Hello all,

First the Numbers:

WBC 3.74
RBC 4.95
BGB 15.3
HCT 44.8
MCV 90.5
MCHC 34.2
Platelet count 163

5-Part Diff
Segmented 52.2
Lymphocyte 28.8
Monocyte 15.8
Eosinophil 2.7
Basophil 0.5

I am a 30 year old male and am somewhat concerned about the low WBC and high monocyte values. Does this jump out at anyone to mean anything?

I AM a chemist and regularly work with solvents such as acetone, benzene, ethylene glycol, methylene chloride etc. Can this lower my WBC?

My MD didn't seem concerned since I was tested about 6 months ago and my WBC value was 3.90. Not very different.

I get sinus infections about once a year for as long as I can remember.

Perhaps the WBC is just me or a result of the organic solvents?

Anyway I am attempting to track down my old medical files and see if the value is staying the same or changing.

If anyone has any insight that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

At my husbands doctors office, the normal range on his blood test for white blood cells is 3.2 to 9.8. thats at duke univ. bone marrow clinic. But i'm not sure about the monocyte. They've never mentioned those to us before. Hope that helped. :)

hello i am new to the boards and have a question for anyone on a cbc what is rdw it is coming back high on report 15.0 can some one explain what the rdw stands for thanks

Hello all,

First the Numbers:

WBC 3.74
RBC 4.95
BGB 15.3
HCT 44.8
MCV 90.5
MCHC 34.2
Platelet count 163

5-Part Diff
Segmented 52.2
Lymphocyte 28.8
Monocyte 15.8
Eosinophil 2.7
Basophil 0.5

I am a 30 year old male and am somewhat concerned about the low WBC and high monocyte values. Does this jump out at anyone to mean anything?

I AM a chemist and regularly work with solvents such as acetone, benzene, ethylene glycol, methylene chloride etc. Can this lower my WBC?

My MD didn't seem concerned since I was tested about 6 months ago and my WBC value was 3.90. Not very different.

I get sinus infections about once a year for as long as I can remember.

Perhaps the WBC is just me or a result of the organic solvents?

Anyway I am attempting to track down my old medical files and see if the value is staying the same or changing.

If anyone has any insight that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
The monocytes are a bit wee high. They indicate that you either have an infection and your body is putting up a really good fight, or something else more concerning is developing. It would be a good idea to have your doctor to re-do your blood tests and to have a hematologist to do an in-depth look at your blood cells, particularly the monocytes. They are easy to spot under microscope and a manual count would be in order. The machine count is usually accurate but does not describe the nucleus of the cells which you would want to know about from your hemo. This is IF the next test is still off.

hello i am new to the boards and have a question for anyone on a cbc what is rdw it is coming back high on report 15.0 can some one explain what the rdw stands for thanksRDW stands for red cell distribution width. This is how far apart the cells are from each other in one drop of blood. This reading tells you that either there are not enough blood cells in the sample or that the cells are too small. otherwise, a normal reading(within the laboratory range) means everything is ok. An abnormal reading usually reflects a type of anemia. Most of these blood tests by themselves mean nothing. It is a collection of information that is used together with other symptoms and tests.

Marimac,

What do you mean by "more concerning"? Anything in particular that's make the
monocytes high?

Thanks again!

Marimac,

What do you mean by "more concerning"? Anything in particular that's make the
monocytes high?

Thanks again!
Monocytes are supposed to phagocytize(consume and destroy) bacteria, infection or other harmful cells to the body. If you have an immune disorder, not necessarily AIDS, or Acute monocytic Leukemia, the monocytes will go high. However, there has to be extremely thorough testing and elimination of more simple and less dangerous causes first.

Marimac,

Thanks again for the info. I am in the process of tracking down my old records and
prior CBC results to see if those are just my normal ranges or if there is a trend.

As they say, "A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing."

I will get another CBC soon and look at those as well.

If you don't mind me asking, I was wondering what your background is.
Are you a self-taught genius or a MD?

Thanks so much,

Whale

OK got some data:

1996 / WBC 4.60 ( no differentials taken)

2001 / WBC 8.20 (differentials normal)

2002 / WBC 4.70 (differentials normal)

December 2003 / WBC 3.90 (no differentials taken)

March 2004 / WBC 3.75 (differentials normal except monocytes high at 15)

Does this mean anything to anyone?

Can a WBC be all over the map like this?

Thanks and I'll get a follow-up CBC within one month.

--Whale

Well some good news, *I think*

Had another CBC today (April 21) and the WBC was 4.9.
The neutrophils were 70%, lymphocytes 20%, and monocytes were down to 10%.

It was just a machine count but the numbers seem to be my normal range anyway.

Thanks again,
whale

Hi---it was of interest to me to see your post as I was going to see if someone could educate me about the same thing after getting my lab test results last week. My WBC was "out of range" (by my clinic's standard) by .01 at 4.9 and the monocytes also were by 2.0 at 10.0. After doing some research I found that they can be out of whack by something so simple as a bruise or a slight infection. For me, I think it had to do with the fact that I had a schlerotherapy treatment on my spider veins 2 days prior to the test. I am still going to check with my Dr. to be sure that this is the case. Still, low white blood cell count is far better than a high one.