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Causes of increased hemoglobin in women after 50. Causes and treatment of high hemoglobin in women

Causes of increased hemoglobin in women after 50. Causes and treatment of high hemoglobin in women

Elevated hemoglobin (from 150-170 g / l) occurs with a low oxygen content in the air (high mountains), sports, smoking, the use of erythropoietin, and stress. Diseases that cause an increase in the indicator: intestinal infections, heart failure, burns, erythremia, tumors, narrowing of the kidney artery, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Symptoms of high hemoglobin are nonspecific: headache, itching, tingling in the extremities. The danger of hyperhemoglobinemia is the blockage of blood vessels by blood clots (pulmonary thromboembolism, heart attack, stroke). Treatment: sufficient water intake, blood thinners, food with restriction of meat products, hirudotherapy.

With an increase in hemoglobin, its indicator in the blood goes beyond the upper limit of the norm. Physiological causes - alpine climate, sports, smoking, the use of erythropoietin, large doses of vitamins and iron, stress. Growth occurs in diseases: heart, lung failure, dehydration, narrowing or compression of the renal artery, cancer of the blood, liver, kidneys, sex glands.

Meat products can promote the growth of hemoglobin, but their effect is secondary. A high indicator is good only in the absence of diseases, when the protein level rises to increase endurance (sports, high mountains). In all other cases, this is bad, as the blood thickens and blood clots (blockages) form in the vessels.

What does it mean

An increase in hemoglobin (hyperhemoglobinemia) means an increase in the concentration of protein contained in red blood cells. It performs the function of breathing - it carries oxygen from the lungs to the tissues. Small readings above normal do not cause danger, and they are usually asymptomatic. Also, the excess of this blood pigment does not require correction due to training, living in a high-mountain climate.

If it is elevated due to increased formation of red blood cells in the bone marrow or in response to chronic oxygen starvation in diseases of the heart, lungs, kidneys, then it is necessary to treat the underlying pathology. In these cases, the blood becomes thick, which leads to blockage by blood clots, blood flow to the organs is disturbed.

What hemoglobin is considered high

Hemoglobin is considered high when it exceeds the limit values indicated in the table (unit g / l), while an increase to 10 units or a single increase in values \u200b\u200bmost often does not require treatment, and the patient is recommended to repeat the analysis after 2-3 weeks.

Patient category	The upper limit of the norm for a woman	The upper limit of the norm for men
From birth to 2 weeks	198170130140145
2-4 weeks of life
4-8 weeks
2 months - 5 years
5-10 years
10-15 years old	150	160
15-18 years old	155	165
18-45 years old	155	170
From 45 years old	160	170
Pregnant 1st trimester	160
Pregnant 2nd trimester	145
Pregnant 3rd trimester	140

Natural reasons why the indicators are above the norm

Hemoglobin above the norm can be in a healthy person, it increases when the body trains for oxygen starvation. In response to a lack of oxygen, the production of red blood cells increases, as the kidneys begin to intensively produce erythropoietin (a stimulant for bone marrow synthesis). The natural reasons are:

living in a high mountain climate, where the air has low oxygen pressure;
smoking - the formation of compounds of hemoglobin and carbon dioxide (carboxyhemoglobin), which are not involved in tissue respiration;
sports activities, hard physical labor - due to the high energy demand of the muscles, a relative oxygen deficiency occurs;
the introduction of erythropoietin by athletes to artificially increase endurance, less often with an overdose of iron and vitamins that stimulate the synthesis of hemoglobin (folic acid, B12);
congenital (genetic) form of hyperhemoglobinemia.

What diseases provoke an increase

There are several groups of diseases in which high hemoglobin is detected: dehydration, polycythemia, disruption of the heart, lungs, kidneys, tumors.

Dehydration

Due to the loss of the liquid part of the blood, the concentration of red blood cells increases, and, accordingly, hemoglobin. The reasons:

vomiting in case of poisoning, toxicosis of pregnant women;
intestinal infections with diarrhea;
excessive sweating (work in a hot shop, fever, overheating in the sun);
decompensation of diabetes mellitus (loss of fluid in the urine);
diabetes insipidus (appears due to a lack of the hormone vasopressin, characterized by profuse urination);
burns.

thirst, dry mouth;
increased fatigue, weakness;
low blood pressure, rapid pulse;
dizziness, headache;
darkening in the eyes, pre-fainting;
convulsions, muscle spasms;
thickening of urine (dark), decreased urination.

