Question

Your sister Sue has not been feeling well so she went to see her doctor. Her doctor had her go to the lab and have several blood tests done. Sue is anxious to know what is wrong so she picks up a copy of the lab report. Sue comes to you in hopes that you can help her understand the report. The following are the results of the lab report.

Value Range WBC H 12 [4.4-10.5] x10 3/mm3 RBC 4 [3.75-5.00] x10 6/mm3 Hemoglobin L 10 [11.4-14.7] G/DL Hematocrit 35 [34.3-45.5] % Platelet count 300 [139-361] x10 3/mm3

Which values of this part of the report are out of the normal range? And are the values low or high?

Why might each value be at these levels?

Here is another portion of the lab report.

Value Range Neutrophils 60.0 [50.0-70.0] % Lymphocytes 35.0 [20.5-45.0] % Monocytes 6.0 [1-15] % Eosinophils H 7.0 [0-5] % Basophils 1.75 [0-2] %

Which value is out of the normal range? And is it high or low?

Why might the value be at this level?

As you are talking with Sue she tells you that she recently came back from a jungle trip in the tropics. Also, when she left on her trip she forgot to take her iron supplements with her. From this bit of the conversation can you give her anymore help? If so, what can you tell her?

Answer 1

First portion of the report:

WBC -High , It is may be due to :

A high white blood cell count isn't a specific disease in itself, but it can indicate an underlying problem, such as infection, stress, inflammation, trauma, allergy, or certain diseases.

​​​​​​Hb - Low ,It is may be due to - Forget iron supplement.

Low hemoglobin levels usually indicate that a person has anemia. ... This form of anemia occurs when a person does not have enough iron in their body, and it cannot make the hemoglobin it needs. Anemia is usually caused by blood loss, but can also be due to poor absorption of iron.

Another portion of the report :

Eosinophile - High ,It is may be due to

Eosinophils are a type of disease-fighting white blood cell. This condition most often indicates a parasitic infection, an allergic reaction or cancer. You can have high levels of eosinophils in your blood (blood eosinophilia) or in tissues at the site of an infection or inflammation (tissue eosinophilia).