Recent blood work, raised eosinophil count!

[Glen68]

I'm going for a nasal polyp removal operation next week (Private) and I needed a blood test and cardioelectrogram prior.

There were some minor values 0.01 up or down on 2 or 3 values mostly inflammation indicators. However, Eosinophil count was 0.5 x10*3ul which was beyond range according to the pdf sent.

Is this related to my asthma and rhinitis?

Seeing the Doc Friday?

[Poobah]

Some asthmatics have a high eosinophil phenotype and nasal polyps can also be part of the disease. These white blood cells are part of the immune system and a raised count is part of the reason why you have inflammation of the respiratory system. Not all eosinophilic asthma leads to nasal polyps. Frustratingly, even though both the asthma and nasal polyps have the same root cause, in clinical practice, the nose and the lungs are treated as separate entities despite being part of the respiratory system.

Standard treatment includes Montelukast, steroid nasal spray or rinses and if the case is severe enough, biologics. If aspirin sensitivity is diagnosed as part of the chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, then a low Omega 6 diet is beneficial, along with avoidance of preservatives, sulphites, food colourings and NSAIDs (aspirin, ibuprofen).

[Glen68 in reply to Poobah]

Yes, I was hospitalised with a reaction to Ibuprofen, so I tick all the boxes.

Thanks for the reply.

[Grimlock88 in reply to Glen68]

Sounds like you may have AERD.

[Glen68 in reply to Grimlock88]

Yes, been diagnosed with it.

[Poobah in reply to Glen68]

I stumbled across a very useful website dedicated to Aspirin Exacerbated Respiratory Disease and it's chocked full of up to date information. Brigham Women's Hospital in Boston is the only centre doing research into AERD and they run the website. It includes important information on diet - that has really helped me get on top of the condition.

There's a link to the Facebook group on the website and that's also very helpful. I'm amazed how many fellow sufferers there are. It's especially good for listing specialists who understand AERD and how to treat it. Apologies if you're already aware of the website.

samterssociety.org/

[peege in reply to Poobah]

Thank you, I'll read up on that later, it looks to be very useful.