Low white blood cell count (leukopenia)

For a lay person:

Leukopenia means having too few white blood cells, the cells that fight infection; agranulocytosis is a severe lack of the neutrophil type. It can follow chemotherapy, certain medicines, viral infections or bone marrow disease. People with very low counts can develop serious infections quickly.

For a trained medical person:

A reduction in circulating leucocytes, most importantly neutropenia, caused by marrow suppression (chemotherapy, drugs such as clozapine, carbimazole or antibiotics), viral infection, autoimmune destruction, nutritional deficiency or marrow infiltration. Evaluation includes full blood count with differential and film, medication review, and bone marrow examination when unexplained. Management is withdrawal of the causative drug, treatment of the cause, growth-factor support where indicated, and urgent empirical antibiotics for febrile neutropenia.

In Chinese medicine:

Liu and Tseng's textbook differentiates this condition into these patterns: Heart and Spleen Deficiency; Heart Blood and Heart Yin Deficiency; Spleen Deficiency with Internal Heat; Kidney Essence Deficiency Not Transforming Blood; Residual Heat in Upper Jiao; Residual Heat Toxins in San Jiao; Residual Heat in Ying and Blood. Treatment follows the pattern a patient presents with, not the Western diagnosis alone.

When to get help: A fever or chills with a known low white count, or while on chemotherapy, is a medical emergency needing same-day hospital care. Some herbs can themselves suppress the bone marrow or interact with cancer drugs, so check with your doctor before taking them.