Low White Blood Cells & Heart Disease

New Research on Low White Blood Cell Count

It is refreshing when mainstream medicine starts to catch up with integrative and preventive medicine practices. If you listen to CBC Radio you may have recently heard about how an incidental finding of low white blood cells can actually be a cause for concern:  a lowered immune system can increase your risk of all-cause death.

It’s likely that at some point in your life you’ve had basic blood work tested with a simple complete blood count (CBC). As recently as January 13, 2020, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported on a study that connected low lymphocytes with an increase of death from heart disease, lung disease and infections.

A study published this year in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), included 108,135 people of Danish descent aged 20-100 years who were enrolled in the Copenhagen General Population Study between 2003 and 2015. An incidental finding of a low lymphocyte count (a type of white blood cells in the immune system) was associated with a 1.6-fold increase in the risk of death from any cause, and a 1.5- to 2.8-fold increased risk of death from cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, infections and other causes.

When was your last physical exam and basic blood workup? If you have ever noticed low white blood cells or low lymphocytes on your blood test, this could be cause for further screening. If you have a family history of heart disease but otherwise feel healthy, you might consider regular check-ups as a means for prevention.

Beyond Basic Blood Work

If you are over the age of 40 and have one or more risk factors for coronary heart disease, consider the Cardiac Puls test. While this test is available in our local downtown Kelowna Valley Labs, many family doctors are unaware of its screening benefits and current research.

We hope that this changes quickly with the research mentioned in this article. In the meantime, consider visiting a Naturopathic Doctor for a heart disease prevention & screening if you have any of the following risk factors which include, but are not limited to:

• family history of early heart disease
• poor diet
• sedentary lifestyle
• elevated LDL cholesterol
• high blood sugar or diabetes
• high blood pressure
• overweight or obese
• smoking
• low white blood cells called lymphocytes

We are here to support you in your prevention of disease and living a heart-healthy, energetic life.

If it has been at least 2 years since your last set of blood work and full physical exam – we are happy to provide you with a comprehensive physical examination, bioimpedance analysis (BIA: muscle %, fat % cellular age, hydration status and resting basal metabolic rate) and review of blood work with an achievable action plan.

Call us today at 250-868-0221 or book online!

Courtesy of Dr. Emina Jasarevic, ND                                         

Reference: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31932337