Test result questions

April 28, 2004

Hi!

Now that I'm doing this for a few months, I'm beginning to

understand more about the testing, but I'm still not sure what it

all means. There have been so many posts recently about eosinophils

(which I think are allergin related???) and I have a question. 3

months before beginning protocol my daughter's level was 5.6%

(normal being 0-6). 2 months into the protocol (just on anti-viral

at time of test) it dropped to 2.0. What could this all mean??

Also, in her original testing before beginning protocol her CD4 was

51 (normal 28-52) and 1776 (normal 670-1930) So both on the very

high side of normal range. Her CD8 was 17 (normal 16-34) and 592

(normal 350-1160) both on the very low side of normal range. Her NK

cells were 6 (3-20) and 209 (60-540)-very low and low/mid. This was

all explained to me in the beginning, but I had no knowledge of

anything so it didn't make much sense (other than her immune system

was off). And I did post in the beginning regarding this an many of

you said your children had similar results, either very high or very

low but still technically normal and it was mentioned that these

ranges are usually for adults as these types of test don't regularly

have children's ranges. Now that I understand a little more, I'm

hoping someone could give me a refresher course.

Thanks,

Jess

April 29, 2004

Jess;

Eosinophils are white cells produced generally in reaction to something the

body doesn't like that is ingested or present in the gut - i.e. usually to

a parasite or bacteria or fungi that the system doesn't like, or in response

to an ingested food that the system doesn't like - an " allergen " . They are

also produced in response to other outside airborne allergens though I'm not

sure about why. The % is as of the total of white cells counted in that

test sample so the result must be read in conjunction with the absolute

number of white cells. For example, if you have 6.5 x 10^9/L white cells

(range is 4.5 - 13.5 for 8yo - can be higher for younger kids) , 5.6% means

you had 0.364 x 10^9/L eosinophil cells. However if you have a high white

cell count - say closer to 13 x 10^9/L, still technically in range, and an

EOS of 3.5% (seemingly lower) this is 0.455x10^9/L and in fact more EOS

cells than in the first example. It can be in reverse also. We have had EOS

of 4-5% which are lower in absolute terms than some of our 2-3% results. We

have also had numbers of 9% and at one time 12% when he was not well at all.

Once our son had Giardia - a common parasite which showed elevated EOS.

Something else to remember, the CBC is done on a sample of cells, sometimes

only 100 are counted under a microscope to get the differential count (i.e.

the %). Once we got a 0% for EOS and couldn't believe it - I made the lab do

a recount with 1,000 cells and we got 2% - a good result nevertheless. Also

the counts change during the day too!

While your daughter's CD4 and CD8 cells are in the ranges - they are at

either end. The ratio of CD4/CD8 based on the numbers below is 3.0:1 The

range for the ratio is about 1.0 - 2.7:1 so your daughter's CD4 level is a

bit high compared to the CD8. My son was the reverse - his CD4/CD8 count was

1.1:1 when we started, and additionally, over producing both!

All this needs to be looked at in conjunction with the CBC at the time of

the tests and other results like liver function, Ig levels etc to see a

complete picture.

Hope this help