What is a nasal swab for eosinophils? What are the norms? After reading our article, you will find answers to these and other exciting questions.
The human body is made up of many organs and systems. Each has its own function, which is necessary for the overall coordinated work of all organs. Elements such as eosinophils also have their own importance in the life process of the human body. They belong to the subspecies of leukocytes. To determine their number in a patient, blood is taken and a nasal swab is analyzed.
Meaning
Eosinophils are called elements that are created from the bone marrow, namely from stem cells. They are granulocytes that do not divide. It takes several days for eosinophils to form. The whole process of their formation takes 3-4 days.
After they are formed in the bone marrow, eosinophils are separated from it and circulate in the human blood. They stay there for about 6 hours. Although some people have longer, it all depends on the individual characteristics of the person. The life cycle of eosinophils is 2 weeks. After these elements are included inblood, they pass into such parts of the body as the gastrointestinal tract, lungs and subcutaneous tissues. Here they remain until the end of their lives.
Eosinophils are of particular importance for the functioning of the body. They are involved in the following functions:
- These elements destroy helminths.
- They have the property of absorbing foreign elements and particles that enter the human body.
How much should be present in the body? Nasal swab for eosinophils: normal
In order to determine the amount of certain elements contained in the human body, it is necessary to donate blood for its analysis. To calculate the number of eosinophils, sputum can be taken for analysis. It is located in the patient's nasopharynx. You can also find out you can do a swab from the nose for eosinophils.
There are standards for the norm of this type of leukocytes. For a he althy child under the age of 13, it is 0.5-7%. In an adult, an indicator from 0.5 to 5% is considered the norm.
Deviations
When taking a swab from the nose for eosinophils, remember that the results should be close to the minimum value of the norm. In the case when they are elevated, then, as a rule, this means that a person develops rhinitis or has an allergic runny nose. An increase in eosinophils in this type of analysis suggests that the runny nose is precisely allergic in nature, and not infectious.
It is important to know that if a person is he althy, theneosinophils should not be present in the nasal mucosa. In this case, a nasal swab for eosinophils should show the minimum value of these elements. But if the indicators exceed the norm, then this means that there is some kind of pathology in the human body.
In the case when the level of eosinophils is exceeded in large quantities, this is a clear sign of a respiratory allergy at an advanced level of the disease. Also, such changes indicate that bronchial asthma occurs in the human body.
In addition, this type of analysis can diagnose the presence of roundworms in the body.
What diseases can be diagnosed if eosinophils are elevated?
A nose swab may show that values are too high. What does it mean? This phenomenon in medicine is called eosinophilia. The body in this state may be at the stage of development of the following diseases:
- Allergy. As a rule, in this case, the skin and respiratory tract are affected. If the allergy is not treated and becomes advanced, then eosinophils spread to the lungs and complicate their work.
- Periarteritis nodular type. This disease is characterized by the death of the muscular arteries of the human body. This disease is more common in middle-aged men. Symptoms such as abdominal pain, skin rashes, fever, kidney pathology, weight loss, joint pain begin to bother them.
- Leukemia can be diagnosed inchildren with myeloid leukemia. This disease is characterized by the fact that the patient has heart failure. This is due to the fact that the valves of the heart are affected. If this disease is suspected, a nasal swab (eosinophils) is taken from children.
- The presence of parasites affects the increase in eosinophils. Since their main task is to fight foreign elements that appear in the human body.
In addition to the above pathologies, the level of eosinophils in the human body can be affected by medication or infection. Other types of tests may be needed to accurately diagnose the disease.
Conclusion
Now you know what a nasal swab for eosinophils is, why it is done. The article also indicates the norm of this indicator, and describes what the deviation from the norm means.
