These are the reasons why white blood cell count is high!

Many people are told that their white blood cell count is high during the physical examination. In fact, the high cell count may be due to an increase in white blood cells in the blood and urine, which leads to high white blood cell count and affects normal blood routine. Some cells may even be high. These problems are relatively serious and require relevant inspections and precautions to be carried out in daily life for reasonable control and prevention.

Causes of high white blood cell count

When there is inflammation, the number of white blood cells in the blood and urine will increase. There are also some blood diseases where the white blood cell count may increase.

In addition, doctors often need to analyze the white blood cell status in the blood routine to determine whether the patient has an infection.

Generally speaking, infection can cause an increase in white blood cells. However, an increase in certain white blood cells does not necessarily mean that there is an infection. Many physiological factors can cause an increase in the total white blood cell count. For example: strenuous exercise; physical labor; long-term exposure to cold air in winter; a full meal or shower often results in a slight increase in white blood cells.

What causes high white blood cell count?

Physiological increase in white blood cells is also seen in emotional stress, hypoglycemia when hungry, etc. However, physiological leukocytosis is temporary and will recover quickly once the influencing factors are removed. The mechanism of production may be that when stimulated by various physiological factors, the secretion of catecholamines in the body increases, causing marginal leukocytes to enter the circulation. Many drugs can cause an increase in the total white blood cell count.

For example: certain antibiotics such as erythromycin, cefuroxime, etc.; catecholamines such as epinephrine, norepinephrine, metaraminol, dopamine, etc.; in addition, adrenal cortical hormones such as hydrocortisone, dexamethasone, and adrenocorticotropic hormone can all cause an increase in the total white blood cell count.

The antipsychotic drug lithium carbonate can also cause an increase in the white blood cell count. In short, an increase in white blood cell count in a routine blood test is not necessarily due to an infection, it may be due to the above-mentioned physiological factors or drugs. The white blood cell count may also increase in patients with blood diseases.