Common Causes
Medications that can cause leukopenia include: bupropion (Wellbutrin) clozapine (Clozaril) cyclosporine (Sandimmune) interferons. lamotrigine (Lamictal) minocycline (Minocin) mycophenolate mofetil (CellCept) penicillin.
Related Conditions
Drugs that may decrease WBC counts include antibiotics, anticonvulsants, antihistamine, antithyroid drugs, arsenicals, barbiturates, chemotherapeutic agents, diuretics and sulfonamides. Normal values. WBC – 4,500 to 10,000 cells/mcl. Can medicine lower white blood cell count? Infection: Viruses can affect your bone marrow and cause low WBCs ...
What medications cause leukopenia?
- Anxiety
- blurred or double vision
- breast pain (in females)
- burning or prickling feeling on the skin
- confusion
- diarrhea
- difficulty with speaking
- drowsiness
- increased urge to urinate
- loss of appetite
What drugs lower WBC?
You should worry about Low Lymphocytes when you have had them checked, they are low and stay low for an extended period of time. If a blood test called a Lymphocyte Differential shows you have fewer than 500 cells/mm³. If a blood test called a Complete Blood Count shows you have fewer than 4,000 cells/mm³
What are side effects or symptons of leukopenia?
When to worry about low lymphocytes?
How is mild leukopenia treated?
Your treatment options will vary depending on what is causing leukopenia. Treatments include: Discontinuing treatment that causes low white blood cell counts – Can include medications, chemotherapy or radiation. Growth factor therapy – Treatment derived from bone marrow that can stimulate white blood cell production.
Is mild leukopenia serious?
Because leukopenia involves low levels of infection-fighting immune cells, it can cause some potentially serious complications if left untreated. Some of the complications of leukopenia include: needing to delay cancer treatment because of a mild infection.
When should I worry about leukopenia?
Leukopenia that develops acutely should prompt an evaluation for drug-induced agranulocytosis, acute infections, or acute leukemia. Leukopenia that develops over weeks to months should prompt an evaluation for a chronic infection or primary bone marrow disorder.
What does it mean mild leukopenia?
A low white blood cell count (leukopenia) is a decrease in disease-fighting cells (leukocytes) in your blood. Leukopenia is almost always related to a decrease in a certain type of white blood cell (neutrophil). The definition of low white blood cell count varies from one medical practice to another.
What can cause mild leukopenia?
A low white blood cell count usually is caused by: Viral infections that temporarily disrupt the work of bone marrow. Certain disorders present at birth (congenital) that involve diminished bone marrow function. Cancer or other diseases that damage bone marrow.
What viruses cause leukopenia?
Conditions that may cause leukopenia infection, such as influenza, HIV, and hepatitis. inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) granulomatosis with polyangiitis, which is a condition that causes the inflammation of the blood vessels.
What medications cause leukopenia?
Among the drugs that can cause leukopenia are antithyroid drugs, chemotherapy agents, antimetabolites, phenothiazines, antihypertensives, antihistamines, monoclonal antibody drugs, antivirals, anticonvulsants, antipsychotics, anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, and alkylating agents.
What cancers cause low WBC?
Low white blood cell count. Some cancer treatments, mainly chemotherapy, may lower your body's white blood cells. Cancers that affect the blood and bone marrow can also lower the count. These types of cancers include leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma.
What foods to avoid if you have low white blood cells?
If you have neutropenia, you should avoid raw meat, eggs and fish, moldy or expired food, unwashed or moldy fruit and vegetables, and unpasteurized beverages, including fruit and vegetable juice, beer, milk, as well as unpasteurized honey. Fruits and Vegetables should be washed thoroughly before you eat them.
Is leukopenia life threatening?
Leukopenia isn't painful or an event that is dangerous on its own, but it increases your risk of developing a severe, possibly life-threatening condition.
What is an alarming WBC count?
In general, for adults a count of more than 11,000 white blood cells (leukocytes) in a microliter of blood is considered a high white blood cell count.
Is 2.9 WBC too low?
A white blood cell count of less than 4,000 cells per microliter of blood is considered low. Sometimes a low white blood cell count is something you are born with (a genetic condition), which may or may not be a cause for concern.
What are some examples of leukopenia?
Blood cell and bone marrow conditions: These can lead to leukopenia. Examples include aplastic anemia, overactive spleen, and myelodysplastic syndromes. Cancer: Leukemia and other cancers may damage the bone marrow and lead to leukopenia. Infectious diseases: Examples include HIV, AIDS, and tuberculosis.
