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Blood becomes less viscous at high shear rates like those experienced with increased flow such as during exercise or in peak-systole. Therefore, blood is a shear-thinning fluid. Contrarily, blood viscosity increases when shear rate goes down with increased vessel diameters or with low flow, such as downstream from an obstruction or in diastole ...
Hyperviscosity syndrome is a group of symptoms triggered by an increase in the viscosity of the blood.Symptoms of high blood viscosity include spontaneous bleeding from mucous membranes, visual disturbances due to retinopathy, and neurologic symptoms ranging from headache and vertigo to seizures and coma.
If the blood viscosity increases (gets thicker), the result is an increase in arterial pressure. Certain medical conditions can change the viscosity of the blood. For instance, anemia (low red blood cell concentration) reduces viscosity, whereas increased red blood cell concentration increases viscosity.
Polycythemia in newborns is defined as hematocrit > 65%. Significant polycythemia can be associated with blood hyperviscosity, or thickening of the blood. Causes of neonatal polycythemia include: Hypoxia: Poor oxygen delivery (hypoxia) in utero resulting in compensatory increased production of red blood cells (erythropoeisis). Hypoxia can be ...
The greater the viscosity of blood, the larger the resistance will be. In the body, blood viscosity increases as red blood cell concentration increases, thus more hemodilute blood will flow more readily, while more hemoconcentrated blood will flow more slowly. [citation needed]
An increased number of red blood cells (polycythemia) causes reduced ESR as blood viscosity increases. Hemoglobinopathy such as sickle-cell disease can have low ESR due to an improper shape of red blood cells that impairs stacking.
Glycated hemoglobin causes an increase of highly reactive free radicals inside blood cells, altering the properties of their cell membranes. This leads to blood cell aggregation and increased blood viscosity, which results in impaired blood flow. [15]
Increased blood viscosity due to large leukemic blast populations which are less deformable than mature leukocytes may lead to leukostasis. The accumulation of less malleable blast products in the bloodstream accumulate within the microcirculation causing an accumulation of blockages leading to leukostasis. [citation needed]