets produced in a hurry which means their sizes will be bigger with the time of cancer progression which impacts on PCT, PCV, and PDW% indices and lead to elevation of their values in CBC test result.
In case of blood tumors “e.g. leukemia, lymphoma”, the spongy tissue inside marrow of bones produces and releases large numbers of abnormal cells or proliferate the normal cells in huge quantities, thus the bone marrow be unable to create other healthy cells, consequently, platelets and red cells decrease as a result of crowding the bone marrow with the production of carcinogenic white blood cells. Thus the full blood count shows low platelets (Thrombocytopenia) instead of (elevation of platelets) that shown in other tissue tumors.
For example: blood cancer of the type “Chronic lymphocytic leukemia” result by copying too much “normal lymphocytes”, one type of white blood cells, therefore the production of other cells “e.g. platelets and red cells” is blocked, thus the CBC test results show:
Elevated white blood cells to greater than 50.000 which indicate leukocytosis leukemia
Elevated lymphocyte count over 40.000, almost all of them are of the normal type not the carcinogenic.
Low Platelets count to 10,000 in some patients which indicate severe thrombocytopenia.
The High PCV, elevated PDW, the blood smear examination may reveal blast cells which is elder cells that made (and must stay) inside the bone marrow, which all of that indicate malignancy advancement.
RBCs count less than 2,000,000 and hemoglobin less than 6.0 which indicate severe anemia.
Therefore, in CLL leukemia, a type of blood cancers, the platelets blocked from being produced due to crowd of massive production of huge amount of lymphocytes, therefore the platelets count in leukemia blood cancers decrease not increase.
Comparison, normal cells count shows normal wbc, plr, rbc vs leukemic count shows too much wbc which suppress platelets count
For example 2: Essential Thrombocytosis is considered a platelets cancer of the type myeloproliferative neoplasms, other hematology books consider ET as relative benign blood tumor, in essential Thrombocytosis the platelets level exceeds 1,000,000 without reactive disease, thus why it’s called essential or primary thrombocytosis.
Example 3: Polycythemia Vera (PV) is considered a rare Red Blood Cells cancer because it causes the bone marrow to produce too many RBCs and affect platelets as a side effect, therefore, in PV the platelets count is elevated to 600,000 or even to 999,000 in some cases.
For example 3: lung cancer, starts when invades the lung cells then spreads (metastasis) to the whole respiratory system and nearby lymph nodes and even to the other parts of the body. But in lung cancer, are the blood test results show high or low platelets? initially, the lung cancer recalls too many platelets to make shield to the tumor cells which will increase platelets count (Secondary Thrombocytosis) to 450,000 or may slightly higher, but if the the cancer metastasizes (spreads) to the bone marrow, the platelets production will be negatively affected and therefore, the CBC test results show low platelets count (Thrombocytopenia).
For example 4: colorectal cancer that starts in the colon or in the rectum also leads to false inflammation effect which causes outside the range platelets count but within a limited level because another event may happen, the bleeding or hemorrhage usually occur during colorectal cancers and lead to blood loss including platelets loss which results in decrease in the platelets as well, therefore, the platelets count in the colorectal cancer may ranges from high-normal (400,000-450,000) up to slightly high level (500,000-550,000) for adult patients. Also MPV during colon and rectal cancer can be normal, and PDW% may be slightly elevated.
For example 5: Uterine cancer and fibroids can affect platelets as well, but this is upcoming post, please follow…
Do platelets count go up or down with cancer? It does mean that not all types of cancers can elevate platelets count in the blood, if the tumor is in a specific organ’s tissue then it abuses platelets and other cells to serve it which elevate white blood cell count and platelets as well and show high platelets count in the CBC test results, but if the white blood cells is cancerous, the resultant cancer (leukemia) will lower the blood platelets count in the blood counting test. Red blood cells and Hemoglobin usually decreased in all cancers (indicate severe anemia).
What happens if platelets are high in cancer patients? Cancers that occur in the tissues of organs usually cause elevated blood platelets count because the tumor tissue draw the platelet particles and blood cells into the formed cancerous mass which lead to producing too much platelets and other cells, thus WBC and PLTs are elevated while the RBCs is reduced.
If you were asking about what are the signs of high platelets during cancer? This is when to tell if the platelets high count is due to cancer; Elevated platelets level (Thrombocytosis) during cancer is not the primary event but the cancer itself is, thus the body may or may not show symptoms of thrombocytosis which may include: Skin signs: Superficial Thrombophlebitis, an inflammation of the skin along a vein including apparent redness, darkening, hardening, warmth, tenderness and worsen pain when added pressure. Skin bruising which can be seen by naked eyes.
