Monocytes are a kind of leukocytes, relatively large elements of blood, whose purpose is to purify the human body from dead cells, neutralize microorganisms and counteract the formation of tumors. Monocytes are produced and ripened in the red bone marrow, from which they enter the bloodstream and matured into macrophages, which mature in macrophages, along with other cells of the leukocyte group (lymphocytes, basophils and neutrophils).
Sometimes, when analyzing blood, it is revealed that the monocyte content is higher than normal. It is clear the concern of patients who have this factor, and their desire to know what it means if the number of monocytes is higher than normal.
What does it mean if monocytes are above normal?
An analysis conducted to determine the number of monocytes and leukocytes is called the leukocyte formula. The norm of monocytes in the blood is 3-11% of the total number of leukocytes, and in women the lower rate may even be 1%. If the percentage of monocytes in an adult is slightly higher than normal (greater than 0.7x109 / L), then we can assume the onset of monocytosis. Allocate:
- Relative monocytosis, when the level of monocytes is slightly higher than normal, and lymphocytes and neutrophils are within normal limits.
- Absolute monocytosis is typical for inflammatory processes occurring in the body, while the content of both lymphocytes and monocytes in the blood is higher than normal: there is an excess of normal indices by 10% or more.
With monocytosis, the process of producing white cells is activated to fight infection or malignant tumors. The main task for a specialist in this case is precisely to establish the cause of the increase in the number of protective cells in the blood.
Attention! The parameters of the monocyte content in the blood depend on the age, and therefore the excess of their level is not always an indicator of the development of monocytosis.
Monocytes are above the norm - causes
As already noted, most often the monocyte content in the blood is higher than normal, indicating a disease of inflammatory or oncological etiology. Common reasons for the increase are:
- diseases of the circulatory system (lymphogranulomatosis, acute leukemia, myeloid leukemia);
- infectious diseases (viral and bacterial infections, fungal and protozoal diseases);
- granulomatous ailments (extrapulmonary tuberculosis, syphilis, brucellosis, enteritis, ulcerative colitis, etc.);
- collagenoses (rheumatoid arthritis, nodular polyarthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus);
- sepsis .
And this is far from a complete list of diseases that provoke an increase in monocytes in the blood. Even in the absence of obvious symptoms of the disease, an elevated white body count warns that pathological changes in the body have begun, and the disease is at an early stage of development. Therefore, it is necessary, without delay, to begin treatment.
Therapy of monocytosis
With a slight change in the number of monocytes, the body, as a rule, copes with the problem, and medical assistance is not required. In the case of a significant increase in the level of monocytes in the blood, the attending physician necessarily prescribes an additional examination. Therapy is associated with the elimination of the underlying disease and, as already noted, is more effective in the early stages. Easier to cure monocytosis in infectious diseases. If the cause of an increase in the level of monocytes are oncological cells or chronic leukemia, the course of therapy lasts a long time, and there is no guarantee of complete cure (alas!).