What is the D-Dimer Blood Test?

The COVID-19 Pandemic has the world at a standstill, and with it came a lot of precautionary features that were meant to be followed in order to remain COVID-free. Many trials and tribulations that were accomplished by the government in order to get a more firm grasp of the entire situation came in the form of tests such as the D-Dimer, a name that gained a lot of popularity during the lockdown period.

The reason being that this Blood Marker was touted as a vital compound that helped with the proper understanding of the disease. It is also responsible for finding hidden blood clots and other fatal complications. In case the D-Dimer levels appear to be both unprecedented and a lot higher than originally expected, the implications can be sudden inflammation within the body, the formation of severe blood clots and even larger, more unknown conditions that COVID-19 might have left in your body.

What is a D-Dimer?

The D-Dimer is actually a piece of a protein blocker that is found in the body after the blood clot found is broken down, and although the blood has no to very small amounts of D-Dimer present within it. This is mostly because the formation of clots and the time it takes to break down have very little effect on the body.

Whenever the body tries and makes multiple unnecessary blood clots at once before breaking them down simultaneously, there is a massive spike and rise in the level of D-Dimer present within the body. This rise in D-Dimer acts like a signal for the entire body and the brain that lets it know of the unnatural amounts of blood clots occurring in the body at any given time. This sort of behavior has been frequently spotted in many moderate to even serious COVID-19 infections.

Explore how COVID-19 impacted India and why D-Dimer testing became crucial in serious cases.

Why does D-Dimer increase in COVID-19?

The COVID-19 infection is able to affect the entire body’s functionality, making everything feel sluggish and painful and stops a lot of important bodily functions from operating the correct way. This happens due to a lot of inflammation that spreads like wildfire, affecting every important organ in the body by adding a lot of blood clots in the heart, lungs, brain and the legs. It has also been confirmed to severely affect various blood important vessels in the body.

The response that happens is known as a “Cytokine Storm”, which occurs whenever the immune system becomes very overactive through time. This is one of the most important reasons why D-Dimer has been able to sky-rocket past the limits for many different COVID-19 patients. There are some really important factors that have led to a drastic rise in D-Dimer levels in COVID-19 patients, which are listed as follows:

• Blood vessels that have exhibited a lot of swelling and inflammation that has been able to cause damage before a clot has formed.
• Too many clot activating mechanisms switch on simultaneously as soon as an immune response has been noted by the body itself.
• Heavy amounts of oxygen that are not being properly utilized by the body, which then leads to a lot of thickening that occurs within the bloodstreams, leading to various blood clots.
• An ill patient that has not been having any physical exercise and has been laying the bed ever since they became sick.

Elevated D-Dimer levels can be a sign of cardiovascular issues. Learn more about heart attack symptoms in Hindi.

What is the D-Dimer Test?

The D-Dimer Blood Test is a relatively simple and easy-to-follow test that is mainly utilized for finding any type of D-Dimer fragment present within the blood sample provided by you to ensure there is not one type of blood clotting and is also made to find out and detect potential blood clotting sites that are imminent within the body. The blood test has also been able to keep track and maintain the differing levels of severity found in the COVID-19 cases that might be present within the body of the patient. Lastly, the test can provide with lots of post-recovery sampling and detecting to make sure the recovery process for the disease has gone through multiple checkups with medical professionals at the nearest healthcare centers. If your doctor has recommended a CRP test along with D-Dimer, this article in Hindi will help you understand it better CRP Test in Hindi.

The D-Dimer Test Procedure

Collection of Blood Samples

The first step of the D-Dimer blood test happens when either a professional and expert healthcare workers arrives at your doorstep to get a sample of blood through a sterilized needle and through a vein directly from the arm or you simply visit a healthcare center that you frequent and ask for a D-Dimer Blood Sample Collection and wait as a professional healthcare official extract your blood from a needle directly at one of your arm’s vein.

How the Testing Method happens

After collecting the blood samples that are placed in small sterilized vials, it is then carefully taken to a lab that has the best technology and techniques necessary for the test to gather crucial data through tests such as ELISA and Latex agglutination that are more than capable of finding any traces of the D-Dimer protein fragments that are present in the blood.

How much time is taken?

After all the tests and data have been acquired, the time taken to evaluate and process the amount of D-Dimer that is present in the blood samples collected would be a rather long waiting period, sometimes taking multiple hours to complete. There are also some cases where the lab tests take some days to get the best results for the testing process of D-Dimer.

Does this test require Fasting?

This D-Dimer blood test has no requirements for getting any form of fasting necessary before the tests take course, as it will have no effect for the end-result related to the tests in general.

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What is considered to be a very normal D-Dimer Test Result?

