Perhaps in a routine check-up or because you had not been feeling well for a long time, you have had a blood test and the result has revealed that you have elevated blood lymphocytes. Well, we will tell you what lymphocytes are, what causes their levels to be high, and when you should worry.
Lymphocytes are white blood cells, a type of immune system cell that are produced in the bone marrow and are found in the blood and lymphatic tissue. Immune cells are responsible for defending our body from pathogens, such as viruses – an example is the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus – bacteria, and even cancer cells. The problem arises when the levels of lymphocytes are not adequate, since if they are too high, what is known as lymphocytosis can occur.
“Lymphocytosis is the increase in the number of lymphocytes, which are mature cells that are competent from the immunological point of view, whose function is to assist in the defense of the organism against infections or other aggressions”, explains the Dr. Victor Jimenez YusteHead of the Hematology Service at the La Paz University Hospital in Madrid and Associate Professor of Hematology at the Autonomous University of Madrid.
Why can the levels of lymphocytes in the blood increase?
The main causes of an increase in lymphocytes in the blood are:
Dr. Jiménez Yuste explains that “the increase in lymphocytes may be due to acute (generally viral) or chronic infections, drug reactions, trauma, major surgery, or situations that put stress on the body. The situations associated with neoplastic pathology of the blood are chronic lymphocytic leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia and lymphomas”.
And he adds that “if the increase in lymphocytes is not excessive, in general it does not usually give symptoms per se and is detected when performing a blood test. The symptoms are usually given by the accompanying pathology where the lymphocytosis is framed”.
Regarding when it is considered that the increase in lymphocytes in the blood can be a pathological sign, it indicates that “the threshold to define pathology is usually around 5 x 109 /L”, so this parameter can be a sign of the presence of any of the diseases mentioned.
How to lower lymphocyte levels
If the above-normal lymphocyte count is due to the body’s natural response to a transient infection or inflammation, its levels will return to a normal range as soon as the underlying health problem is resolved. The doctor may request new blood tests and follow-up to check that the lymphocytes have returned to normal and, if they remain elevated, refer the patient to a specialist in blood diseases to determine the causes, since continuously elevated levels can be of concern when associated with blood cancer.
“In the context of tumor pathology – indicates the Head of the La Paz Hematology Service – to lower lymphocytes, chemotherapy treatments are required, sometimes radiotherapy, in complex therapeutic schemes. If the lymphocytes drop, it means that the treatment is effective. However, even though we do not observe disease in the blood or bone marrow, the possibility of residual disease should be explored through flow cytometry or molecular techniques.”
“The treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia is complex, it is based on chemotherapy schemes, sometimes radiotherapy, which are intensive at the beginning and can last up to 2-3 years later. Healing is closely related to age, being greater than 90% in children and less than 5% healing in elderly patients”, says the specialist.
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