WHITE BLOOD CELL COUNT AND HEART DISEASE
(From: Making Healthy Choices Newsletter, Issue #28, 2005)
Do you know what your white blood cell count is? Doctors routinely perform this test. A new study of 72,242 postmenopausal women without heart disease at the beginning of the study revealed that a high white blood cell (WBC) above count, above 6,700, more than doubled the risk of death from heart disease over the 6-year study. This was true after adjusting for other risk factors: age, race, diabetes, hypertension, smoking, high cholesterol, obesity, alcohol intake, physical activity, aspirin use, and hormone use. "A high WBC count was also linked to a 40% higher risk of non-fatal heart attacks, a 46% higher risk of stroke, and a 50% higher risk of total mortality."
C-reactive protein (CRP), another marker for inflammation closely linked to CVD risk was not as accurate a predictor of heart disease as the WBC. It's interesting that vegetarians have a lower WBC count when compared with meat eaters. This is another reason to omit flesh foods from your diet. Why not try it. It will only do you good ! ( Reference : Margolis KL et al. Leukocyte count as a predictor of cardiovascular event and mortality in postmenopausal women. Arch Intern Med . 2005;165:500-508.)