The signs and symptoms of an elevated platelet count that are linked to blood clots and bleeding may include:
Weakness and Dizziness
Bleeding, Melena: Bleeding in the stomach or intestinal tract that appear on the fecal occult blood test. Bleeding from nose, mouth or gums which can be indicated in CBC test and PT test.
Headache
Chest Pain
Tingling in the hands and feet.
How do platelets increase in cancer patients?
Early stages of tumors in organs can followed by mild elevated platelets count, but as the cancer progress it may additionally elevate platelets count, therefore the very high platelets count is indicator of metastasis (spreading the tumor cells to the other parts), but at the end stages it may cause platelets test results to drop especially if the patient received chemotherapy, the treatment of cancer with strong chemicals that kill tumor cells and stop them from producing.
Thus, the chemotherapy kills platelets as well as the cancers cells and lead to low platelets count in the blood test (Thrombocytopenia), therefore, the doctors may stop the treatment doses to let the bone marrow produce enough platelets before they give the patients another dose (letting the PLT be high in CBC test firstly), or may continue the treatment but give them urgent a platelet transfusion to raise the count of platelets. Based on that, chemotherapy (the cancer treatment) doesn’t elevate the platelets count but is commonly cause very low platelets levels in CBC test along with the apparent symptoms of thrombocytopenia.
What is the platelet count of cancer patients? Usually, Cancers of organs (e.g. colorectal, lung, ovarian, or uterine) in many cases show their platelets count at the borderline or near the highest normal limit (300,000-400,000), but that in the mild to moderate stages, consequently, these cancers can cause mild elevated platelets count (400,000-450,000), or highly elevated count of platelets if the cancer advanced to the metastasis phase. Blood cancers usually lower the platelets count below (15,000 – 50,000) which is the minimum platelet count for chemotherapy too.
Some information about cancers you may want to know
Doctors classify cancer using the site where the cancer began or the type of tissue in which the cancer arose The major types of cancer are carcinoma, sarcoma, melanoma, lymphoma, and leukemia.
Carcinoma, solid tumors that start in the skin or covering tissues of the internal organs, e.g. prostate cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, and colorectal cancer.
Sarcoma, a cancer that begins in bones and soft tissues such as muscles and fats, e.g. Osteosarcoma. LDH and ALP blood tests can help rule out such cancers.
Melanoma, a type of cancers that begins at the areas of the body with pigmented tissues (have the melanocytes that give the skin its brown color) such as Skin and Eyes.
Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system (lymph glands, spleen, thymus gland and bone marrow. CBC test can detect abnormally elevated lymphocytes count.
Leukemia is a medical term for cancers of blood-producing tissues (e.g. bone marrow and lymphatic system)
Blastoma: caused by malignancies in precursor cells or thought is a tumor may be arising in embryonic tissue. Worldwide deadly cancers that killed the most people in past years are lung cancer, colorectal cancer, and liver
Thus, we can conclude that not all cancers can cause elevated platelets level, and the increasing level of platelets isn’t the only indicator of cancer because their are other non-cancerous reasons that elevate platelets count such as infections and Iron deficiency anemia.
It’s possible that your case isn’t discussed here, so that we urge you to messaging us for your results interpretation.
It’s medically known that the commonest reason for elevated platelets count (Thrombocytosis) in FBC test results is the bacterial infection somewhere in the body and yes, if the bacteria infect any site of the body it can elevate blood platelets level at some point of the course of the disease, I said that because there’s a lot of information to know and the question needs more explanation, please read without hesitation
Although, it’s the most known cause of platelets high count in adults and children, the bacterial infection is not a primary reason for thrombocytosis (a medical term for platelets count that’s above the normal limit) but it’s one of secondary conditions to elevate platelets count in the CBC test, so that lab scientists call that a “reactive thrombocytosis” which means the elevated platelets level that’s due to reactive disease (e.g. Bacterial infections). while “thrombocythemia” is the medical name for primary reasons of thrombocytosis (high platelets count).
Can bacterial infection cause high platelet count?
Yes, any bacterial infection in the urine or blood that left without proper treatment can go up to the kidneys and make damage to the kidney filtration parts, and may complicate to the sepsis which can shut down the whole body processes, thus the platelets increase in the blood as a part of fighting system against the infection.
If the bacteria infect the body they begin inflammatory process that elevates serum Interleukins levels (especially IL-6) and activates the circulating platelets and other inflammatory proteins, so that yes, any bacterial infection can elevate platelets. that was why and how the bacterial infections cause high count of platelets in blood test.
