So this is a topic I’ve discussed in other forums so let’s start a thread here as well because blood work is very important and it’s important to understand your blood work.
There are many things to check while on trt or on cycle (liver values, cholesterol, testosterone free and total, estro and so on) but people and doctors alike freak out when they see high hct levels.
So what is your hematocrit? To put is simply it’s the measurement of your red blood cells, not your white and platelets, just your red. When doctors see it get too high they will tell you our blood is “thick” and you are at an increased risk of stroke or heart attack. I’ve been told this and read this over and over again and it’s been embedded into our minds.
I’ve been researching this for some time now and what some experts (doctors) are saying is that it’s total nonsense to donate blood because you have higher hct levels (within reason of course). You see this all started with something called polycythemia vera which is a syndrome that causes white and red blood cells along with platelets to increase and causes thick blood and increases risk of stroke and heart attack. Therefore they given a phlebotomy to lower their numbers.
Over the years doctors have misconstrued that testosterone causes polycythemia vera, (which it doesn’t) and they have you donate blood.
This theory is proven because people who live in higher altitudes have higher hct levels and they don’t donate blood to lower there counts. They don’t have heart attacks or strokes. So ”normal” levels for hct are to be below 52 ish. Some of the levels I’ve seen in population study’s have shown that people in higher elevations have hct levels up to 61 on average. My doctors have freaked out over levels of 53. I have donated blood in the past because I too was brainwashed to donate or I’ll die pretty much.
Now I’m not saying to let your levels get to 61 but I’m saying don’t freak out if they are 53. It’s totally up to you to donate and donating itself is a great thing to do for others. Some people feel great after donating, I feel like absolute shit after. If you are going to donate opt for the power red. They just take your red blood cells and put your white and platelets back in you with some saline.
Check out how this Dr explains it.
And here is a link to the study showing the hct levels in higher elevations. The study took place in Bolivia and shows the average levels to be between 47 and 61.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
There are many things to check while on trt or on cycle (liver values, cholesterol, testosterone free and total, estro and so on) but people and doctors alike freak out when they see high hct levels.
So what is your hematocrit? To put is simply it’s the measurement of your red blood cells, not your white and platelets, just your red. When doctors see it get too high they will tell you our blood is “thick” and you are at an increased risk of stroke or heart attack. I’ve been told this and read this over and over again and it’s been embedded into our minds.
I’ve been researching this for some time now and what some experts (doctors) are saying is that it’s total nonsense to donate blood because you have higher hct levels (within reason of course). You see this all started with something called polycythemia vera which is a syndrome that causes white and red blood cells along with platelets to increase and causes thick blood and increases risk of stroke and heart attack. Therefore they given a phlebotomy to lower their numbers.
Over the years doctors have misconstrued that testosterone causes polycythemia vera, (which it doesn’t) and they have you donate blood.
This theory is proven because people who live in higher altitudes have higher hct levels and they don’t donate blood to lower there counts. They don’t have heart attacks or strokes. So ”normal” levels for hct are to be below 52 ish. Some of the levels I’ve seen in population study’s have shown that people in higher elevations have hct levels up to 61 on average. My doctors have freaked out over levels of 53. I have donated blood in the past because I too was brainwashed to donate or I’ll die pretty much.
Now I’m not saying to let your levels get to 61 but I’m saying don’t freak out if they are 53. It’s totally up to you to donate and donating itself is a great thing to do for others. Some people feel great after donating, I feel like absolute shit after. If you are going to donate opt for the power red. They just take your red blood cells and put your white and platelets back in you with some saline.
Check out how this Dr explains it.
And here is a link to the study showing the hct levels in higher elevations. The study took place in Bolivia and shows the average levels to be between 47 and 61.
Normal hematological values for healthy persons living at 4000 meters in Bolivia - PubMed
Defining the range of normal hematocrit and hemoglobin levels in residents of high altitude is required to diagnose chronic mountain sickness (CMS) and other conditions defined, in part, by hematocrit or hemoglobin values. We studied 1,934 healthy, young (aged 15 to 29 yr) male and female...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
