If you’ve ever wondered how live blood analysis could help you in getting insights into your health, this overview is sure to provide plenty of useful information so that you could become more empowered to make profound decisions about your own health.
It only takes a single living drop of your blood, taken from the tip of your finger, to be viewed under a microscope and magnified 1000 times or more. This provides a visual snapshot of the environment in your blood. It is different to the collection of blood conducted in medical laboratories that counts markers in the blood. Standard blood tests tend to utilize chemicals that kill the blood, therefore plenty of behaviour can be missed under the microscope. I do not use live blood analysis to screen for diseases, or as a diagnostic tool, but rather to note changes within your blood ecosystem relating to the digestive system health, and especially to stress activity. This is a great tool to use when going through a detox program, allowing us to witness toxicity before and after a detox programme.
Live blood microscopy can be life-changing. It illuminates areas of our health that we don’t always see. It provides a key to understanding ourselves better and offers a glimpse into our future health. It has a strong influence on altering awareness, and therefore helps us move in the right direction when it comes to our health. Live blood testing can amplify curiosity about your health and help you make changes to better yourself.
Why Do We Need Live Blood Testing?
To understand the need for live blood testing, it helps to understand the role that blood plays in our well-being. Our blood cells are manufactured within our red bone marrow. There is a gradual replacement cycle of red to yellow marrow occurring throughout our life, within our red bone marrow. Once we reach adulthood, blood cell production is limited to flat bones, irregular bones and the ends of long bones. The main sites are the sternum (breastbone), ribs, pelvis and skull.
Blood is composed of straw-coloured transparent fluid called plasma, where the following cells are suspended:
- Red blood cells (carriers of oxygen and carbon dioxide)
- Platelets (blood clotting cells)
- White blood cells (our body’s guardians and fighters against harmful events at a physical and emotional level)
In healthy individuals, the blood is slightly alkaline with a maintained PH of between 7.35 to 7.45. Our blood has a multi-tasking talent that allows it to achieve the following:
- Carry oxygen from lungs to tissues
- Bring carbon dioxide back from tissues to lungs for elimination
- Carry food from the digestive system to tissues
- Bring cell waste from food breakdown, mostly to kidneys for filtration
- Carry hormones to their target sites (such as glands and tissues)
- Transfer heat from a warmer site in our body to less active tissues
- Carry protective substances (such as antibodies) to infected areas
- Carry clotting factors that coagulate blood, reducing bleeding from ruptured blood vessels
Plasma makes about 55% of our blood volume and our cells comprise about 45%. The plasma is 90% to 92% composed of water with dissolved substances such as:
- Plasma proteins (important to maintain osmotic pressure of our blood and avoid fluid retention)
- Inorganic mineral salts (essential to keep our blood acid-base ratio balanced, for healthy muscle contraction and transmission of nerve impulses)
- Nutrients, principally from digested foods that are broken down into small molecules for absorption such as monosaccharides, amino acids, fatty acids and glycerol (these are important to provide energy, heat, materials for repair and replacement, and for production of other blood components and body secretions)
- Waste materials (the result of protein metabolism, e.g: urea, creatinine and uric acid are formed in the liver and carried in the blood to the kidneys for excretion)
- Hormones (pass directly from the endocrine cells into the blood, then carried in the blood to their target tissues and organs)
- Gases (such as oxygen and carbon dioxide, which are transported in combination with haemoglobin in red blood cells)
About Red Blood Cells
Red blood cells require both Vitamin B12 and folic acid for their production. Vitamin B12 is the hardest vitamin to absorb, as it has to needs its own private ‘taxi-driver’ that transports it from the stomach and brings it to the site of absorption – the small intestine. Without binding onto this carrier, absorption will not take place.
Folate and B12 vitamins are found in eggs, lentils, sprouts, green leafy vegetables, mackerel, sardines, salmon, oysters, herring, meat, and liver. Red blood cells have a fairly constant turnover, as the bone marrow produces them at the rate at which they are destroyed. If overproduction of red blood cells occurs, it is likely to be due to excessive red blood cells break down (due to disease), heavy blood loss (haemorrhage), or high altitude with low oxygen supply.
Red blood cells look like doughnut-shaped cells. This biconcavity form increases their surface area for gas exchange, while its central thinness allows a faster flow between the entry and exit of gases. Red blood cells live for approximately 120 days. Some immature cells can be seen in live blood microscopy, as they are still forming over a day or two within the circulation. This is a normal process of red blood cell production, although too many immature cells noticed under the microscope could show a Vitamin B12 and folic acid deficiency. You might show fatigue, but also a vitamin and nutrient malabsorption in general, leading to other health issues. Red blood cells are destroyed mainly in the spleen, bone marrow and the liver as they age.
About White Blood Cells
Acting as the guardians and fighters of the blood, white blood cells (also called leukocytes) efficiently clean up from any aftermath of a fight our body has to go through, such as:
- Allergic response (hayfever or food sensitivity)
- Viral infection (cold)
- Bacterial infection (Candida Albicans)
- Injury
Live blood analysis is a great way to find out why certain white blood cells appear unless you are going through any of these conditions. Think of your blood as a reflection of the stress you are experiencing at any point in time. Whether physical or emotional, your immune system (white blood cells) will definitely show the stress. The different types of white blood cells have a precise role to play within our body, even if they account for about 1% of the blood volume. Some of the different white blood cells worth knowing about include the following:
Neutrophils are the protectors. They do not let anything harmful enter your body – especially microbes! They will also remove waste materials. You will see them under the microscope in en masse when infection occurs, as neutrophils are attracted to a chemical substance released by damaged and stressed cells. The only time a normal increase of neutrophils should occur is after strenuous exercise and in the later stages of a normal pregnancy. Their numbers could also increase when any of the following occur:
- Microbial infection
- Extensive tissue damage (from inflammation, burns or crush injuries)
- Metabolic disorders (acute gout)
- Heavy smoking
- Use of oral contraceptives
Eosinophils are specialised toward the elimination of parasites, such as worms. They are equipped with powerful toxic chemicals to attack those bigger organisms. They are also seen under the microscope if you are prone to allergic reaction such as asthma or skin allergies.
Basophils are the white blood cells closely associated with allergic reactions, such as hayfever, and you would see them under the microscope if you were suffering from pollen overload or related concerns.
Monocytes are divided into two types of cells. Some are actively mobile and circulate in our blood in what I like to call a “pac-man patrol”. They gulp anything that shouldn’t be in our blood, such as:
- Waste materials
- Harmful micro-organisms
- Other foreign bodies in the bloodstream and tissues
Other monocytes are fixed, multiplying at a site where they detect a large amount of foreign or waste materials. Their behaviour reminds me of police forces using the “kettling technique”, as they wall off the area to control any spreading from infection or inflammation. Then they can release an array of chemicals.
I trust this has been insightful and that we have opened a new window in understanding your own body and health and that you now see your blood as being alive in its own right. Its not just fluid running in your veins but a whole microcosm.
If you are ready to learn about your blood and see how it behaves under the microscope then I invite you to make an appointment appointment at C Beyond Health to enjoy the experience of your own live blood analysis.