What Is MCHC and What Does Its High and Low Mean?

MCHC, ie the mean erythrocyte hemoglobin concentration, is a value included in whole blood assays. This value measures the hemoglobin concentration in each red blood cell in your blood, namely your red blood cells. The task of hemoglobin is to provide the flow of oxygen sent to every part of your body, starting from your lungs.

Another definition of MCHC is the mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration. This value is measured by dividing hemoglobin by hematocrit. The hematocrit is the ratio of the volume of red blood cells to the total blood volume. While high MCHC may be caused by hemolytic anemia, vitamin B and folic acid deficiency; Low MCHC may be caused by diseases such as iron deficiency anemia and Mediterranean anemia carrier. Now let’s look at all of them in detail.

What is the MCHC blood value we encounter in blood tests, what does it mean?

MCHC is an abbreviation for “Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin Concentration” in English. It can be translated into Turkish as “Average Erythrocyte Hemoglobin Concentration”. In blood tests, this value is shown by calculating the average amount of hemoglobin in red blood cells, that is, in our red blood cells, as a percentage. Of course, MCHC also has sub-parameters abbreviated as MCV, MCH and RDW. These sub-parameters measure the structural changes of red blood cells in our blood.

So what does high MCHC mean?

A higher-than-normal MCHC value indicates you have hyperchromia, or dark red blood cells. This test may vary depending on the time the test is taken, the season, and even the person. If it is a slight elevation, it may not be considered clinically. If there is an extreme elevation, your medical history, family medical history, and other MCHC sub-parameters should be checked. In such a case, we recommend that you consult the doctor at the nearest hospital immediately.

What are the causes of high MCHC?

• Hemolytic Anemia: It is one of the most common causes of high MCHC. In this disease, red blood cells, namely red blood cells, are destroyed on their own before the end of their life. The shape and structure of the cell undergoes changes due to the fragments that break off from the outside of the red blood cells. The hemoglobin inside is trapped and condensed, making the cell appear darker than it is.
• Low B12 and folate deficiency: In this case, the production balance of the red blood cell is confused. This, in turn, affects the hemoglobin density.
• Hereditary Spherocytosis: In this disease, the red blood cells, namely red blood cells, are in a spherical structure instead of their natural shape. The reason for this is the deficiency of some proteins in the structure of red blood cells. This is why the red blood cells are fragmented, decreasing in size and becoming spherical. This affects the concentration, that is, the MCHC height.

What is good for MCHC height?

• If the cause is hemolytic anemia, that is, the breakdown of your red blood cells, he will find the cause and recommend a treatment accordingly.
• If you have autoimmune hemolytic anemia, he or she will administer treatments such as cortisone, drugs to suppress the immune system, removal of the spleen, or splenectomy.
• If it is a condition due to B12 and folic acid deficiency, you need to use supplements for life. For hereditary spherocytosis, removal of the spleen, that is, splenectomy, is performed. However, hereditary spherocytosis cannot be completely cured with this treatment. It just helps to increase the lifespan of your red blood cells.

Your doctor will start to apply the treatment according to these reasons by making examinations to learn the cause of the high MCHC.

What does low MCHC mean?

A lower-than-normal MCHC value indicates you have hypochromia, or paler red blood cells. Although this means that hemoglobin is low, it means that your heart and lungs are working harder than normal to deliver it, as your body does not receive the oxygen it needs. In such a case, we recommend that you consult the doctor at the nearest hospital immediately.

What are the causes of low MCHC?

• Iron deficiency: One of the most common causes of low MCHC, iron deficiency causes less production of your hemoglobin. It can also be caused by celiac disease.
• Infection: This is because the inflammation caused by the infection reduces the production of hemoglobin. At the time of infection, hemoglobin decreases faster in red blood cells.
• thalassemia
• Sideroblastic Anemia: In this condition, the bone marrow produces cells called sideroblasts instead of producing healthy red blood cells.

What is good for low MCHC?

• One of the most common causes of low MCHC is iron deficiency. It may be good to use iron medications, that is, supplements recommended by your doctor.
• Do not forget to make your diet healthy and balanced. Create a diet program for iron intake.
• You can tell your doctor that you want to take vitamin C because vitamin C helps the body absorb iron. But ask him if it’s okay by telling him to look at your medical history.

In order to treat low MCHC, first tests should be done to find out what caused it, and then treatments that can relieve this ailment should be applied. Note that some of your medications can also lower MCHC. Therefore, consult your doctor and have your medical history and your family’s medical history checked, and have the necessary controls done.

What should the MCHC normal to ideal ratio be?

• The MCHC value for adults should be in the range of 33 – 36 g/dL.
• The MCHC value for newborns should be in the range of 30 – 36 g/dL.
• For children, the MCHC value should be in the range of 31 – 37 g/dL.

MCHC’s unit of measurement may vary from hospital to hospital. Therefore, we recommend that you check by paying attention to the units of the value in your analysis or by making the necessary unit conversions.

So what are the other values ​​MCV, RDW and MCH we encounter in the blood test?

• MCV: It is an abbreviation of the sentence “Mean corpuscular volume” in English. It can be translated into Turkish as the average red blood cell volume. This value is related to the shape of our red blood cells, that is, our red blood cells. It provides us with valuable information about the true size of our red blood cells.
• RDW: It is the abbreviation of “Red blood cell distribution width” in English. It can be translated into Turkish as red blood cell distribution width. This value measures how diverse our red blood cells, or red blood cells, are in size and volume.
• MCH: It is an abbreviation of the phrase “Mean corpuscular hemoglobin” in English. It can be translated into Turkish as the average amount of hemoglobin. This value measures the amount of hemoglobin in our red blood cells, or red blood cells. The difference with the MCHC is that the MCHC measures the average amount of “condensed hemoglobin”.

In today’s content, we answered the questions of what is MCHC that we encounter in blood tests, what should be its normal value, what does low and high mean. What we describe is for informational purposes only. Remember that as with all health issues, you should get the most accurate and specific information about your MCHC value from a specialist physician.