Hello,
thanks for using using health care magic.
ESR stands for
erythrocyte sedimentation rate and it is obtain by calculating the fall rate ( distance per hour) for blood collected in a given type of tube after one hour. Generally, normal values for ESR is less than 20mm in the first hour for adults.
It is used to measure the degree of inflammation in the body. ESR does not diagnose a particular disease nor condition thus is non specific. It has an appreciable fall or increased rate in diverse conditions that lead to inflammation of the body. Such conditions include;
-auto-immune diseases such lupus and rheumatoid arthritis
-Anemia
-cancers
-infections
-thyroid diseases etc.
Low
hemoglobin level is known as anemia and as seen above it can cause increase in ESR. However, hemoglobin of 14 or above 12 is within the normal range for adults.
However, hemoglobin below 12 is considered
mild anemia and could be due to chronic inflammatory diseases which would as well increase ESR.
Causes of anemia are diverse and in line with your context could include
-
nutritional deficiency in iron and
folic acid in particular.
-chronic
renal disease which could cause increase ESR as well etc.
What i will advice you to do is meet a
rheumatologist for proper investigation but bear in mind your situation could also be a normal variant with little or not much to border about.
Best regards.
Dr Achuo