Erythremia (polycythemia)

A very high hemoglobin level is found in the blood due to a malignant increase in the production of red blood cells in the bone marrow. Signs of the disease:

bright red mucous membranes;
redness of the skin;
persistent headache;
bouts of dizziness;
unsteadiness when walking;
anxiety, irritability;
skin itching;
high blood pressure;
bleeding from the nose, intestinal, gastric, uterine;
an increase in the size of the liver and spleen.

Due to the weakness of the heart muscle, the supply of blood to the internal organs decreases. In response to this, the body seeks to compensate for oxygen starvation by increasing the production of red blood cells and hemoglobin. Causes of circulatory disorders:

(blockage of coronary vessels with blood clots, or spasm),;
in severe cases;
heart muscle disease () with hormonal disorders (thyrotoxicosis, menopause), chronic poisoning (alcoholism);
heart disease (and acquired narrowing, stenosis or insufficiency of valves, pathological holes in the septa, communications between large vessels);
inflammation during infection or autoimmune pathologies (formed to their tissues) -,.

Main symptoms:

shortness of breath and rapid pulse with little exertion, sweat and at rest;
cough, asthma attacks;
swelling in the legs;
liver enlargement.

Chronic respiratory diseases

Hemoglobin rises in the same way as in heart failure - in response to a lack of oxygen. Diseases that can provoke hyperhemoglobinemia:

chronic obstructive bronchitis;
bronchial asthma;
recurrent (recurring) pneumonia with compaction of the lung tissue (pneumofibrosis);
pulmonary tuberculosis;
industrial pulmonary pathologies (pneumoconiosis) when working with a high concentration of dust in the air;
emphysema (increased airiness) of the lungs.

Bronchial asthma causes an increase in hemoglobin

Signs of pulmonary insufficiency:

general weakness;
labored breathing;
bluish skin tone (cyanosis);
cough.

Renal pathologies

In diseases of the kidneys, which are accompanied by compression of the renal artery, the level of erythropoietin increases. It stimulates the bone marrow to form red blood cells, and at the same time, the level of hemoglobin in the blood also increases. Reasons for decreased blood flow may include:

congenital narrowing of the artery of the kidneys;
atherosclerotic changes;
hydronephrosis (dropsy);
cyst or polycystic kidney.

Signs of kidney pathology:

high blood pressure, poorly amenable to therapy;
pain in the lower back, abdomen;
headache;
general weakness.

Tumors

Not all neoplasms occur with elevated hemoglobin, more often, on the contrary, it falls. The causes of tumor hyperhemoglobinemia are a malignant process in:

kidney;
liver;
adrenal glands;
pituitary gland (brain gland);
ovaries, testicles, if they produce testosterone.

The symptoms of these diseases are very different, and initial stages, as a rule, proceed hidden. The first signs are increasing weakness, nausea, loss of appetite, weight loss, fever.

Hyperhemoglobinemia in pituitary tumors

How stress affects

Under stress, the body is mobilized to receive additional energy. Happening:

release of stress hormones - adrenaline, cortisol;
increased breathing and heart rate;
increased blood pressure;
exit from the glycogen depot (supply of glucose)

These processes require a large amount of oxygen, so the increased formation of red blood cells and hemoglobin begins. Such a compensatory reaction occurs only if the body is healthy, and the stress factor is weak or moderate in strength, short.

Compensation is most often included in case of physical overload, trauma, climate change, less often it is noted in case of infection or emotional overstrain.

Foods that can increase hemoglobin

There are foods that have the ability to increase hemoglobin due to their iron content: liver, kidneys, hard cheese, rabbit meat, turkey, chicken, mackerel. Iron is essential for the formation of this protein. But on their own, even with increased use, the products will not cause deviations in blood tests. With high levels of hemoglobin, they need to be limited, but the diet still has only an auxiliary value.

Less significant is the use of buckwheat, apples, nuts, mushrooms, dried fruits. They are allowed in the diet, but their prevalence in the diet should be avoided.

When elevated hemoglobin - good or bad?

When hemoglobin is elevated due to living in a high mountain area or with regular physical activity, then this is good. It helps the body adapt to the lack of oxygen, increases endurance.

