Normal blood sedimentation is 0-15mm/h in men and 0-20mm/h in women. Blood sedimentation of 22mm/h is high in both men and women, which may be related to physiological reasons such as age and menstrual cycle, or pathologic reasons such as tissue damage and inflammation.
1. Physiological reasons
(1) Age: children younger than 12 years old have a slightly faster sedimentation rate due to a physiological decrease in the number of red blood cells; people older than 50 years old may also have a faster sedimentation rate due to a gradual increase in fibrinogen.
(2) Menstrual cycle: Menstruation can lead to accelerated blood sedimentation in women due to endometrial bleeding and increased fibrinogen during menstruation.
(3) In addition, women in the third trimester of pregnancy to three weeks postpartum can also have accelerated sedimentation due to physiological anemia, birth injury, placental abruption, etc.
2. Pathological causes
(1) Tissue injury: when the population is severely traumatized or after major surgery, it can cause accelerated blood sedimentation.
(2) Inflammation: when the patient has acute bacterial infection, rheumatism, rheumatic fever, tuberculosis and other active period, it can cause accelerated blood sedimentation.
(3) In addition, when the patient suffers from autoimmune diseases such as connective tissue diseases, hyperglobulinemia such as multiple myeloma and cirrhosis of the liver, and hypercholesterolemia such as diabetes mellitus and atherosclerosis, they can cause accelerated blood sedimentation.
When a person has accelerated blood sedimentation, the cause can be clarified under the guidance of a doctor for active treatment.