Lymphocytes are above normal - what does it say?

What are lymphocytes? These are cells of the human immune system that are formed by the bone marrow. Such cells are responsible for the most important function in the body - the recognition and extermination of infections and bacteria by the formation of immunity.

Normal is the number of lymphocytes in the blood of any adult within forty percent of the total number of leukocytes. The level of lymphocytes in small children clearly depends on the child's age and can vary with the growth of the child: in a newborn this indicator is in the range of 20 to 25%, for a child who has turned a week - 40-45%, and the worst of the week and up to six years 45 to 65% of lymphocytes are considered normal.

The condition, when lymphocytes are higher than normal, is called lymphocytosis, which is divided into relative and absolute.

Lymphocytosis relative - in this state of the body, the percentage of lymphocytes in the blood increases, but their absolute values in the analysis remain within normal limits. The causes of this condition, when the lymphocytes are higher than normal, are diverse. This can, for example, contribute to any inflammatory process in the body, which is accompanied by purulent formations. With such a pathology, the level of such indicators as leukocytes in the blood test, on the contrary, will be lowered while the lymphocytes are higher than normal. Why is this so? Contribute to all these violations of neutrophils, and the level of lymphocytes in the blood remains at the same level. But at the same time, in the leukocyte picture, the number of lymphocytes is still above the norm. This will be due to a reduction in the number of indicators - neutrophils, and if to put it another way - the percentage ratio of any types of white blood cells will change. Leukocytes include lymphocytes, neutrophils, eosinophils, monocytes and basophils. Relative lymphocytosis - this is the condition, when in the leukocyte formula lymphocytes are higher than the norm in a percentage.

Absolute lymphocytosis - this is where all the number of lymphocytes (their total number) in the picture of blood rises sharply. This pathology may indicate the presence of diseases in which there is increased stimulation of lymphopoiesis.

In medical practice, the most common is absolute lymphocytosis, which is a sign of the following serious diseases:

• Various viral infections, (such as acute respiratory infections, all types of hepatitis, CMV, etc.);
• Tuberculosis (pulmonary or extrapulmonary;
• Lymphatic leukemia - acute or chronic bone marrow tumor;
• Malignant formations of the lymphatic system (sarcoma);
• Increased thyroid function (hyperthyroidism) and other diseases of the endocrine system.

The increased number of lymphocytes in children usually indicates the presence of childhood infectious diseases: such as scarlet fever, measles, chicken pox and others. Still lymphocytosis can be provoked by the reception of individual medical preparations, anemia, malnutrition, neurasthenia and Crohn's disease.

To eliminate the condition, when lymphocytes are above the norm, it is necessary to diagnose a disease that led to a change in normal blood counts. To do this, you must always contact your doctor who should prescribe additional tests to minimize the risk of a diagnostic error. Once the disease is identified, it is necessary to be treated strictly according to the appointment of a specialist. Treatment can be long, it all depends on the present disease. After rehabilitation, repeated tests are mandatory. If there is still an elevated number of lymphocytes in the blood, this indicates that the doctor made a mistake in diagnosing the disease, and the disease that triggered lymphocytosis should be identified further.