All other reasons for the increase in hemoglobin are bad, since its increase in the blood means the development of the disease. In the absence of treatment, the blood becomes excessively thick, blood clots form quickly, which is dangerous for the development of acute and chronic circulatory disorders.

Hemoglobin in the blood

Elevated hemoglobin in women, men: how to determine

The causes of increased hemoglobin in adults are practically the same, but the pathology is more severe in men than in women. It is important to bear in mind that it is difficult to determine it by symptoms, since they occur in a person with various diseases: headache, weakness, tingling in the limbs, itching, redness of the skin, bleeding gums. The easiest way to identify high rates is by a general clinical blood test.

Elevated hemoglobin: symptoms in women

Small increases in hemoglobin in women do not give symptoms. As it progresses, it may appear:

heaviness in the head;
dizziness;
tinnitus;
decreased vision;
chilliness of the limbs;
burning or tingling in the fingertips;
itchy skin that gets worse after a warm bath or shower
dilated capillaries, spider veins on the skin of the face and lower extremities;
rapid fatigue;
insomnia.

Watch the video about the symptoms of high hemoglobin:

Signs of increased hemoglobin in men

In men, signs of elevated hemoglobin are usually more pronounced:

red skin of the face and neck, hands;
eye redness;
intense headache and joint pain;
soreness in the region of the heart;
promotion blood pressure;
bleeding gums;
bruises form from a small blow.

Due to the increase in the level of uric acid, which is formed in the process of hemoglobin metabolism, gout develops, there are renal colic.

Why is hemoglobin elevated in children

Hemoglobin is elevated in children most often due to intestinal infections, dehydration, with severe vomiting and diarrhea. Since the regulation of the water-salt balance in a small child is still being formed, blood clots often occur during viral, bacterial and inflammatory processes, when they occur with a high temperature.

The reasons for the increase in performance may be:

congenital diseases (heart defects, blood diseases);
anomalies in the structure of the renal artery, kidneys;
blood cancer, tumors of the kidneys, liver.

A tumor in the kidney is one of the causes of an increase in hemoglobin

Why is high hemoglobin dangerous?

High hemoglobin is dangerous for vascular thrombosis. Thick blood quickly folds into clots, and they block the lumen of the veins, capillaries and arteries. This leads to the following consequences:

trophic ulcers on the skin of the lower extremities;
blockage of the veins of the liver, intestines with difficulty in the outflow of blood and dysfunction;
thrombosis of the branches of the pulmonary artery (a life-threatening condition);
stroke;
myocardial infarction.

High hemoglobin is also bad because intravascular coagulation threatens bleeding (from the veins of the esophagus, gums, nose, stomach, uterus, intestines). This is due to the fact that clotting factors are heavily consumed during thrombosis, so a small injury to the vessels is enough to risk blood loss.

Thrombosis due to elevated hemoglobin

High hemoglobin: what to do

With high hemoglobin, it is necessary to treat the disease that caused this disorder: drinking water (30-45 ml / kg) and intravenous administration of solutions for dehydration, antitumor drugs for erythremia, surgery, chemotherapy for tumors.

Cardiac and pulmonary insufficiency requires therapy in accordance with the disease, and additionally prescribed blood-thinning drugs (Plavix, Warfarin), a diet with restriction of meat products, folk remedies(leeches, mistletoe, sweet clover, cherry leaf).

Treatment of change

Treatment of hyperhemoglobinemia depends entirely on the cause of its occurrence:

Cause of hyperhemoglobinemia	Treatment
Dehydration	Drinking water and intravenous administration of solutions, with intestinal infections, mixtures of electrolytes (salts) are shown - Regidron, Gastrolit, Ringer
	Bloodletting, removal of red blood cells from the blood (erythrocytapheresis), antitumor drugs (Cyclophosphamide, Imiphos), the introduction of radioactive phosphorus
Heart and lung failure	The therapy is aimed at the underlying disease, and Curantyl, Aspirin, Plavix, Warfarin, Fraxiparine are used to thin the blood.
Tumor	Removal, chemotherapy, radiation

How much water to drink with hyperhemoglobinemia

Need in drinking water with hyperhemoglobinemia, they are calculated depending on the degree of dehydration, but the standard dosage for a physiological increase is 30 ml per 1 kg of body weight for an adult and 30-45 ml / kg for a child. At the same time, it is important to drink exactly water without gas and additives, compote without sugar from berries or dried fruits. Tea and coffee are not recommended as they have a diuretic effect.

