Neutrophils: Symptoms/Causes For Variation & What You Can Do About It


- Rapidly growing, cancerous tumours, or acute haemorrhage (internal bleeding). Conditions such as polycythemia vera (long-term increase in red blood cells and other types of cells), or myeloid metaplasia (where the bone marrow grows in abnormal places in the body) can also be the root cause.
- Severe damage or inflammation of tissues – say burn injuries or heart attack – is known to lead to a high ANC.
- Sudden kidney failure can also up the neutrophil numbers drastically.
- Sometimes, even seemingly harmless activities like an overenthusiastic session at the gym can spike stress levels, thereby bringing up the ANC figures. However, the effect is usually temporary, lasting for not more than half an hour.
- In certain cases where the body finds it difficult to break down fats, ketones (acids and poisonous chemical substances) are produced, leading to a condition known as ketoacidosis that can cause a high neutrophil count.
- Eclampsia (a pregnancy-related complication characterised by high blood pressure and huge amounts of protein in the urine) is also known to trigger neutrophilia.
- Other medical conditions that can cause an abnormally high neutrophil count include mononucleosis (virus infection), hepatitis (liver infection), toxoplasmosis (infection seen in birds, reptiles, and other animals that can also occur in humans) and cytomegalovirus ( a virus that usually causes infections in the eye and abdominal area).
- Certain medications such as corticosteroids and lithium carbonate can lead to a spike in the number of neutrophils in the body. Similarly, a blood transfusion can also trigger neutrophilia.

- Leukaemia (blood cancer) and myelofibrosis (bone marrow is replaced by fibrous tissue) are common causes. Neutropenia is also a side-effect of chemotherapy in many cancer patients.
- In some cases, there may be damage caused to the bone marrow by infections, medications or radiation (cancer therapy).
- One could be born with a congenital condition such as Kostmann’s syndrome (low production of neutrophils), Myelokathexis (failure of neutrophils to enter the bloodstream), or Chediak-Higashi syndrome (massive decrease in white blood cells).
- Sometimes, the culprit could be an autoimmune disorder such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) or rheumatoid arthritis.
- Bacterial infections are also known to destroy these vital WBC in the body.
- Medical procedures like cardiopulmonary bypass or dialysis affect the production of neutrophils, too.
- Medications, such as phenothiazines drugs (used to treat psychosis, allergies and vomiting) and phenylbutazone (used to reduce inflammation of bone joints), are known to bring down the ANC numbers.
- An oft-ignored cause of neutropenia is vitamin B12 deficiency.

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