Which disease is more likely to cause leukopenia?
Infectious diseases: Examples include HIV, AIDS, and tuberculosis. According to a 2015 study, women with tuberculosis are more likely to develop leukopenia than men.
What causes leukopenia in the bone marrow?
Causes. There are several medical conditions that cause leukopenia by interfering with the production of white blood cells in the bone marrow. Other conditions cause leukopenia by destroying white blood cells rather than affecting their production. Leukopenia may also be the result of some treatments and medications.
What is the difference between leukopenia and neutrophils?
However, they refer to slightly different conditions. Leukopenia is an umbrella term that refers to a reduction in any of the white blood cell types. Neutropenia is a type of leukopenia but refers specifically to a decrease in neutrophils, the most common type of white blood cell. A person’s neutrophil count is an important indicator ...
Why are leukocytes important?
Leukocytes are a vital part of the immune system. People who have leukopenia have fewer white blood cells than they should. This makes them more likely to get infections. This article explores the effect leukopenia has on the body, what causes it, and the treatment options available.
What is the condition where a person has a reduced number of white blood cells?
Leukopenia is a condition where a person has a reduced number of white blood cells. This increases their risk of infections. A person’s blood is made up of many different types of blood cells. White blood cells, also known as leukocytes, help to fight off infection. Leukocytes are a vital part of the immune system.
How many white blood cells are in a microliter?
A healthy white blood cell count is between 3,500 and 11,000 white blood cells per microliter. A person with leukopenia may have fewer than 3,500 white blood cells per microliter.
What is leukopenia in medicine?
Diagnosis. Treatment. Leukopenia is the medical term that is used to describe a low white blood cell (leukocyte) count. Depending on the severity, leukopenia may increase the risk of infections, sometimes to a serious degree. There are many possible causes, including medications, infections, autoimmune conditions, cancer, vitamin deficiencies, ...
How to tell if you have leukopenia?
Warning signs for potential leukopenia include frequent infections, infections that won't resolve, a general feeling of being ill, and inflammation or ulcers in or around the mouth. Symptoms of infection may include: Fever, chills, and/or night sweats. Headache or stiff neck. Sore throat.
What causes leukopenia in developed countries?
In developed countries, drug induced leukopenia is most common, and can be caused by different mechanisms depending on whether the drug injures bone marrow or results in autoimmunity that causes the breakdown of the cells. Worldwide, malnutrition (leading to decreased production) is most common.
Why does leukopenia occur?
With sepsis, an overwhelming body-wide bacterial infection, leukopenia may occur as available white blood cells are "used up" fighting the infection.
What is benign neutropenia?
Benign ethnic neutropenia (also called physiologic leukopenia or constitutional neutropenia) is an inherited condition in which a person has a low white blood cell count. These lower white blood cell counts are a very common cause of apparent neutropenia in people of African, Middle Eastern, or West Indian heritage. The hallmark of benign ethnic neutropenia is that even though the white blood cell count is below the normal range, these people do not have an increased risk of infection. 1
Why is it important to have a low white blood cell count?
An isolated low level of some types of white blood cells may also be important in predicting the presence of or severity of a disease. Neutropenia: A low level of neutrophils is often the most concerning of the leukopenia due to the risk of infection.
What causes leukopenia?
Protein-calorie malnutrition is a common cause of leukopenia resulting from inadequate production of leukocytes.
What is leukopenia?
White blood cells (WBCs) are an important part of the immune system, which is why they are called as "fighter cells". There are five different types of white blood cells (WBCs) in our body. They are neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, monocytes, and lymphocytes. Each type of WBC has a specific role in fighting infections.
What happens when you have leukopenia?
However, most of these parasites are taken care of by our immune system. When you have leukopenia, your body becomes more vulnerable to a number of infections.
What is the normal white blood cell count?
A normal white blood cell count is usually 4,500 to 10,000 WBCs per microliter of blood. Leukopenia is usually caused by an impaired bone marrow function. Search.
Why do people with cancer have low WBC?
1) Cancer. People with cancer tend to have a low WBC count because of their cancer treatment. When chemotherapy drugs are given, the WBC count can significantly go down. Moreover, when there is bone marrow cancer, only a few neutrophils are produced, leading to leukopenia.
What is the most common form of leukopenia?
Neutropenia is the most common form of leukopenia. Both of these terms are interchangeably used. Neutropenia refers to a form of leukopenia, wherein there is a significant decrease in the count of neutrophils. Neutrophils are the primary defenders of the body’s immune system.
