Adults (Westergren method):

• Men under 50 years old: less than 15 mm/hr
• Men over 50 years old: less than 20 mm/hr
• Women under 50 years old: less than 20 mm/hr
• Women over 50 years old: less than 30 mm/hr

Children (Westergren method):

• Newborn: 0 to 2 mm/hr
• Neonatal to puberty: 3 to 13 mm/hr

Note: mm/hr. = millimeters per hour

An increased ESR rate may be due to:

• Anemia
• Endocarditis
• Kidney disease
• Osteomyelitis
• Pregnancy
• Rheumatic fever
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Syphilis
• Systemic lupus erythematosus
• Thyroid disease
• Tuberculosis
• Other inflammatory conditions

Very high ESR levels occur with:

• Body-wide (systemic) infection
• Giant cell arteritis
• Hyperfibrinogenemia (increased fibrinogen levels in the blood)
• Multiple myeloma
• Macroglobulinemia - primary
• Necrotizing vasculitis
• Polymyalgia rheumatica

Lower-than-normal levels occur with:

• Congestive heart failure
• Hyperviscosity
• Hypofibrinogenemia (decreased fibrinogen levels)
• Low plasma protein (due to liver or kidney disease)
• Polycythemia
• Sickle cell anemia

Additional conditions that may affect test results:

• Allergic vasculitis
• Atrial myxoma
• Autoimmune hepatitis
• Endometritis
• Eosinophilic fasciitis
• Erysipelas
• Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
• Legionnaire's disease
• Osteomyelitis
• Pelvic inflammatory disease
• Pericarditis after a heart attack
• Retroperitoneal fibrosis
• Skin lesion of blastomycosis
• Subacute thyroiditis
• Scleroderma