Lymphocytes are part of the blood. They are involved 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 an increased content of this element is found in a blood test. If lymphocytes are elevated, this is a signal that pathogenic bacteria are present in the body. But the cause of elevated levels is not always infectious diseases. Often, things turn out to be a little more serious. Sometimes elevated lymphocytes in an adult can be detected in the case of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Norma
Often people have a question, what amount of these elements in the blood is 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 the age of 5-7 years, 30-35% is already considered the norm. For an adult, a level of 25-40% is considered normal.
Deviations from the norm can be a signal of a seriousdiseases
When a doctor, while studying a patient's general blood test, sees that the patient has a significantly increased level of lymphocytes, the first task that a specialist should solve is to find out what caused these changes, whether they are reactive, whether this indicates that that the increase is the body's response to external influences, or is it malignant changes. In the medical literature, two types of lymphocytosis are distinguished: reactive and malignant.
In the first case, elevated lymphocytes in an adult signal that viruses or pathogenic bacteria have entered the body, which provoked the occurrence of a particular disease. As a rule, after exclusion of 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 does not look so harmless, since this is the body's signal that the process of an independent lymphoproliferative disease has begun, the most dangerous type of which can 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. At the same time, the main problem is that, according to a general blood test, even an experienced specialist is not able to determine with 100% certainty why there are elevated lymphocytes in an adult: is it a common reactivelymphocytosis or is it dealing with a malignant form of this disorder.
In order for the doctor to be able to establish what caused the increase in lymphocytes, he needs to make an appointment for the patient to conduct additional, more complex and expensive tests that can determine the presence of chromosomal abnormalities in the nuclei, if any, and begin in the early stages the fight against a serious disease that threatens the patient's life.
