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Blood Work Showed Low WBC Count, Ezetrol Ceased. History Of Osteoarthritis, Stem Cell Injection. Connected?

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Posted on Wed, 13 Jun 2012
Question: Hi,
I am a 53 year old male. Ihad bloods done recently and was found to have a slightly low white cell count of 3.7 the neutrophils were 1.5 , my doctor ceased my cholesterol pills ezetrol and One week later the white cells are 3.5 and neutrophils 1.8. I am due for another blood test next week to check. All my other bloods including kidney, liver,crp XXXXXXX were normal.
I feel fine and have had no infections. I have a history of osteoarthritis and had a fat stem cell injection in the knee followed buy platelet XXXXXXX plasma 9 months ago which really helped.
I am worried about the cause of the low white cells?
Your advice is appreciated.
IH
doctor
Answered by Dr. Robert Galamaga (14 hours later)
Hello and thank you for submitting your question.

Your question is a very good one and I will work on providing you with some good information and recommendations regarding what is going on.

From the information you submitted, the main concern is that your white blood cell is slightly below normal or below average. In reviewing your blood tests. It is extremely important to review what your white blood cell count was in the remote past. Along these lines. It is important to review all the blood tests which have been done for you over the past several years. This is important in order to determine if there is some pattern of fluctuation of your white blood cell count.

I am not extremely concerned that you are suffering from any primary marrow disorders such as Leukemia often have a effect on hemoglobin and platelet as well as the white blood cell count.

The question remains as to what the cause of this white blood cell count actually is. There are some situations where autoimmune processes can contribute to a low white blood cell count for a period of time. This is particularly important to consider in people who have disorders such as Rheumatoid Arthritis or Lupus. You mentioned that in your history you do have some degree of Arthritis but this is osteoarthritis unless I am mistaken.

I think, it would be reasonable for you to discuss your case with a Hematologist. A Hematologist can review all of your blood test as well as a study your blood cells under a microscope. This is referred to as a peripheral smear review. Also there are some additional blood tests which may be requested to rule out some type of autoimmune process.

Another consideration for you would be that at some point in the recent past you encountered a viral infection. Sometimes a viral infection can depress the white blood cell count as well as the neutrophil count.

I think it would be important to repeat your complete blood count again in about two weeks. At that point if the white blood cell count is still a bit low, I would strongly encourage you to visit with a Hematologist for a final opinion. One other test which could be considered is a bone marrow biopsy. A bone marrow biopsy allows a pathologist to review all of the blood cells of your body in the most immature forms. The bone marrow is essentially the factory of the immune system and the blood system and a pathologist can find out if there is any issue with the production of your white blood cells.

I thank you again for submitting your question. I hope you found my response to be clear, helpful and informative. If you have any additional concerns I would be happy to address them.

Sincerely,

Dr. Robert
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Jyoti Patil
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Answered by
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Dr. Robert Galamaga

Oncologist

Practicing since :2002

Answered : 2635 Questions

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Blood Work Showed Low WBC Count, Ezetrol Ceased. History Of Osteoarthritis, Stem Cell Injection. Connected?

Hello and thank you for submitting your question.

Your question is a very good one and I will work on providing you with some good information and recommendations regarding what is going on.

From the information you submitted, the main concern is that your white blood cell is slightly below normal or below average. In reviewing your blood tests. It is extremely important to review what your white blood cell count was in the remote past. Along these lines. It is important to review all the blood tests which have been done for you over the past several years. This is important in order to determine if there is some pattern of fluctuation of your white blood cell count.

I am not extremely concerned that you are suffering from any primary marrow disorders such as Leukemia often have a effect on hemoglobin and platelet as well as the white blood cell count.

The question remains as to what the cause of this white blood cell count actually is. There are some situations where autoimmune processes can contribute to a low white blood cell count for a period of time. This is particularly important to consider in people who have disorders such as Rheumatoid Arthritis or Lupus. You mentioned that in your history you do have some degree of Arthritis but this is osteoarthritis unless I am mistaken.

I think, it would be reasonable for you to discuss your case with a Hematologist. A Hematologist can review all of your blood test as well as a study your blood cells under a microscope. This is referred to as a peripheral smear review. Also there are some additional blood tests which may be requested to rule out some type of autoimmune process.

Another consideration for you would be that at some point in the recent past you encountered a viral infection. Sometimes a viral infection can depress the white blood cell count as well as the neutrophil count.

I think it would be important to repeat your complete blood count again in about two weeks. At that point if the white blood cell count is still a bit low, I would strongly encourage you to visit with a Hematologist for a final opinion. One other test which could be considered is a bone marrow biopsy. A bone marrow biopsy allows a pathologist to review all of the blood cells of your body in the most immature forms. The bone marrow is essentially the factory of the immune system and the blood system and a pathologist can find out if there is any issue with the production of your white blood cells.

I thank you again for submitting your question. I hope you found my response to be clear, helpful and informative. If you have any additional concerns I would be happy to address them.

Sincerely,

Dr. Robert