blood counts

Hi there,

I recently went to my doctor because of very heavy periods- I am 38. I had a full blood count which has shown a raised eosinophil count at 1.17x10^9 per litre. I am healthy and have no allergies or symptoms of allergies. Should I be concerned about this high level of eosinophils in my blood, and does anyone out there know what other tests the doctors should be doing. Other symptoms I had had for a while now are tiredness, hair thinning, acne on my face, and depression.

Many Thanks.

[Dr_Veena]

Hi,
     High level of eosinophils circulating in the blood could be due to either allergies or due to parasitic infections. Rare causes include tumors, drug allergies, immunodeficiency states etc.
Blood tests for allergies as well as parasitic infections can help in diagnosing or ruling out common conditions involved in high eosinophil count state. Hope this helps. Best.

[mm988]

Thank you for responding. I have neither allergies or a parasitic infection...so i'm guessing that its due to something else. Due to see the heamatologist  next week although my GP doesn't seem to be placing too much importance on it. Can the eosinophil rate decrease on its own of one doesn't have an allergy or parasitic infection or is it the case that once its high this means that it must be due to something else and therefore the cause needs to be investigated?

[Dr_Veena]

Hi,
     If the underlying cause for high level of eosinophils like allergy or parasitic infections or rare causes like loeffler’s syndrome or liver cirrhosis etc if treated can reduce the number of eosinophils to normal range. But in case of other conditions like T cell tumors, antibody deficiency states etc there could be persistent eosinophilia, so it would be better to get evaluated completely in case there is no identifiable cause. Best.