Can bacterial infection cause increase or decrease in count of platelets? Most of bacterial infections causing elevated blood platelets until the infection reach the highest severity, severe bacterial infections can lead to toxemia of the blood (bacteremia) which can destroy platelets, thus Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura will occur.
What is the meaning of bacterial infection?
If you still confused, Bacterial infection means that there’re a type of bacteria that is strange than your body cells enter your body and begin to corrupt everywhere, not only the commonest bacterial infection to the urine, but bacteria strains can also infect any part of the body causing complicated situations and may lead to fatal septic shock if left untreated, e.g. infection to the lungs (pneumonia), infection of the brain and spinal cord by bacteria or virus (meningitis), and infection by botulinum and salmonella toxins (food poisoning). Simply Thrombocytosis (too much platelet count, i.e. greater than 450,000/µL) is a known complication of the acute bacterial infections.
Well, you may wonder which bacteria can cause elevated platelets in my blood test?
Examples of infections caused by bacteria and may elevate platelets:
Strep throat, coliform bacteria (cause of UTI), Salmonella, or Shigella (cause food poisoning), Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (causing bacterial cellulitis), and sexually transmitted diseases that caused by gonorrhea, Syphilis, bacterial vaginosis, and chlamydia. Examples of Deadly Bacterial Infections: Pseudomonas Infection, Tuberculosis (TB), Tetanus and Botulism, Anthrax, Leptospirosis, Pneumonia, and Cholera.
Below are some examples of bacterial infections that elevate platelets count:
Can Urinary Tract Infection cause High Platelets Count?
What does it mean by too much platelets count in UTI?
High platelets count in the blood test results in a patient suffers from late stage of UTI can be an important sign of kidney obstruction or abscess to ureters especially if the voided urine volume is reduced and the ultrasound results agreed. The reasons may because the infection to the kidneys become near or inside the bloodstream which require a move from the blood immunity factors, platelets are one of important factors of immunity against invasions along with neutrophils and C-Reactive protein. That was the answer for why the platelets elevate in the UTI patients.
Can UTI decrease or increase platelet count?
Studies reported that the infection in urine can reduce the number of platelets in the blood are incomplete and unreliable, especially if there are other more accurate studies based on laboratory measurements reported that the long-term infection in urine may cause high levels of blood platelets greater than the normal range.
UTI due to virus or fungi may show blood in urine (i.e. RBCs in urine examination), anemia in FBC test and normal or slightly elevated platelets count.
Bacterial vaginosis is a type of vaginal inflammation caused by the overgrowth of bacteria that called commensals of natural flora (because they are naturally live in the vagina to save the natural balance. Bacterial vaginosis (BV) can cause platelets high count in CBC test results.
What is the Platelets level during the UTI?
At early stage UTI, you may not see any change in platelets count in the CBC test but Platelets level in severe UTI may vary between 450,000 to 550,000, which considered mild to moderate thrombocytosis, however, platelets count can be extremely elevated (greater than 850,000) if UTI left untreated for a very long time or the UTI develop a kidney infection (pyelonephritis) because something called ” organism-specific platelet responses” occurred which means that platelets respond to the immunity fighting against microbes.
The platelets count measured is compared to a normal range that is different for gender and age, choose your normal platelets rangebefore interpretation of final results.
Also, if you have another disease such as IDA or pregnancy or SCD can add too much platelets to the test results and may appear very high level in the platelets blood test.
Many pregnant woman have both iron deficiency anemia (low iron) and urinary tract infection during the months of pregnancy which contribute in elevation of platelets results in the FBC test (e.g. 820,000), so yes, it’s possible for one to have many reasons that affect platelets count and lead to thrombocytosis. Understand why IDA causes elevated Platelets count.
Immunocompromised person (e.g. patient with AIDS) can be infected in blood and urine as well, however this person may got multiple infections, in such cases the platelets may appear extremely high in platelets blood test (up to 990,000)
Secondary bacterial infection following the respiratory viral infection can elevate platelets level (e.g. 570,000) although the respiratory viruses usually suppress the blood platelets. Understand why can viral infection elevate platelets count.
It’s scientifically found that the elevated platelet count (thrombocytosis) during the upper UTI due to the gram-positive infections was significantly higher than with UTI of the gram-negative infections, perhaps the gram positive infected the urinary tract less often in compared with gram negative bacteria.
Can kidney infection cause low or high platelets level?
Scientifically speaking, the definition of Kidney infection is a disease when the chronic untreated urinary tract infection (UTI) travels from your urethra or bladder to one or both of your kidneys. The medical term for a kidney infection is pyelonephritis. Generally, the kidney inflammation occurs after severe urinary infection or due to some infections in the blood such as the strep throat.
