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What are monocytes? What role do they play in the human body? Why do monocytes rise? Is it a harbinger of serious diseases such as leukemia? The question is answered by the drug. Paweł Żmuda-Trzebiatowski.
What can elevated monocytes indicate?
Good day. I am a mother of a 2-year-old girl. A few days ago we were on a blood count recommended by a family doctor, concerned about the fact that our daughter is a bit too short for her age. It turned out that my little one has some elevated blood monocytes. I must admit that I am very concerned. I was looking for information on the Internet and one of the websites suggested that elevated monocytes in a child may even herald the development of leukemia or lymphoma. Is it true?!
Does your daughter’s elevated monocytes automatically mean that something is already wrong? Currently, my daughter is still at the teething stage. Could it be related to elevated monocytes? A colleague from work comforts me that this should not be a reason for panic, as some children go through this difficult time in this way.
Thank you in advance for your answer and possibly other reliable sources of information from which I could learn more about this topic. Thank you for your response.
The doctor points out the reasons for the increased level of monocytes in the child’s blood
Ladies and Gentlemen, unfortunately the term “slightly elevated monocytes” is a very general term that does not provide much information. You should give an exact one the number of monocytes preferably, provide a complete blood count. Additionally, information on the child’s health should always be included, especially regarding chronic diseases, allergies and medications used. Without such basic information, the doctor cannot help much.
Monocytes are part of leukocytes, i.e. white blood cells. Their number should be 3-8 percent of all circulating leukocytes in the bloodstream. Monocytes have the ability to migrate beyond the lumen of blood vessels to inflammatory sites, where macrophages, i.e. food cells, cleanse the body of pathogenic microorganisms and dead cells.
Elevated levels of monocytes it may indicate mild as well as serious, life-threatening conditions. Of course, they most often indicate mild conditions such as scarlet fever or infectious mononucleosis. It happens very often increase the percentage of monocytes during recovery from various infectious diseases. These situations are perfectly normal and shouldn’t worry you. It is worth bearing in mind that it is also temporary after treatment with glucocorticosteroids increase in monocytes (monocytoza).
Unfortunately, there are situations when a high concentration of monocytes heralds a serious disease, including cancer, collagenosis, tuberculosis or storage diseases.
In children, the development of myelomonocytic leukemia and Hodgkin’s lymphoma should always be ruled out. However, please remember that temporary monocytosis does not immediately mean a proliferative disease. Most often these are mild states. Please also note that with automatic smears there may be a computer error counting neutrophils as monocytes.
In the case of a daughter, I propose to repeat the blood count and go to the pediatrician with the results. The doctor will order an appropriate diagnosis to rule out specific diseases.
– Lek. Paweł Żmuda-Trzebiatowski
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