Expert: Neha Dahiya MD - 6/26/2009

Question
I have a male relative that is 62. He has recently had a white
count test result of over 40,000. A sed rate well over 140,
and a IGA of over 5,000. What could be the causes of these
readings, especially in combination? Thank you in advance!"

Answer
Hello Jennifer:

The White cell count is very high this can be seen in severe infection as well as in leukemia. The raised sed rate points to a chronic disease.

However to put a name to the disease with this information is pure speculation. A bone marrow exam and look at the morphology of cells is important to rule out if it is just infection or something more serious like leukemia, myeloma or lymphoma or some other immunoglobulinopathy