Diet to normalize the condition

Dietary nutrition to improve the general condition should prevent blood clotting and an even greater increase in performance due to the intake of iron.

Minimize in your diet:

meat, fats, offal;
salty, spicy, fatty and fried foods;
alcoholic drinks;
strong tea and coffee;
peanut.

It is important to include in the menu:

steamed boiled vegetables;
whole grain cereals, except for buckwheat;
legumes;
some fish and seafood;
fruits and berries.

Nutrition without eliminating the cause of the increase in hemoglobin has low efficiency, so it is used only in combination with medications.

Blood thinning products

Folk remedies to reduce hemoglobin

Folk remedies for reducing hemoglobin can only be recommended to prevent increased thrombus formation, since they will not reduce protein levels in the blood, but can reduce its viscosity. For this apply:

leeches (hirudotherapy);
white mistletoe infusion - 300 ml teaspoon hot water, insist 2 hours, take a tablespoon before each meal for 15 days, then you need a break for a month;
collection of cherry leaves (50 g), sweet clover grass (10 g) and hawthorn flowers (40 g): a tablespoon is poured with a glass of boiling water in a thermos for the night, a third of a glass is taken 3 times a day before meals for 1 month.

An increase in hemoglobin is physiological (sports, high altitude climate), with smoking, stress, as well as diseases with dehydration, pulmonary and heart failure. High performance found in erythremia and stenosis of the renal artery. Symptoms with small changes are absent, then there is a headache, high blood pressure, itching of the skin.

A complication of hyperhemoglobinemia is vascular thrombosis, there is a risk of stroke, heart attack. Treatment is aimed at eliminating the cause, blood thinning, it is supplemented by a drinking regimen, diet, folk remedies.

Useful video

Watch the video about elevated hemoglobin:

Normal level of hemoglobin in the blood

Hemoglobin is measured in g/dl or g/l. For men, this figure is on average slightly lower than for women. Hemoglobin levels also change with age. Here are some norms of hemoglobin for male and female.

3 months - 11.55 g/dl
6 months - 11.94 g/dl
1 year - 11.84 g/dl
3 years - 12.08 g/dl
adolescence - mature age - 12-14g / dl.

3 months - 11.44 g/dl
6 months - 11.69 g/dl
1 year - 11.67 g/dl
3 years - 11.83 g/dl
adolescence - mature age - 13.5-16 g / dl.

Hemoglobin 160 g / l in men does not go beyond the norm.

It is necessary to think about serious treatment if hemoglobin is increased by more than 10 units.

Symptoms

The main signs by which one can judge an increase in hemoglobin levels are excessive fatigue, drowsiness, and loss of appetite. Sometimes the complexion also changes: excessive pallor and redness.

Doctors can still assume an increase in hemoglobin, judging by the increased viscosity and density of the blood. As a result, an increased level of hemoglobin can lead to the formation of blood clots and blood clots. Also, elevated hemoglobin can be recognized by a deviation in the work of the genitourinary system and gastrointestinal tract.

Reasons why hemoglobin is elevated

A deviation in the level of hemoglobin is not a disease, it is just a symptom that accompanies some diseases. Among them:

congenital pathologies of the heart;
cardiovascular insufficiency;
respiratory failure;
excessive accumulation of dense tissue in the lungs - fibrosis;
deviation in the body's production of a hormone responsible for the formation of red blood cells;
intestinal obstruction;
a sharp increase in the level of red blood cells for any reason (for example, blood transfusion);
oncological diseases.

But an increased content of hemoglobin in the blood can be associated not only with various kinds of diseases, but also with the living environment and lifestyle.

So, people living in the mountains or spending a lot of time at a high altitude from the ground have a standard hemoglobin level higher than that which is accepted by the norms.

Why is high hemoglobin a normal condition for those who breathe rarefied mountain air? The fact is that the higher from the ground, the less oxygen in the air. In order for a person to feel normal, the body must compensate for the lack of oxygen with a high content of hemoglobin.

Also, in smokers, the causes of increased hemoglobin are due to the fact that after a long-term possession of this addiction, the tissues are not sufficiently saturated with oxygen.

