What would a normal wbc be in numerical terms?

Question

I am asking for my mother who is 61 yrs. old and recently had blood work showing a number 10 for wbc, she is overweight, if that makes a difference

Answer 1

10 per cubic millimeter is very low level . Please verify .

Answer 2

without the units to go after the 10, it will be hard to advise you.

But, I'm going to take a leap and assume that these values are being measured in SI (International System) units. That would make your mother's WBC count 10x10^9/L, which would be normal.

Something to keep in mind is that, to a health care practitioner, the sheer number of white blood cells is not very informative. There are five different subtypes of white blood cells: eosinophils, neutrophils, basophils, monocytes, and lymphocytes. All five types work to protect the body, but each has a different "specialty." Depending one what type of threat the body is dealing with, the numbers of each type will fluctuate independently as they are needed more or less.

An example would be a viral illness versus an allergic reaction. A viral illness will cause the numbers of eosinophils to rise, while an allergic reaction will cause the number of basophils to rise. Counted as one group, white blood cells, the numbers will be elevated, no matter which subtype is actually being activated. Another way to describe it is that it isn't helpful to know how many shirts you have if you only are interested in shirts with collars. Make sense?

I hope this helps you understand whatever it is that's on your mind. Feel free to continue asking questions on Answers, there are some wiz-kids in the Medicine section.