Common side effects of pyelonephritis may include pain in stomach, not feeling hungry and loss of taste, diarrhea in addition to nausea and a rash in skin due to elevated blood nitrogen urea. Lab test results may show protein in the urine (proteinuria), low or high white blood cells count (leucopenia or leukocytosis), and low platelets if the bleeding from renal tissue become severe.
Therefore, the UTI may elevate the blood platelets at the first stage until the pathogen infects the kidneys and cause severe inflammation and bleeding which in turn leading to loss of blood cells including the platelets and red blood cells.
When to Worry About High Platelets (thrombocytosis) in Urinary Tract Infection and kidney infection?
If you randomly done urine test and CBC test, then found excess of pus cells and increased WBC and Platelets count in the blood, you must do kidney function tests because the increase in platelets after UTI can be an indicator of early kidney inflammation, because the microbes that can infect the parts of lower urinary tract (bladder and urethra) can climb the upper urinary tract (to the ureters and kidneys).
Simple UTI can be easily eliminated with nitrofurantoin and other antibiotics, therefore can’t infect kidneys. If you have chronic UTI that can’t be eliminated for too long period of time, you must do the CBC test, creatinine and BUN tests to ensure there’s no complications to the kidneys, Creatinine is the best marker for kidney inflammation.
What do my platelets high test results mean if I’ve bacterial infection?
Generally, the first stages of sepsis include increasing every component of the body resources in order to encounter the extreme inflammation and win against bacteria and their toxins but if the sepsis become intolerant, the body resources consumed until deplete which represented as very low levels of most body functions.
simple chart explain How can bacterial infection cause high platelets count
Below are some examples of blood test results that evolve during and after the sepsis, On the lab scale, blood test results may reveal that:
Platelets count, thrombocytosis (high platelets in the blood test) follows the sepsis episode, the increased activation of platelets is a result of very high degree of inflammation that the body can’t tolerate at the end and lead to fast and fatal drop in all aspects of human live including platelets (thrombocytopenia, i.e. low platelets in the blood).
MPV (Mean Platelets Volume) increases during prolonged UTI which means the released platelets are increased in their size, it’s can be considered marker of severe UTI episode.
Jaundice due to high bilirubin level in the blood, the elevated type of bilirubin is the unconjugated bilirubin(indirect), but the direct bilirubin and indirect both can be elevated because the sepsis complicated to the degree of failure in many organs.
Severe Hemolytic anemia, a critically low hemoglobin level due to rupture of red blood cells which cause a sharp shortage of RBCs that transport nutrients and oxygen to the whole body parts. How many types of Anemia?
Kidney function, the creatinine and BUN tests will be very high as sepsis worsen, both are body waste products that the kidneys eject in the urination, but if the sepsis infect the kidney, of course they will be inflamed and impaired, therefore the body waste chemicals will circulate into the blood again instead of expel into the urine, thus the body poisoned again by harmful waste chemical in addition to the bacterial poisons from the sepsis. creatinine 2.5, BUN 50, eGFR 40 are examples lab results with kidney inflammation.
Heart function, the Ck, CK-MB, Troponin, pro-BNP test results will be elevated as a result of inflammation to the heart muscle, the greater the results, the dangerous heart failure and death can occur.
Brain damage, if the sepsis penetrates the blood-brain barrier, the brain damage will occur at a quick pace, which may completely disrupt the brain. Neurofilament light chain test (NfL) can identify the degeneration of brain cells if the clinical symptoms are not definitive. Another blood test looking for brain damage is brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) test.
Damage to Liver and Biliary ducts can be assessed by LFT test which measure the levels of Bilirubin, Liver enzymes AST and ALT, Alp and GGT enzymes for assessing the biliary damage, low albumin and globulin which assess the damage of liver cell that synthesis proteins, and low prothrombin concentration test which alarm of impaired coagulation function.
Pus cells in urine and High platelets in blood test, what does this mean?
This means urinary tract infection (UTI), but not all UTI patients develop increasing number of platelets or WBCs in the blood count test, but in urine most of UTI patients have pus in their urine along with high count of platelets in their blood test with or without high white blood cells, the reason is that the urine infections seldom elevate WBC or platelets and the immune system can eliminate the infectious microbe perfectly, except in some cases in which the microbe can bypass the immune system, and thus the number of platelets and white blood cells in blood escalate to wage an immune war against it. That’s why platelets and/or WBC will appear elevated in the CBC test.
