Full blood count, what does it tell your doc?

[Onwards & Upwards]

Hi

What exactly does a full blood count tell your doctor?

I know they look at iron levels etc but can they tell from this test whether you might have a virus/bug in your system that might be making you feel run down, would such a virus/bug ALWAYS show up? Does it also point them towards more serious things?

Sorry if my question is a bit obvious, I'm just wondering how good a tool the full blood count test is.

Ta!

[Vanilla Sky]

A full blood count will show up a lot of things and yes it will give indication that something serious may be going on. It will show up any infection or inflammation, It covers white blood cell count and red and platelet count , Im not sure if a bug or virus would show up but if it was serious then it would

[guitarpants]

I can indicate the possibility of inflammation, but nothing beyond that really. It's a good indictator of disease, and it gives them a direction in which to look. It won't tell you what infections you may or may not have.

[ElleJ]

A full blood count shows a basic indiator of how your basic health is so if any levels are up or down your doctor usually asks for further tests which show up more closer findings so if they come back normal it indicates your in good health phyically at that time.