“Low WBC?”
I'm a 55 yo Japanese woman with a low White Blood Cell count of 2,800 and have no symptoms of Leukopenia. My WBC has gone down steadily from 5,100 in 2013 to 2,800 in 2021. Is this normal for a person like me? And what will I expect as a diagnosis from the hematologist?
Female | 55 years old
Complaint duration: 8 years
Medications: none
Conditions: Normal healthy
3 Answers
To answer the first question, no is not normal. WBC = white blood cells: most of the time indicates that you are fighting infection or inflammation. Normal range is 4,500 to 11,000 WBCs per microliter (4.5 to 11.0 x 109/L). There are three major classifications of WBCs. The main purpose oof WBCs, are to recognize intruders:
1. Monocytes – They have the longer lifespan than other WBCs. They help to break down bacteria.
2. Lymphocytes – They create antibodies to fight against bacteria, viruses, and other invaders to the body.
3. Granulocytes – They kill and digest bacteria, fungi, and many other things. Neutrophils, Eosinophils and Basophils are a subset of granulocytes. Basophils are mainly responsible for allergens. Eosinophils are responsible for parasitic infections. Common causes of low white blood cells count are cancer treatment, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, medicines, cancers like leukemia, infection autoimmune conditions like arthritis. A very low WBC count over time means that you can get infection easily. Antibiotics to treat infection is necessary. There are medicines that boot your white blood cells. Please, get in touch with your health care provider or contact a hematologist oncologist to follow you and he or she will do the necessary test to find your etiological diagnosis. Thank you.
1. Monocytes – They have the longer lifespan than other WBCs. They help to break down bacteria.
2. Lymphocytes – They create antibodies to fight against bacteria, viruses, and other invaders to the body.
3. Granulocytes – They kill and digest bacteria, fungi, and many other things. Neutrophils, Eosinophils and Basophils are a subset of granulocytes. Basophils are mainly responsible for allergens. Eosinophils are responsible for parasitic infections. Common causes of low white blood cells count are cancer treatment, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, medicines, cancers like leukemia, infection autoimmune conditions like arthritis. A very low WBC count over time means that you can get infection easily. Antibiotics to treat infection is necessary. There are medicines that boot your white blood cells. Please, get in touch with your health care provider or contact a hematologist oncologist to follow you and he or she will do the necessary test to find your etiological diagnosis. Thank you.
He may do a bone marrow and/or genetic testing. Decreasing WBC not normal.
RB Thomas, MD
RB Thomas, MD
Without any symptoms, it could be normal, but I usually track and trend the abc to make sure it is stable and also make sure the other parts of the cbc are normal. In addition, I usually rule out nutritional deficiencies and infections or medications as other potential causes of low wbc.