High platelet count in the presence of UTI and other diseases caused by bacteria infection doesn’t necessarily mean cancer or serious illness and doesn’t indicate leukemia by itself, generally the medical decision must based on many results of lab and imaging along with clinical signs and symptoms to avoid expectations.
In the lab report:
Basically, most labs print platelets like that “PLT” as abbreviation, next to it print the If you found “AGG” flag, the result is not acceptable and must repeated, if you found red flag with abbreviation like “A”, “H”, “*”, “Outside the range”, you should pay attention because the laboratories used to print such marks to highlight abnormal results, you may take a look about the meaning of H letter next to platelets number, Understand Lab report flags and signs
Can sepsis cause high platelets?
Are platelets high in sepsis?
Sepsis is a late stage of infections of the blood that develops poisoning of the body tissues and blood cells including the platelets, the role of platelets is to recall the defenders to come in contact with microorganisms that began the corruption of the body organs, so that at the beginning the platelets count appear high in the blood test, but if the infection agent secretes uncontrollable amount of toxins, the toxins will kill the body tissues faster than the platelets and other immunity factors can resolve it, thus the toxins kill platelets and other blood components lead to decreased platelets count in the CBC test.
What is sepsis and can affect platelets count or not?
Sepsis in the medical terms means the decay, corruption, or dissolution of blood cells that caused by poisoning by prolonged bacterial infection, e.g. strep. infection in children. if a person is septic it means the person is infected. The three stages of sepsis are: sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock.
In microbiology, the science of microbes, the sepsis process denoting the body’s extreme response to infection that reaches dangerous degree by injecting high amounts of toxins that poisoning the blood and lead to decay of blood cells, therefore, the body generally suffers from low temperature, nutrient deficiency, very low oxygen level, and become severely anemic (hemoglobin can be less than 2 g/dL, normal is 11-16).
On the level of organ functions, the skin becomes purple and it has severe itch due to sub-skin patches that come from elevated jaundice level, high blood nitrogens, and shortage of blood platelets.
Lungs is first organ that fail due to sepsis because it usually develop the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), The lips and tongue are blue as a result of oxygen deficiency.
Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (systemic failure) including gut, lungs, and heart failure by sepsis shock.
What is in the urine test results of a person with sepsis?
Urine, visually the urine color may turn dark yellow or greenish due to high degree of sepsis, the urine examination may reveal findings of inflammation (e.g. bleeding by naked eye, proteinuria, hematuria which indicate hemolysis of RBCs too, over count of puss cells which indicate severe leukocytosis in the blood, RBCs casts which indicate renal failure, plenty of epithelial cells which indicate degeneration of lining of the urinary tract.
Is sepsis a painful death or can reversed?
More than two third of people who infected can die by developing sepsis, especially with increasing misuse of antibiotics that make the bacteria more virulent and powerful to the degree the body can’t deal with. However mild stage sepsis can resolve with treatment and the platelets count goes down to the normal again.
How does a person get high platelets with sepsis? How do u get high platelets in sepsis? Why do platelets increase with Sepsis?
The answer for all these question is the same, the starting step is the infection that induce the body defensive mechanisms to deal with the microorganism and its toxins, body defense processes are medically called “the inflammation or inflammatory response”.
The inflammation starts when exploring chemicals and platelets sense a stranger microorganism or agent circulating the bloodstream even it’s not seems harmful, then explorers activate coagulation cascades that setup a strict area to stop the foreigner agent from further moving, abundance of blood cells come to engulf and digest the microorganism, other cells collect information about it to ensure better detection next invasion, thus the platelets count increase due to action of sensitivity to invasion to the microbes.
In sepsis, the microbe become more powerful (virulent) and releases a huge amount of bacterial toxins that may disrupt the vital functions of the body and obstacle their performance, and thus a disturbance occurs in the process of containing the microbe (inflammation).
Consequently, the microbe may get out of control and the lysis of blood components occurs in what is medically known as (bacteremia or septicemia, the bacterial blood poisoning), the patient suffers from severe breathlessness or sleepiness as it feels like he’s going to die or pass out. Thus, blood tests show a severe decrease in the number of blood platelets, in addition to a significant decrease in the rest of the blood cells and their components.
Therefore, the Platelets Are Critical Key Players in Sepsis because they stack and adhere together to contain the inflammation area and forming blood clots that trap the microbial products. i.e. the body is still fighting and surviving the sepsis complication as the platelets still high in count but if the platelets count dropped it’s possible the septic shock in the way which lead to death.
That was a try to give you a professional medical explanation in simple words that the ordinary person not a medical staff can understand before goes to a doctor, although one can’t tell every thing about one thing in just one post, so that feel free to messaging us or hit the “Post New” button after making you a new account.
