D75: Other diseases of blood and blood-forming organs

D75.1: Secondary polycythaemia

Blood is made up of a liquid part and different blood cells, among other things. The blood cells include the red blood cells, the white blood cells and the platelets. The red blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs throughout the body.

There are different reasons for having an increased amount of red blood cells. These reasons may be certain disorders, for example of the heart, lungs or kidneys. You can also temporarily have too many red blood cells after spending time at altitude or through doping. You may also have too little fluid in your blood. As a result, you can have a higher volume of red blood cells than normal in relation to the fluid part.