Have you had a blood test and aren’t sure what values for platelets may be optimal for health? The reference range is 150-400 platelets per nanoliter (*10^9/L). Within that range, what’s optimal?

In a study of 21,635 adults older than 35y (average age wasn’t reported) with a 7.6-year follow-up, platelets between 230-270 was associated with maximally reduced risk of death from all causes (Bonaccio et al. 2016):

In a study of 21, 252 adults (average age 53y) with an average follow-up of 3.5y, values ~250 were associated with maximally reduced risk of death from all causes Vinholt et al. (2017) :

What about in older adults? In a study of 159, 746 postmenopausal women (average age, 63y) with a 16-year follow up, maximally reduced risk of death from all causes was associated with platelet values between 200-256 (Kabat et al. 2017).

In a study of 36, 262 older adults (average age, 71y) with an 11-year follow-up, platelet values ~250 were associated with maximally reduced risk for all-cause mortality. Interestingly, even at platelet values ~250, mortality risk was highest for non-Hispanic whites, when compared with non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics (Msaouel et al. 2014):

In 5,766 older adults (average age, 73y) that were followed for 12-15 years, values higher than 200-300 had an increased risk of death from all causes (van der Bom et al 2009). Risk for values between 100-199 was not different when compared against 200-299, but there was a non-significant trend towards increased risk (1.05, 95% CI: 0.97, 1.14).

In 131,308 older adults (~73y) with a 6-yr follow-up, maximally reduced risk of death from all causes was associated with values between 200-300, whereas risk significantly increased below and above that range, respectively Tsai et al. (2015):

In sum, the data suggests that platelet values ~250 may be optimal for heath, with 200-300 as the “optimal range” within the 150-400 reference range. What are your values?

 

If you’re interested, please have a look at my book!

 

References

Bonaccio M, Di Castelnuovo A, Costanzo S, De Curtis A, Donati MB, Cerletti C, de Gaetano G, Iacoviello L; MOLI-SANI Investigators. Age-sex-specific ranges of platelet count and all-cause mortality: prospective findings from the MOLI-SANI study. Blood. 2016 Mar 24;127(12):1614-6.

Kabat GC, Kim MY, Verma AK, Manson JE, Lin J, Lessin L, Wassertheil-Smoller S, Rohan TE. Platelet count and total and cause-specific mortality in the Women’sHealth Initiative. Ann Epidemiol. 2017 Apr;27(4):274-280.

Msaouel P, Lam AP, Gundabolu K, Chrysofakis G, Yu Y, Mantzaris I, Friedman E, Verma A. Abnormal platelet count is an independent predictor of mortality in the elderly and is influenced by ethnicity. Haematologica. 2014 May;99(5):930-6.

Tsai MT, Chen YT, Lin CH, Huang TP, Tarng DC; Taiwan Geriatric Kidney Disease Research Group. U-shaped mortality curve associated with platelet count among older people: a community-based cohort study. Blood. 2015 Sep 24;126(13):1633-5.

van der Bom JG, Heckbert SR, Lumley T, Holmes CE, Cushman M, Folsom AR, Rosendaal FR, Psaty BM. Platelet count and the risk for thrombosis and death in the elderly. J Thromb Haemost. 2009 Mar;7(3):399-405.

Vinholt PJ, Hvas AM, Frederiksen H, Bathum L, Jørgensen MK, Nybo M. Thromb Res.Platelet count is associated with cardiovascular disease, cancer and mortality: A population-based cohort study. 2016 Dec;148:136-142.