All of the D-Dimer test results are to be measured in nanograms per liter or ng/mL. The results that come below 500 ng/mL are considered to be very healthy and contain a normal amount of D-Dimer within the system as therefore does not pose a threat to the body’s condition. If the test results come back with a result that is between 500 to 1,000 ng/mL, it would mean that there is a very clear difference in the amount of D-Dimer present in the blood sample, as it has been elevated to a rather mild concern for the patients. If, by any chance, the percentage of D-Dimer that is released in the blood exceeds 1,000 ng/mL, it would require a lot of mentoring for the patient’s D-Dimer levels from now on as the amount has been significantly raised over the normal amount by more than twice the normal amount or even higher, which is a very huge cause for concern.

Liver function can sometimes influence clotting profiles. Learn more about SGOT and SGPT tests.

When is the correct time to take a D-Dimer Test?

The most appropriate times to consider taking a D-Dimer blood test would be whenever you begin to experience the following symptoms and factors during your bout with COVID-19 or just after you have conquered COVID-19:

• You suddenly experience a massive fever or have a lot of difficulty breathing in and out, which may create a lot of complications for an individual who is suffering from COVID-19 currently.
• You feel like the oxygen levels in your body are rapidly failing even though you can breathe perfectly normally.
• A sharp, piercing chest pain happens and manages to persist even after applying some medication, as well as some disorientation and confusion occurring due to the chest pains being too overwhelming.
• There are multiple swellings that happen at your legs that cause an immense amount of pain that does not go even after consuming painkillers.

Need to get tested for COVID-19 but confused about the options? Check out our complete guide to all available Corona Virus tests. See Full Test List Here.

What are the best ways to lower D-Dimer levels in the body?

Improve the functionality of Blood Circulation

COVID-19 makes the body incredibly weak and sluggish. This has led to a lot of complications regarding physical exercise, as the body itself is almost always bed-ridden. This has caused many blood clots simply due to the immense amount of strain you give your body without any proper movement done consistently on a daily basis. To keep the blood from having any clots, try and incorporate a lot of gentle movements that require some energy to be exerted for the blood to properly circulate throughout the entire body. Some helpful tips for getting better circulation in the body are:

• Take a very short brisk walk inside the house every 2-3 hours.
• Attempt to stretch both the legs and ankles while resting.
• Try and keep away from very long hours lying on your back. Changing the position of your sleep pattern every hour or so is advisable.

Always be hydrated

Blood clots always occur whenever there is enough thick blood in the body that is unable to move as quickly as normal blood does, hence leading to clumps and blockages in the bloodstream. Keeping yourself hydrated can be an incremental aspect for an effective way of cleansing your bloodstream of potential thick blood and stopping the occurrences of blood clots.

• It is recommended that you consume at least 8-10 glasses of water daily to prevent blood clots from occurring.
• In case that is not enough, try and implement some hydration drinks into your diet for better chances.
• Always try to avoid the consumption of caffeine as well as cold drinks during your recovery phase.
• Always consume Anti-inflammatory and Heart Friendly Foods.

A diet is all dependent on the amount of content provided for the body to grow and develop. It can effectively deal with inflammation properly if provided with food items that are meant for getting rid of that very condition, as well as giving the best amount of support for the blood vessels. These food items are all capable of giving out natural anti-inflammatory and anti-clotting properties.

• Garlic has always been a very strong provider of thinning the blood and preventing thick blood from happening.
• Turmeric has a compound within it called Curcumin. This has been presented as a very great natural anti-inflammatory food item.
• Ginger has been important for the reduction of blood clots and has been used in Ayurvedic recipes for the same purpose.

What are some warning signs that should not be ignored?

D-Dimer levels that have been shown to fluctuate quite easily are very prone to have lots of warning signs during or before the fluctuation of levels happens. These signs have been known to be quite apparent most of the time, and are very hard to miss, mostly due to the clots that take place, leading to slower blood circulation throughout the body. Always keep an eye out for these signs:

• Pain in the chest that is both instantaneous and sharp along with lots of difficulty breathing.
• One of your legs swells up with pain and leaves you unable to walk.
• You start experiencing bouts of visible confusion and numbness, and even have some of your vision change instantly.

D-Dimer levels often rise due to inflammation or clotting disorders. Read more about inflammation in Hindi.

Conclusion

Having a lot of blood clots and inflammation that spreads across the body after you have contracted COVID-19 can mean that the D-Dimer levels in your body have been fluctuating a lot more than often. The level of D-Dimer in the body can be the best indicator for how well your body can handle any type of COVID-19 and its variants.

With the proper amount of rest, medications, physical exercise and nutritional diet that the body requires, you will be able to maintain and even control the D-Dimer levels in your body through the correct amount of knowledge you have gained from this educational blog.

D-Dimer assesses clotting risk, while HbA1c tracks diabetes and reads how both tests offer valuable health insights.

Medical Disclaimer – The information that has been written is only to be used for educational purposes. There has been no information presented by this website, be it tests, images and graphics, which should be taken as professional medical advice. Always consult with your doctor regarding any medical advice that may relate to your condition.