blood test

[beattie819]

Blood test results show my white cells are low.
I wondered what this might mean. I dont want to start looking it up in too much detail at the moment, as I might frighten myself too much. I will be seeing my doctor soon, but have to have a chest xray first. Thanks for you help.

[sqad617]

Many causes, including infections, as the commonest.

Why not wait untill you have had your chest X-Ray and your GP will put you in the picture

[whifffey]

How low?

The normal range for white cells in an adult is around about 4.5-10.0 x 10^9 / litre. This is for 95% of the population, therefore 1 in 20 people can be expected to fall outside this range and still be normal.

A count of 3.9 may mean nothing, a count of <1.0 definitely does.

There is a huge number of reasons for variation in white cell count, e.g. merely running for a bus will send your count up. A low count? Again many many reasons, viral infection is one, but it looks as though nobody is panicking which is reasssuring.