What it is: White blood cells play a role in reducing
inflammation in the body. A high white blood cell count could
mean that there is inflammation somewhere in the body, such as
can occur in the gastrointestinal tract of people who have
inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The white blood cell (WBC)
count is also sometimes known as a leukocyte count or white
count. A WBC count is typically done along with another common
blood test, the complete blood cell count (CBC). A WBC count is
the number of white blood cells per volume of blood, and is
reported in either thousands in a microliter or millions in a
liter of blood. What it's used for: A high WBC count can be an
indicator of an infection, inflammation, or allergy. Some
conditions may cause a decrease in the WBC count. Leukocytosis
is the presence of an elevated WBC count; leukopenia is a
decreased WBC count. Leukocytosis may be caused by several
conditions including bacterial infection, inflammation,
leukemia, trauma, or stress. Leukopenia may occur as a resu