MARKETING AFRICA MAL 18/17 mal 18:17 online | Page 82

HEALTH MATTERS
WHITE BLOOD CELLS
AND IMMUNITY
By Kepha Nyanumba
A
re you aware that the
delicious meal you eat, the air
you breathe, the environment
you live in, the people you shake
hands with every day expose you to a
great number of foreign substances?
Sometimes there are microbes that
can make you sick and dangerous
viruses that lurk even in the water
you drink.
White Blood Cells (WBC) are
like an army. They patrol your
body constantly, on the lookout for
attacks from viruses, bacteria, and
other infections. If the scouts find a
problem, they sound the alarm and
the troops swarm to the site of the
attack.
And just like a military is made
up of Army, Navy, Marines, and
However, you likely do not even
Air Forces, the WBC army also
realize the existence of these
has specialists with names like
harmful substances that enter into
Neutrophil, Esoniophil, Basophil,
your body several times a day. The
Lymphocyte, and Macrophage.
reason for this is the existence of
Each “branch” of the WBC military
a special army assigned to detect
specializes in fighting different kinds
and destroy these pathogens. This
of invaders. They recognize every
superior army of defense comprises foreign substance that enters the
of white blood cells. They are
body and confronts them. While
produced in the bone marrow,
some directly fight with microbes,
and typically work as part of the
some recognize foreign molecules
immune system to fight off bacterial and microbes, and warn the system.
and viral infections.
What’s considered a “normal” white
‘‘ White Blood Cells (WBC) are like an army.
They patrol your body constantly, on the
lookout for attacks from viruses, bacteria, and
other infections. If the scouts find a problem,
they sound the alarm and the troops swarm to
the site of the attack. ’’
80 MAL 18/17 ISSUE
blood cell count is usually between
4,500 to 10,000 white blood cells
(WBCs) per microliter of blood.
Having a higher or lower number
of WBCs than normal may be
an indication of an underlying
condition.
When white cell blood count is low,
you need to be on the alert for fever,
which is usually the first sign that
the body is fighting off an infection.
The presence of a fever is usually
related to stimulation of the body’s
immune response. Fever can support
the immune system’s attempt to gain
advantage over infectious agents,
such as viruses and bacteria, and
it makes the body less favorable as
a host for replicating viruses and
bacteria, which are temperature
sensitive.
There are many factors that cause
low white blood count including
viral infections that temporarily
disrupt the work of bone marrow,
congenital disorders, cancer or other
diseases that damage bone marrow,
autoimmune disorders, vitamin
deficiencies etc.
In addition to a blood test showing
low levels, other symptoms of low
leucocytes (WBC) may include
fatigue, recurrent infections that