What are the symptoms of low white blood cell count? It turns out to be like this

Low white blood cell count is a common condition that people encounter when doing blood tests. When many people see the test report, they will wonder, what symptoms in daily life indicate that the white blood cell count is low? In fact, the symptoms of low white blood cell count are mostly manifested as local redness, swelling, heat and pain, and some are also accompanied by dizziness, fatigue, etc.

White blood cells are the "sentinels" of our body's defense against bacterial invasion. When bacteria invade, they enter the invaded area, surround, engulf and destroy the bacteria. This area may become red, swollen, hot and painful, and we know that there is inflammation. This is not a bad thing. At least it shows that the "sentinels" in your body are working. What we should be afraid of is that although the body is infected, there are too few "sentinels" and they cannot fight the bacteria, so the infected area is not red or swollen. This generally only happens in people who are very weak, have been ill for a long time, or are very old.

In this case, low white blood cell count is a problem. If it is lower than 4000, it can be diagnosed as leukocytopenia. If the leukocytopenia is accompanied by a decrease in red blood cells and platelets, it is necessary to further investigate the cause, because this indicates that there may be a problem with the bone marrow that "produces" these cells. If necessary, a bone marrow examination should be done to rule out blood diseases, but this is a minority after all.

If there is only a slight or occasional decrease, and there is no further decrease during re-examination, and there are no symptoms, then no treatment is needed, because there is another reason for leukocytopenia that most people are not familiar with. It is not a small number of white blood cells, but a small release of white blood cells. In layman's terms, many white blood cells in the blood are hiding, just like the army hiding in the mountains and forests to prepare for war in peacetime. When we draw blood, we draw the "sentinels" on the battlefield, and those hiding are naturally not drawn, so the white blood cell count will be low during the blood test.

In order to confirm that their white blood cells are not less but are hiding, the doctor will give them an injection of "epinephrine". "Epinephrine" can constrict blood vessels, thereby driving out the white blood cells attached to the walls of the blood vessels. If a blood test is done at this time, the number of white blood cells will immediately increase by 1 to 2 times. This is medically called "pseudo-leukopenia". Because it is a false decrease, it is not related to the overall situation and does not require treatment.

Let's talk about traditional Chinese medicine again. For people with leukopenia, if they have other symptoms, such as dizziness, fatigue, and recurrent oral ulcers, Chinese medicine generally diagnoses it as qi deficiency and will use the astragalus mentioned above. The effect of astragalus is very similar to that of injecting "epinephrine", both of which increase the feeling of positive energy. The only difference is that Astragalus is not as intense as adrenaline, but it has a lasting effect in increasing functions. The symptoms that accompany it will naturally improve as well.