What drugs can cause leukopenia?
Drugs such as antihistamines or anti-rejection medications are meant to decrease the immune response and can have similar effects causing leukopenia.
What causes low RBC count?
Such conditions are attributed to an impaired bone marrow function. A low RBC count can cause fatigue, dizziness, pale skin, leg cramps, breathlessness, poor concentration, and a lack of sleep leading to insomnia.
What does it mean when your white blood cell count is low?
Definition. A low white blood cell count (leukopenia) is a decrease in disease-fighting cells (leukocytes) in your blood. Leukopenia is almost always related to a decrease in a certain type of white blood cell (neutrophil).
What is considered low white blood cell count?
In general, for adults a count lower than 4,000 white blood cells per microliter of blood is considered a low white blood cell count. For children, that threshold varies with age.
What causes leukopenia?
Viral Infection : Viruses can cause leukopenia by both slowing the function of bone marrow and by killing off white blood cells. The most telling example of this function is HIV and AIDS, which can kill off and devastate the body’s white blood cells if allowed to act freely.
What Causes Low White Blood Cell Count?
When you are sick, production is ramped up as a countermeasure. Consequently, conditions that can cause leukopenia are ones that either kill leukocytes faster than they can be produced or which interfere with the bone marrow in some way.
How many leukocytes are normal?
The exact threshold that marks leukopenia varies by age and other demographic factors. In adults, 4,000 leukocytes per milliliter of blood is considered to be a low count, with 4,500 to 10,000 cells being considered normal. Whether leukopenia is actually something to be concerned about can vary depending on your individual circumstances.
What are some ways to lower white blood cells?
Medication or Other Treatments: Some medicines, like antibiotics or diuretic drugs, can temporarily lower the level of white blood cells in the body. Chemotherapy and radiation treatments are also capable of causing leukopenia because they are used to kill fast-growing cells and leukocytes can get caught in the way.
What happens if you have low red blood cells?
Here are some to look out for. Anemia: A low red blood cell count (anemia) can often occur alongside leukopenia as the body begins to lose red blood cells without enough white blood cells to protect them. This results in fatigue, shortness of breath, dizziness, difficulty concentrating, pale skin, leg cramps, and insomnia.
What is it called when you have a period that is not a result of menstruation?
Abnormal Periods: Women with leukopenia may experience heavier or more prolonged menstrual bleeding, along with a symptom called metrorrhagia, which is bleeding from the uterus that is not a result of menstruation.
What happens when your white blood cell count drops?
As white blood cell count drops, these buggers can get more active and create sores along the intestinal lining. Parasites: There are a surprisingly large number of parasites that you encounter on a daily basis, but most are shrugged off or killed. With leukopenia, you become more vulnerable to infection.
What is the cause of anemia and leukopenia?
Hypersplenism is a disorder that causes the spleen to prematurely destroy blood cells, which leads to anemia and leukopenia. The function of the spleen is to get rid of old blood cells in the body, but in the case of an overactive spleen, the process of cell removal accelerates even when the cells are still properly functioning.
What drugs cause leukopenia?
Immunosuppressive drugs for transplant patients such as sirolimus, tacrolimus, cyclosporine, and mycophenolate mofetil. Antibiotics such as minocycline and penicillin may also cause leukopenia. 8. Autoimmune Disorders/Diseases of the Immune System.
What is myelokathexis?
Myelokathexis - It is an inherited WBC disorder that causes severe leukopenia and neutropenia.
What is the medical term for the decrease in the number of white blood cells in the body?
Key Takeaways. Leukopenia is the medical term for the decrease in the number of white blood cells in the body. White blood cells are manufactured in the bone marrow. Thus, any condition affecting the bone marrow will likely cause leukopenia. Having leukopenia makes the body vulnerable to infections.
Why is bone marrow cancer so low?
In bone marrow cancer, can be a very low production of neutrophils, which leads to leukopenia. The bone marrow is suppressed during chemotherapy and radiation, which is why people undergoing cancer treatments are more susceptible to infections.
What is the medical term for a low white blood cell count?
Leukopenia . Leukopenia is the medical term for a low white blood cell count. Even though there is a debate over the number of white blood cells present in the blood, it is believed that in every microliter of blood, the number of white blood cells should not be less than 3,500. Between sexes, it may vary.
Why do WBCs get depleted?
The body’s WBCs may get depleted due to severe infections. Some severe infections can cause life-threatening complications called sepsis.