Another reason for elevated hemoglobin is a lack of vitamin B12 or folic acid in the body. These beneficial substances come to us with food. So you need to rethink your diet.

Active outdoor sports also contribute to an increase in hemoglobin levels. Among them are cycling, skiing, snowboarding, rock climbing and others. This is due to a greater need for oxygen and the desire of the body to compensate for this fact, which means increased hemoglobin.

The time of day at which the analysis was taken also plays an important role. What does elevated hemoglobin indicate if the study did not reveal any abnormalities in the body? Perhaps an error in the initial analysis or sampling at the peak of the increase in hemoglobin. For most people, this is 8 o'clock in the morning, the minimum level of hemoglobin falls at 8 pm.

Why is high hemoglobin dangerous?

For some reason, for many, high hemoglobin, causes and symptoms do not cause much concern. However, this can serve as a minimum cause for the appearance of unpleasant complications, and as a maximum of serious pathologies.

Thick blood

High hemoglobin accompanies an increase in blood viscosity, due to which, as already mentioned above, blood clots and areas with increased density may appear. This can cause thrombophlebitis - the growth of blood clots on the vessels, and in even more serious circumstances - thromboembolism - a disease in which blood clots attach to organs and interfere with their normal functioning.

Heart attacks, strokes.

Often if hemoglobin is above normal long time, it can provoke such serious consequences. Strokes and heart attacks are also caused by increased blood viscosity, which is associated with the previous subparagraph.

developmental delay.

For children, elevated hemoglobin can result in a lack of cognitive function, as well as confusion.

Bad feeling.

Dizziness, weakness, fatigue and lack of appetite are eternal companions of increased hemoglobin.

Changes in the composition and type of blood.

Increased hemoglobin can contribute to a change in the shape of red blood cells. They can take the form of a crescent, which affects several functions of the body at once. This disease is called sickle anemia.

Decreased blood levels

If what causes hemoglobin to rise is not associated with serious pathologies, then you can influence the elevated hemoglobin with a certain diet or medicines.

Among pharmaceutical preparations that are relatively freely available, one can single out those that are aimed at thinning the blood: Curantil, Cardiomagnyl, Trental, or ordinary aspirin.

Nutrition should be guided by some rules:

Exclusion or reduction in the diet of red vegetables, fruits, berries. Especially a lot of iron, which helps to increase hemoglobin, is found in beets. A separate article lists the main ones.
Exclusion for the duration of therapy from the diet of the liver, kidneys and hearts. They also help increase iron in the body.
Drink more water. But to get involved in such an activity too much is also not desirable, the load on the heart may increase excessively. Proceed from the ratio of 40 ml per 1 kg of body.
Dry mushrooms, fruits are the richest foods in terms of iron content. It is also better to temporarily abandon them.
Milk and dairy products, on the other hand, reduce the body's ability to absorb iron. This property can be used to reduce hemoglobin.

There are other ways to lower hemoglobin levels. For example, donate blood as a donation. This will be both useful for you and an enjoyable activity for society.

But in the most extreme case, you can use a medical procedure called erythrophoresis. It removes excess red blood cells from the blood stream.

If you do not know what elevated hemoglobin in the blood means, you will not be able to effectively treat, which means that even proper nutrition may not affect the results of the analysis. And inaction in relation to the main root cause can even bring complications.

Elevated hemoglobin is a rather dangerous condition, which is characterized by thickening of the blood, due to which the processes in the capillaries stagnate, and oxygen saturation of the body worsens. This can lead to thromboembolism, ischemic diseases, angina and even myocardial infarction. Due to the increase in uric acid, metabolism is disturbed, which causes a disease such as gout. There is also a risk of developing uric acid nephropathy, an autoimmune kidney disease. On the part of the limbs, there may be thrombosis, and in advanced cases, necrosis and gangrene of the limb.

The reasons

Most people know such a disease as anemia. At the same time, hemoglobin in the blood is lowered, but it can also be increased vice versa. This is not a big threat to human health, but this condition is not the norm for the body.

The blood of women, men and children is somewhat different. Therefore, we will consider in more detail what caused such a state in each individual.

High hemoglobin in women

It is observed extremely rarely. It is considered normal if it is elevated due to high physical exertion or because of being in the mountains for some time. Over time, the body gets used to it, and hemoglobin returns to normal.

