Expert: Samantha, MLT (ASCP) - 11/1/2009

Question
I have been for may be 6 month or more with chronic pain in my abdomen. with every once in a while black stool. I just got some blood work done and my wbc, neu, mon and sed rate was high. what could this mean?

Answer
Hi Jeannette.  WBC (white blood cells), Neu (neutrophils, a type of WBC), Mon (monocytes, another type of WBC) are all part of a CBC (complete blood count) and refer to WBCs, which fight infection.  When elevated, this could mean that the body is fighting some sort of infection (viral or bacterial).  A sed rate indicates some sort of inflammation in the body.  It's not specific, meaning it doesn't tell the doctor where the infection/inflammation is.  It should also be taken into account how far off from normal your results are.  Sometimes small variations from normal are not of any clinical significance.

Samantha