dark red blood

[gina32]

my daughter has just had a blood test and the nurse said she had very rich blood and it was very dark almost black and that she had never seen blood that dark before, any one any ideas why it might be like that? many thanks

[filthiestfis]

Has she eaten liquorice recently?

[Ethel]

She has plenty of iron and good lung capacity, putting lots of oxygen in the blood.

[daffy654]

I was going to say it was iron but Ethel already has.

[gina32]

thanks for the answers, thats good to hear

[stewey]

polycythemia?

[jno]

I'd cancel the Transylvania holiday, though.

[foodluva]

Gina,

Blood which is highly oxygenated is bright red in colour. Blood with less oxgen in it is a dark red in colour which could be perceived as almost black. Arteries carry highly oxgenated blood to the body and veins carry deoxygenated blood back to the lungs.

Basically, the colour of your daughter's blood depends on the location of the vein from which the sample was taken.

I am a trained nurse/phlebotomist (someone who takes blood samples from patients) and I take approximately 100 blood samples a week. Your daughter's blood sample sounds perfectly normal!

[gina32]

foodluva, thanks very much.