The main factors are pregnancy, taking multivitamin complexes, due to diseases of the lungs and the cardiovascular system, oncological diseases and can be inherited.

High hemoglobin in men

It can be as a result of smoking, due to the state of the body caused by a number of diseases. In diseases such as erythrocytosis, pernicious anemia and hemolytic anemia, when the composition of the blood changes.

With erythrocytosis, the number of red blood cells increases, which can be caused by a disease of the kidneys, lungs, and heart. The reasons that increase hemoglobin may be artificial valves in the heart, cholelithiasis. Lack of folic acid, vitamin B12 due to diseases of the gastric mucosa, which is unable to absorb these essential elements, can also contribute to an increase in hemoglobin in men.

This can be caused by an excess of iron and vitamin C. Therefore, you should not panic, but consult a doctor to find out the cause together.

Treatment is based on the elimination of the cause, if it is caused by the disease, on the organization of proper nutrition of the patient.

Try to include in your diet soy, buckwheat, cottage cheese, raw vegetables, legumes and dairy products.

Treatment for high hemoglobin

How to lower hemoglobin

In order for the level of hemoglobin to begin to drop, you first need to be stricter about your diet and review your diet. So, patients should completely exclude products in which iron is present in increased volumes:

Red fruits and berries, including blackcurrant;
. meat by-products;
. cereals;
. red meat;
. butter;
. sweet;
. smoked;
. high fat milk

With increased hemoglobin, multivitamin and mineral complexes are contraindicated, in which there are vitamins of group "B" (12, 9, 6), "C", as well as copper and iron.

Still need to enter into the diet:

Sea products;
. fish;
. salads;
. legumes;
. chicken meat

In addition to nutrition, certain medications can also correct hemoglobin.

To do this, you need to contact a specialist for the optimal course of treatment. Most often, aspirin, cardiomagnyl, trental, etc. are prescribed. They lead to the normalization of blood clotting. Begin therapy after determining the level of hemoglobin. Along the way, medical supervision is required to determine the optimal dosage and duration of treatment.

A change in lifestyle with hardening and active motor exercises also helps.

Good physical activity, walking in the air and swimming restore the functioning of the bone marrow, which is responsible for the production of hemoglobin.

Folk remedies and recipes can help the body return to normal and bring hemoglobin back to normal:

One of the most effective means reduction of hemoglobin in the blood is shilajit. You can buy it at a pharmacy. We take a piece, the size of a match head and dissolve in water. Drink this solution at night. Conduct a course for 10 days, then take a break for five days and repeat the course. Avoid alcohol and sleeping pills during the course.

Until hemoglobin returns to normal, buckwheat, pearl barley and oats should always be in the diet.

You can regularly donate blood, this method is also quite effective, so there is a production to replace young blood.

Leeches normalize hemoglobin levels very well. There are enzymes in the saliva of leeches. which have a very positive effect on the blood, normalizing its composition. Treatment with leeches is a whole science, it is called hirudotherapy.

It is very important to eat right, eat more fruits and vegetables in red, as well as green. AT green color chlorophyll stains plant foods, and it is similar to chemical formula hemoglobin and is able to normalize its level in the blood.

To thin the blood, you need to drink plain water as much as possible, but with the addition of lemon juice. drink it with therapeutic purpose required within three months.

From various sources

We know from school that hemoglobin (HB) is the respiratory pigment of the blood, a protein that contains iron in its structure, and is itself located in red blood cells called erythrocytes. Its role in our body is narrowly specific, but very important.

Hemoglobin transports oxygen to all tissues and organs, takes carbon dioxide from them and transfers it to the lungs “for exhalation”. At the same time, doctors emphasize the exceptional importance of this process, since as a result of its violation, anemia or anemia develops, the extreme manifestations of which are incompatible with life. This is especially true for women and children. Based on the foregoing, it seems that a high level of hemoglobin in the blood is a blessing. However, this is not true.

