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Results
By Mayo Clinic staffResults from your sed rate test will be reported in the distance in millimeters (mm) red blood cells have descended in one hour. The normal range is 0-22 mm/hour for men and 0-29 mm/hour for women. The upper threshold for a normal sed rate value may vary somewhat from one medical practice to another.
The results of your sed rate test are one piece of information to help your doctor assess your health. Talk to your doctor about what your sed rate results mean in light of the symptoms you're experiencing and the results of other diagnostic tests.
Accuracy of test results
A number of conditions can affect the properties of blood, thereby affecting how quickly red blood cells sink in a sample of blood. Therefore, information about inflammatory disease — what your doctor intends to learn from the sed rate test — may be obscured by the influence of other conditions. These complicating factors include:
- Pregnancy
- Diabetes
- Heart disease
- Anemia
Your doctor will take into account possible complicating factors when interpreting the results of your sed rate test.
- Fischbach FT, et al. Manual of Laboratory and Diagnostic Tests. Online ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2009. http://ovidsp.tx.ovid.com/spb/ovidweb.cgi?QS2=434f4e1a73d37e8ca2f1a384710471f9f1921ff2861d638048feb3298636e2121057526476519244483bb14807d4c5520d1933e4b30b7a9ea311cccda5cd88d5aa464a0044d1c124a7e8ef444bf0c63414596415eb6d902f34bcb1caedcb4cab3b1cd1ca991a5966a4ae4b95bc1fe1b52df6671229f737d120cb3699d1742eb900d1e2340e85ee8d2c1d575e9550b816826f1b1566312dd6f534c6ff066e4b8b703a6d55561e2c7bb41af5b1b2268df94e7ba28e509470ae52a3b105af7296a41ace23b8f7f517745d43f3660a827f57. Accessed Oct. 15, 2008.
- McPherson RA, et al. Henry's Clinical Diagnosis and Management by Laboratory Methods. 21st ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/108738632-2/0/1393/0.html. Accessed Oct. 15, 2008.
- Brigden ML. Clinical utility of the erythrocyte sedimentation rate. American Family Physician. 1999;60(5):1443-50. http://www.aafp.org/afp/991001ap/1443.html. Accessed Oct. 15, 2008.
- Reference values. Sedimentation. Rochester, Minn.: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research; 2008.
