Haemoglobin

A hemoglobin test is useful for:

• Symptoms of anaemia — tiredness, weakness, pale skin, dizziness, breathlessness on exertion, headaches, cold hands and feet, brittle nails or hair fall.
• Routine health check-ups, especially for women of childbearing age and adolescents.
• Every stage of pregnancy — usually at the first visit and repeated in the second and third trimesters.
• Heavy or prolonged periods, or any source of ongoing blood loss, such as piles or stomach ulcers.
• Before surgery or blood donation.
• Monitoring people with chronic kidney disease, cancer, long-term inflammatory disease or those on iron, vitamin B12 or folic acid treatment.
• Assessing the nutrition and growth of infants and children.
• Living or working at high altitude, or smoking heavily, when high hemoglobin is suspected.