Lymphocytes are a component of blood. They take part in protecting the body from the effects of viruses and bacteria. The fact is that lymphocytes have a unique ability to determine the presence of a foreign protein.
Sometimes it happens that a high content of this element is detected in a blood test. If lymphocytes are elevated , this is a signal that pathogenic bacteria are present in the body . But the cause of the increased level is not always infectious diseases. Often, everything turns out to be somewhat more serious. Sometimes, elevated lymphocytes in an adult can be detected in case of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Norm
Often people ask the question, and how many of these elements in the blood are considered normal? First you need to take into account the fact that their level undergoes significant changes in the process of human life. For example, if lymphocytes in children under the age of 4 years are 45-65%, then by 5-7 years, 30-35% is considered the norm. For an adult, a level of 25-40% is considered normal.
Deviations from the norm can be a signal of a serious illness
When the doctor, when studying the patient’s general blood test , sees that the patient has significantly increased lymphocyte levels, the first task that the specialist should solve is to find out what caused these changes, whether they are reactive, whether this indicates that the increase is the body’s response on external exposure or is it a malignant change. In the medical literature, two types of lymphocytosis are distinguished: reactive and malignant.
In the first case, elevated lymphocytes in an adult signal the ingress of viruses or pathogenic bacteria into the body that provoked the onset of a disease. As a rule, after eliminating the pathogenic effects of the virus and complete recovery within 2-3 months, the amount of this element in the blood returns to normal.
In the second case, when it comes to malignant lymphocytosis, the situation doesn’t look so harmless, as this signals the beginning of the process of independent lymphoproliferative disease, the most dangerous of which may be acute or chronic leukemia.
From the above examples, it is clear that elevated lymphocytes in an adult or a child can be a signal of the presence in the body of both a minor, non-life-threatening infection, and a very serious disease. Moreover, the main problem is that, according to a general blood test, even an experienced specialist is not able to determine with 100% certainty why an adult has elevated lymphocytes: is it a normal reactive lymphocytosis or is it still malignant form of this disorder.
In order for the doctor to establish what caused the increase in lymphocytes, he needs to make the patient an appointment for additional, more complex and expensive tests that can determine the presence of chromosomal abnormalities in the nuclei, if any, and in the early stages of the fight against a serious disease, life-threatening patient.