Table of contents:
- What are lymphocytes?
- Types and functions of lymphocytes
- What happens when the lymphocyte levels are high?
- Read the results of the T cell and B cell tests
- How to deal with high lymphocytes?
Lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell that plays an important role in the immune system. These white blood cells can help your body fight bacteria, viruses, and other toxins that make you sick. If the lymphocyte levels are high, it could indicate that your body is fighting a certain disease or infection. How to deal with high lymphocyte levels?
What are lymphocytes?
Lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell that works to defend the body's immunity against foreign substances, such as bacteria, viruses, and even cancer cells. These white blood cells can be found in the blood and lymph (lymph) tissue.
Normal white blood cell levels indicate that your body is in good condition. However, if the level of white blood cells, especially lymphocytes is high, this can indicate that you are infected with a virus or even have certain diseases.
Types and functions of lymphocytes
There are two types of lymphocyte blood cells, namely B cells and T cells. Just like other blood cells, these two types of cells also come from stem cells in the bone marrow. From there, some cells travel to the thymus gland. Cells that travel to the thymus gland are called T cells, while those that remain in the bone marrow are called B cells.
The function of B cells is to make antibodies in the form of proteins produced by the immune system to fight foreign substances known as antigens. Each B cell is regulated to make one specific antibody which, when met with a mismatched antigen, such as a virus or bacteria, destroys the antigen.
Meanwhile, the task of T cells is to help the body kill cancer cells and control the immune response to foreign substances. T cells kill cancer cells and control the immune response to foreign substances by destroying body cells that have been taken over by viruses or body cells that have become cancerous.
Apart from these two types of lymphocyte cells, there is one more type. These third lymphocyte cells are known as natural killer or NK cells. These cells come from the same place as B and T cells. NK cells respond quickly to several foreign substances and specialize in killing cancer cells and other cells that are already infected with the virus.
What happens when the lymphocyte levels are high?
Quoted from the Mayo Clinic, lymphocytosis is a condition in which the level of lymphocytes in the blood becomes high. Normally, normal adult lymphocytes are 3,000 / mcL of blood. Meanwhile, in children, the amount varies depending on their age.
Usually, the normal number of lymphocytes in children is 9,000 / mcL of blood. The normal number of white blood cells generally also has different benchmarks in each laboratory.
High lymphocyte levels generally indicate a problem with your immune system. Usually this condition is found in people who have blood cancer or chronic infections.
Your doctor may need to do some other tests to determine and find out what's really going on with your immune system.
Some of the causes of high lymphocytes include:
- Bacterial or viral infection
- Cancer of the blood or lymphatic system
- Autoimmune disorders that cause advanced (chronic) inflammation
Other causes are:
- Acute lymphocytic leukemia
- Chronic lymphocytic leukemia
- Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection
- HIV / AIDS
- Mononucleosis
- Other viral infections
- Tuberculosis
- Vasculitis (inflammation of blood vessels)
- Whooping cough
Read the results of the T cell and B cell tests
When performing lymphocyte screening or tests, you will see how many T cells and B cells are in the blood. If there are many abnormal cells (too high or low), it may indicate symptoms of disease. In this case, the doctor will likely order other tests to confirm a diagnosis of your blood-related and immune-related disease.
Some conditions that can cause the T cell count to be above normal (too high) include:
- Sexually transmitted diseases, such as syphilis
- Viral infections, such as mononucleosis
- Infections caused by parasites, such as toxoplasmosis
- Tuberculosis
- White blood cell cancer
- Cancer of the blood in the bone marrow
Meanwhile, if the B cells are too high, several conditions could be the cause, including:
- Chronic lymphocytic leukemia
- Multiple myeloma
- A genetic disease known as DiGeorge syndrome
- A type of cancer called Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia
How to deal with high lymphocytes?
Treatment of high lymphocytes depends on the underlying cause. Sometimes high lymphocyte problems are not a sign of seriousness and can go away on their own without any treatment.
If high lymphocytes are caused by a certain condition or disease, treatment will depend on the underlying disease.
Here are treatment options for treating the causes of high lymphocytes:
- Analgesics and / or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). If the high lymphocytes are caused by mononucleosis, your doctor may recommend analgesics and / or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
- Antibiotics, such as azithromycin or clarithromycin if the high lymphocytes are caused by a bacterial infection.
- Cancer treatment (drugs and chemotherapy), if lymphocytosis is caused by cancer.
- Antioxidant diet, such as avocado, green vegetables, carrots, raspberries , citrus fruits, grapes, kale, mushrooms, and tomatoes, can prevent and inhibit the growth of cancer cells.
- Anti-inflammatory diet, such as omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in fatty fish oil, can help reduce inflammation that can lead to high lymphocyte levels.
