What is white blood count

[ladylou]

[lupylucy13]

Hi Ladylou,

It's the number of white blood cells in a sample of blood.The white blood cells fight infection in your body.If you have an infection the count goes up and if you have lupus sometimes the white blood cells are low making you more prone to infection. When you get blood tests at the clinic they always check your full blood count and this includes the total white blood count.There are several different types of white blood cells and they all have a different role to play in fighting infection in the body.The white blood cells form part of the immune system in the body and in lupus the immune sysytem fails to recognise it's own cells and it starts to attack various tissues in the body. Hope that helps a wee bit .

Best Wishes,

Lupy lucy

[Purpletop in reply to lupylucy13]

That's a very good summary, Lucy, accessible and easy to understand, I know all about white blood cells but I doubt I would have been able to express it that succinctly!

[lupylucy13 in reply to Purpletop]

Thanks I am a Nurse so that helps !

Lupylucy

[Phantom2]

Hi, I'm a male 58 and normal count is 4 -11 parts/bits per sample. I run along the lines of 1.2 to 2.3, so have to avoid crowds to prevent infection as above.