What are the effects of a low total leukocyte count (TLC) count?
A. Leukopaenia White blood cells (leukocytes) comprise granulocytes (cells with granules in their cytoplasm) and mononuclear cells. Granulocytes are of three types – neutrophils, eosinophils and basophils while mononuclear cells are lymphocytes and monocytes. The normal total leukocyte count (TLC) varies with the age of a person. It also has a diurnal cycle i.e. counts vary during a 24 hour day. Normally they range from 4000 to 10,000 per ml in an adult. Leukopaenia is a decrease below the accepted normal range of total leukocytes. This reduction may be due to a decrease in granulocytes, lymphocytes or monocytes and is respectively called absolute neutropaenia, absolute lymphopaenia and absolute monocytopaenia. The causes for each of these are many. Usually only one type of cell is responsible for this decrease, but there may be a simultaneous decrease in several cell types and this can be judged by a differential leukocyte count. The range of each of these cells also varies with the a