High hemoglobin is a rare phenomenon, but it is quite dangerous. Normally, the level of hemoglobin is different for everyone, but always meets the parameters of the optimal state of a person. For men, the norm is 135-169 g / l, for women - 120-140 g / l, and for children it depends on age and ranges from 145-225 g / l in the first three days of life to 120-160 g / l at 16 years. An increase in hemoglobin in a child is often caused by a simple excess of vitamin C or iron, which enter the body with food and are corrected. proper nutrition. In men, high hemoglobin is to a very large extent due to smoking, which changes the composition of the blood, increasing the number of red blood cells in it and reducing the amount of oxygen, or alcohol, which causes damage to the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract with a simultaneous violation of the absorption of folic acid and vitamin B12, which are responsible for hematopoiesis . Women are more interesting. Elevated hemoglobin occurs in the fairer sex infrequently, the most common reason for its increase is considered to be physical activity or permanent residence high in the mountains, where it is required to transport rarefied air to the lungs. large quantity hemoglobin than usual. If everything is normal with the place of residence, then most often the “female” hemoglobin increases due to pregnancy. Multivitamin complexes are to blame for everything, causing a supersaturation of the body of the expectant mother with iron. The cause of high blood hemoglobin can be banal dehydration. However, all of the above reasons are quite “harmless”.

Why is high hemoglobin a cause for concern?

This pathology is not so life-threatening, but it is absolutely not the norm for a healthy person. In other words, sometimes elevated hemoglobin can be the only, but at the same time a very reliable sign of the disease. There are ailments in which the number of red blood cells decreases, and the level of hemoglobin increases, and there are those when both the hemoglobin level and the number of red blood cells increase at the same time. This happens against the background of cardiovascular or pulmonary insufficiency, when the body is forced to increase the production of red blood cells to compensate for the lack of oxygen in the tissues due to poor functioning of the heart and lungs. Or with intestinal obstruction, oncological diseases, erythrocytosis, when, for one reason or another, the production of erythropoietin, a hormone that stimulates the formation of red blood cells, increases. The same can happen if you are taking special drugs that stimulate the production of red blood cells. In addition, high hemoglobin is observed with bone marrow dysfunction.

By the way, a high level of hemoglobin in professional athletes is one of the signs of doping and the basis for disqualification.

What worries a woman with increased hemoglobin?

The biggest trouble can be called the appearance of long and painful periods. The symptoms of elevated hemoglobin, as a rule, include sleep disorders, deterioration in general well-being, and redness of the skin. In parallel, there is an increase in blood pressure and a change in blood viscosity, which in turn leads to vascular thrombosis, the formation of cholesterol plaques and, as a result, to acute cerebrovascular accident or myocardial infarction.

The closest attention to the state of the hemoglobin level makes it possible to diagnose in time, and most importantly, to correct the level of respiratory pigment in the blood in a timely manner. Before implementing a whole range of measures to reduce the concentration of hemoglobin, it is necessary to confirm the diagnosis with a blood test. High hemoglobin is diagnosed with an increase in the norm by 20 g / l or more.

How to correct the level of hemoglobin?

The level of hemoglobin is corrected, first of all, by diet - by a sharp restriction in the daily human diet of proteins and iron of animal origin. What exactly do they contain? In red meat, liver, seafood, cereals, red berries, pomegranate and walnuts. In case of increased hemoglobin, preference is given to cottage cheese, legumes, raw vegetables and fermented milk products. Often this alone is enough to bring the hemoglobin level back to normal. In addition, it is necessary to completely abandon alcohol, since, in combination with iron, it contributes to the production of harmful substances in the body that destroy the liver, and stimulates the absorption of iron, which further increases the level of hemoglobin in the blood. It should be noted that some nutritional supplements and multivitamins containing iron also provoke an increase in hemoglobin levels, as well as vitamin C, which is often recommended as an antioxidant.

In addition to the diet, drug therapy is also used with drugs that reduce blood viscosity. Even leeches are used, which are capable of correcting the hemoglobin level to normal for the next 5-6 months. Erythrophoresis is also used - a manipulation aimed at removing "extra" red blood cells from the bloodstream. But this serious procedure is used extremely rarely and only for health reasons. In addition, doctors advise drinking as much liquid as possible, especially in summer, and limiting the use of sweets, since all this also affects the "thickness" of the blood. You need to consume at least 50 ml of water per day for every kilogram of your body weight. Parting with sweets is especially difficult for women, but nothing can be done, you will have to replace sweets and chocolates with fresh or dried fruits. The diet, as well as the complete treatment program, is always strictly individual, therefore it is compiled exclusively by your doctor. The general recommendation for all of us is still a healthy lifestyle, which has recently become a very good form to follow!