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WBC: how low is too low?


kpfleger

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I wrote a document exploring some of the data available on the issue of how low is too low for WBC, a topic that has come up here before. If anyone has any other studies to suggest that bear on the issue of health outcomes for WBC levels < 3.5, please send me the links. Thanks. Here is the document:

 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lTA6105wJ4MNMRMmXZrEKYK5X2UXkRRwFmaGuixfz0I/edit?usp=sharing

 

Joel Fuhrman likes to advocate that lower WBC is almost always good and reassures people eating his (CR-like) dietary style who have below-normal WBC that that is okay (it is "normal" for healthy eating). I looked at all 8 studies he has cited to defend this position as my starting point for the document, also looking at a link about lower WBC in vegans in general. Then I added one study Dean P. had pointed out on these forums.

 

I have not gone through these forums comprehensively to find all relevant studies, nor done general lit searches, so if anyone knows anything else that should be included, I'm happy to stick it in. Thanks!

 

Karl

 

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Hi Karl,

 

Many thanks for providing your document.  It's a great question and one for which I would also like  better answers.

 

An article you might add to your mix:  http://www.aging-us.com/article/100994/text

 

My WBC has been chronically low for years, varying from 2.3 - 3.8.  As a result, I have been evaluated and tested multiple times looking for possible cause(s).  Nothing has ever been found.  I don't get sick or infections and have (mostly) stopped worrying about it. ;-)

 

Thanks,

 

- Pea

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Thank you for the link, but in that study, neither the control nor CR groups had WBC drop below normal range.

 

FYI, Chronic Idiopathic Neutropenia in Adults (CINA) is sometimes used as the medical phrase for when neutrophils are chronically low with no particular known cause. If it's your neutrophils that are low, you could Google it. Many people seems to live that way just fine. If they are too low, there is a substance that you can take to raise them and some people need to be more careful about going on antibiotics quickly in the event of bacterial infections.

 

If it's the lymphs that are low, I assume there is a name for that and a chronic idiopathic version there too, but haven't Google'd it.

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